The End of an Era: The Last of the Winchester Model 94

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Fri, 20 Jan 2006 03:00:52 GMT  <== Guns ==> 

Jeff Quinn at Gunblast - Damn. Just, damn. [gunblast]

Black Tuesday: January 17, 2006. That was yesterday. It is now about 2:00 in the morning on January 18th, about seventeen hours since I learned the news that the American Winchester lever actions have been dropped from production. The great old Model 94, along with the Model 70 bolt action; a true legend in its own right, and the Model 1300 pump shotgun, have been issued a death warrant. Operations at the New Haven, Connecticut United States Repeating Arms Company (USRAC) will cease operations on March 31, 2006. To me, this is sad news.

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Perhaps I should have seen it coming, but the news of the death of the Model 94 took me by surprise. However, its swan song has been played before, with its epitaph all but written, and it has always came back from the grave. The 94 is just too good a design to die, and hopefully it has just suffered a stroke instead of a cold death. Hopefully, someone will secure the name of Winchester to be placed on a new Model 94. Hopefully, the rifles will be better than ever, and be built in the USA. There is always hope.

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