Winchester Repeating Arms Company
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Arms industry |
Predecessor | New Haven Arms Company |
Founded | 1866 |
Founder | Oliver Winchester |
Defunct | 1931receivership) | (
Fate | Bought by Western Cartridge Company (which later became part of the Olin Corporation) |
Successor | Winchester-Western Company |
Headquarters | , U.S. |
Products | Firearms, ammunition and accessories |
Website | winchesterguns.com (arms) winchester.com (ammunition) |
The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American manufacturer of
History
Early history
Predecessors
The ancestor of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company was the Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson partnership of Norwich, Connecticut (not to be confused with the famous Smith & Wesson Revolver Company founded later by the same men). Smith and Wesson acquired Lewis Jennings' improved version of inventor Walter Hunt's 1848 "Volition Repeating Rifle" and its caseless "Rocket Ball" ammunition, which had been produced in small numbers by Robbins & Lawrence of Windsor, Vermont. Jennings' rifle was a commercial failure, and Robbins & Lawrence ceased production in 1852.[1] Smith designed a much-improved rifle based on Jennings' design, and the partners also hired away Robbins & Lawrence shop foreman Benjamin Tyler Henry.
In 1855, the Smith and Wesson partnership, in order to manufacture what they called the "Volcanic" lever-action rifle and pistol, sought investors and incorporated as the
After Smith's departure, Benjamin Henry continued to work with a Smith development project, the self-contained metallic
The Winchester rifle
In 1866, Benjamin Henry, angered over what he believed was inadequate compensation, attempted to have the Connecticut legislature award ownership of New Haven Arms to him. Oliver Winchester, hastening back from Europe, forestalled the move and reorganized New Haven Arms yet again as the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.[2] Winchester had the basic design of the Henry rifle completely modified and improved to become the first Winchester rifle, the Model 1866, which fired the same .44 caliber rimfire cartridges as the Henry but had an improved magazine (with the addition of a loading gate on the right side of the receiver, invented by Winchester employee Nelson King) and, for the first time, a wooden forend. The Henry and the 1866 Winchester shared a unique double firing pin that struck the head of the rimfire cartridge in two places when the weapon was fired, increasing the chances that the fulminate in the hollow rim would ignite the 28 or so grains of black powder inside the case.[citation needed]
Another extremely popular model was rolled out in 1873. The Model 1873 introduced the first Winchester center fire cartridge, the .44-40 WCF (Winchester Center Fire). These rifle families are commonly known as the "Gun That Won the West."[citation needed]
The Model 1873 was followed by the Model 1876 (or "Centennial Model"), a larger version of the '73, which used the same toggle-link action and brass cartridge elevator used in the Henry. It was chambered for longer, more powerful cartridges such as
Oliver Winchester died in December 1880; his son and successor, William Wirt Winchester, died of tuberculosis four months later. William Wirt Winchester's widow, Sarah Winchester, used her inheritance and income from the company to build what is now known as the Winchester Mystery House.
From 1883,
20th-century developments
The turn of the twentieth century
The early years of the twentieth century found the Winchester Repeating Arms Company competing with new
The First World War
The company was a major producer of the .303
Failure and recovery
During the war, Winchester had borrowed heavily to finance its massive expansion. With the return of peace, the company attempted to use its surplus production capacity and pay down its debt by trying to become a general manufacturer of consumer goods – everything from kitchen knives to roller skates to refrigerators, to be marketed through 'Winchester Stores'. They also merged with the Simmons Hardware Company. The Winchester and Keen Kutter brands did business together during the 1920s, but in 1929, they agreed to separate and returned to their core businesses.[3]
The consumer goods strategy was a failure for Winchester, and the Great Depression put the final nail in the company's coffin. The Winchester Repeating Arms Company went into
Western's First Vice-President (John M. Olin) was a sportsman and gun enthusiast, and he started at once to restore the Winchester brand to its former luster by concentrating on its classic models and updated versions thereof, with particular attention to quality and prestige. Olin personally pushed the deluxe Model 52 Sporter and the semi-custom Model 21 double-barreled shotgun. Winchester flourished, even during the later Depression.[citation needed]
The Second World War
The U.S. M1 carbine (technically not a carbine in the sense of a short version of a parent rifle) was designed at Winchester by an eight-man team including Edwin Pugsley, Bill Roemer, Marsh Williams, Fred Humiston, Cliff Warner, and Ralph Clarkson, although the popular press played up the role of ex-convict Williams. More M1 carbines were manufactured by Winchester and other firms than any other U.S. small arm of World War II.[4]
During
Decline
By the 1960s, the rising cost of skilled labor was making it increasingly unprofitable to produce Winchester's classic designs, as they required considerable hand-work to finish. In particular, Winchester's flagship
In the early 1970s, the Olin Winchester-Western Division tried to diversify with at least two unsuccessful attempts. The first was an experimental indoor shooting range called
Labor costs continued to rise through the 1960s and '70s, and a prolonged and bitter strike in 1979–1980 ultimately convinced Olin that firearms could no longer be produced profitably in New Haven. In December 1980, the New Haven plant was sold to its employees, incorporated as the U.S. Repeating Arms Company, and granted a license to make Winchester arms. Olin retained the Winchester ammunition business. U.S. Repeating Arms itself went bankrupt in 1989. After bankruptcy, it was acquired by a French holding company, then sold to Belgian arms makers Herstal Group, which also owns gun makers FN Herstal and Browning Arms Company.[7]
On January 16, 2006,
U.S. Repeating Arms Company To Close New Haven, CT Facility – U.S. Repeating Arms Company, maker of Winchester brand rifles and shotguns will close its New Haven, Connecticut manufacturing facility. Many efforts were made to improve profitability at the manufacturing facility in New Haven, and the decision was made after exhausting all available options.
