The Gun That Won the West

…has ridden into the sunset.

Traditional Winchester rifles discontinued, factory to close
The traditional Winchester rifles carried by pioneers, movie stars and Wild West lawmen will be discontinued in March, a Belgian manufacturer said Wednesday, confirming the end of an American icon that became known as “The Gun that Won the West.”

More Winchester porn. I LOVE this picture!

Along with the more in-depth CNN piece from which it was stolen.

8 Responses to “The Gun That Won the West”

1. Ken Summers says:

   January 19, 2006 at 8:57 am

   Sweetness, please don’t say things like that to a gun nut. The Gun That Won the West was discontinued about 1936. But I’m still sad to see the Model 94 disappear.

2. tree hugging sister says:

   January 19, 2006 at 9:14 am

   I think they may be talking the “Winchester” name, specifically. It’s only going to be on ‘high end guns’ made in three different countries, none of which start with “U.”
   You are referring to the Model 1873, right? (Now, there’s also some chatter about the Colt Peacemaker being the ‘West winner’, so whaddaya say about that big boy?) And can we blame a union for causing this whole thing?

   Missouri-based Olin Corp. owns the Winchester brand name. In the late 1970s, after a massive strike by its machinists, Olin sold the plant to U.S. Repeating Arms along with the right to use the Winchester name until next year.

3. Ken Summers says:

   January 19, 2006 at 9:30 am

   Yeah, the ’73. And yeah, I know some talk about the SAA but a far stronger case can be made for the ’73, since they were in far more hands than the SAA. Actually, since it was arguably the Indian wars which “won” the west, one might make an even better argument for the Sharps or the Springfield (I don’t know which was more commonly used by the military in the wars).
   But I’m still bothered by the loss of the ’94 – it’s been in continuous production for 110 years, longer than any other firearm that I know of (the SAA was out of production for some years some time back).

4. Ken Summers says:

   January 19, 2006 at 9:32 am

   Fortunately, these folks still keep the legend alive.

5. The_Real_JeffS says:

   January 19, 2006 at 9:49 am

   Myself, I prefer the Gatling Gun. But the Winchester is cool as well.

6. tree hugging sister says:

   January 19, 2006 at 9:58 am

   Little hard to load one of those in a saddle scabbard, JeffS. That probably cut down on it’s popularity some.

7. Crusader says:

   January 19, 2006 at 10:15 am

   Never cared much for Winchester lever actions. Hate the saddle stock, much prefer the Marlin lever actions (as I have…um…4 of them. 45/70, .32, .22 Magnum and .22 S/L/LR.)
   Sad to see any gun go away, tho.
   And Ken, I think there were more Springfields than Sharps. The Navy Arms toy I always wanted was their Martini-Henri in 45/70. Sigh…..

8. The_Real_JeffS says:

   January 19, 2006 at 10:54 am

   Take the high ground with the Winchester, THS, and then set up your Gatlings. Ain’t nothing like a proper mix of firepower…..