winchester amps up availability of leverguns

​Many traditionalist will be happy. Over the past few years it’s been tough to find more than one or two current-production lever action rifles on the Winchester website - which I’m certain has saddened many a cowboy action shooter and old schooler - but now it appears they've finally seen sense and have a nice lineup of 1894’s, 1892’s, 1886’s, 1873’s, 1866’s and an 1885 in 22LR. In my humble opinion these are some of the most beautiful rifles ever designed and Winchester appears to have revived them in a premium fit & finish without forfeiting an ounce of genetic integrity. This from the Winchester site: “These Historical Winchesters are back in production today after being absent from the market for many decades. All were  dropped from production by the original Winchester company over half a century ago. Each of these models was reintroduced by today's Winchester Repeating Arms Company at some point beginning in the 1990s. All are in production today. All are made in our partner factory in Japan.” Readers don’t be downhearted at the current country of physical manufacture, Japan (Miroku) has been making firearms for a long time and have partnered with the likes of Winchester and Browning to provide very handsome rifles at a price point American shooters can (hopefully) afford. The craftsmanship and finishing demanded of these fine old designs can be immensely time consuming/costly and factory setup and staffing would make American-made weapons unaffordable for most. In an economical climate where people like to buy their guns at $499 or under, these are indeed already a specialty item but for those desirous of history, heirloom beauty and fine workmanship then a current-production Winchester will make you and yours proud for decades. I just wish they’d come out with a trapper model 1894 with a standard loop lever (hint)! Ed. 

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