Effective March 31, 2006, the New Haven manufacturing facility will stop manufacturing the Winchester Model 70, Model 94, and Model 1300.
Winchester Firearms will continue to sell and grow its current line of Select Over & Under shotguns, the new Super X3 autoloading shotgun, the new Super X autoloading rifle, and Limited Edition rifles. The company also plans to introduce new models in the future. There will be no change in Customer Service.
This action is a realignment of resources to make Winchester Firearms a stronger, more viable organization. Winchester Firearms plans to continue the great Winchester legacy and is very excited about the future.
Recovery
On August 15, 2006, Olin Corporation, owner of the Winchester trademarks, announced that it had entered into a new license agreement with Browning Arms Company
In 2008, FN Herstal announced that it would produce Model 70 rifles at its plant in Columbia, South Carolina. In 2013, assembly was moved to Portugal.[11]
In the summer of 2010, FN Herstal resumed production of the Winchester model 1894 and the evolution of the Winchester 1300, now called the Winchester SXP.[12][13]
A number of gun cleaning kits, Chinese folding knives,[14] tools, and other accessories are also now sold under the Winchester trademark.[15]
SXP shotgun recall
In April 2015, the company recalled several variants of its SXP-model 12-gauge shotguns that the company says may unintentionally fire while the action is being closed.[16]
Ammunition
Winchester's success was founded on a cartridge, the
Presidents
- Oliver Winchester (1857–1880).
- William Wirt Winchester (1880–1881), son of Oliver Winchester and husband of Sarah Winchester.
- William Converse (1881–1890), husband of Mary A. Pardee.
- Thomas Grey Bennett (1890–1910), husband of Hannah Jane Winchester.
- George E. Hodson (1910–1915), partner of Oliver in the company.
- Winchester Bennett (1915–1918), son of Thomas Gray Bennett.
- Thomas Grey Bennett (1918–1919), father of Winchester Bennett.
- John Edward Otterson (1919–1924).
Archives
The company's factory collection is owned by the
See also
- Winchester Repeating Arms Company Historic District
- Winchester Rifle
- Benjamin Tyler Henry
- William Mason
- John Browning
- T.C. Johnson
- List of Winchester Models
- Newhallville
- United States Cartridge Company
- Winchester Model 1885 single-shot rifle
- Winchester Model 1886 lever-action rifle
- Winchester Model 1887/1901 lever-action shotgun
- Winchester Model 1894 lever-action rifle
- Winchester Model 1897 slide-action shotgun
- Winchester Model 1903 .22 rifle
- Winchester Model 1912 slide-action hammerless shotgun
- Winchester Model 21 double-barreled shotgun
- Winchester Model 52 bolt-action .22 match rifle
- Winchester Model 54 bolt-action rifle
- Winchester Model 70 bolt-action rifle
- Winchester XPR bolt-action rifle
- Winchester Model 71 lever-action rifle
- Winchester Model 1200slide-action shotgun
- Winchester '73, the 1950 film
- Antique Guns
- Winchester Mystery House
References
- ^ a b c Taylor, Jim, A Short History of the Levergun.
- ^ Boorman, Dean K., History of Winchester Firearms. Guilford, CT: Lyons Books (2001), p. 19.
- ISBN 978-1-4402-0387-9.
- ISBN 978-1514795453.
- ^ "World War II M1 Garands". gunsmagazine.com. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
- ^ "1964 was a big year for Olin/Winchester. That was the year that their revised (for cheaper manufacture) line of firearms was introduced. The reaction from gun writers and the shooting public to the changes was swift and terrible, and Winchester has never regained their former position of dominance." Hawks, Chuck, "The Winchester Model 94".
- ^ "Herstal Group".
- Washington Post, January 21, 2006.
- ^ McLerran
- ^ 株式会社ミロク:ショットガン&ライフル Archived 2017-09-27 at the Wayback Machine. Miroku-jp.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-21.
- ^ "Where are Winchester Firearms manufactured?".
- ^ "Model 94 – Winchester Repeating Arms – Product Family". Winchesterguns.com. Retrieved 2010-12-03.
- ^ "SXP – Winchester Repeating Arms – Product Family". Winchesterguns.com. Retrieved 2010-12-03.
- ^ Chinese folding, pocket, and hunting knives are sold under the Winchester trademark.
- ^ ... and other "manly" accessories are also now sold under the Winchester trademark.
- ^ "SXP Recall Information". Winchesterguns.com. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ "Ever Popular .30's". Chuckhawks.com. Retrieved 2010-12-03.
- ^ Nicholson, Ben. "18. Cody Firearms Museum, Cody, WY". Ben Nicholson. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
Further reading
- McLerran, Wayne (2014). Browning Model 1885 Black Powder Cartridge Rifle - 3rd Edition: A Reference Manual for the Shooter, Collector & Gunsmith. TexasMac Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9893702-5-7, 418 pages.
- Trevelyan, Laura. The Winchester: The Gun That Built an American Dynasty (Yale University Press, 2016). xxii, 242 pp.
External links
- Winchesterguns.com website (Winchester firearms made by Herstal Group subsidiaries)
- Winchester.com website (Winchester ammunition made by the Olin Corporation)
- Tribute to former Winchester employees (New Haven) Archived 2011-02-08 at the Wayback Machine
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. CT-28, "Winchester Repeating Arms Company, Tract K Shooting Range, 125 Munson Street (rear section), New Haven, New Haven County, CT", 8 photos, 14 data pages, 1 photo caption page