The U.S. Repeating Arms Company (USRAC) was an American manufacturer of

firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

s. It was established in 1981 and operated as an independent company until 1989, when it went bankrupt and was taken over by Fabrique Nationale Herstal. The company traced its origins to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, which was famous for making Winchester rifles.

History

In 1866,

Oliver Winchester Oliver Fisher Winchester (November 30, 1810 – December 11, 1880) was an American businessman and politician, best known as being the founder of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Birth and marriage He was the son of Samuel Winchester a ...

reorganized the New Haven Arms Company and changed its name to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. In 1931, the Western Cartridge Company (forerunner of the Olin Corporation) purchased Winchester Repeating Arms and subsequently merged with it to form the Winchester-Western Company. In 1981, the U.S. Repeating Arms Company was established by Winchester employees to purchase the rights to manufacture Winchester-branded

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

s and

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small pellet-like spherical sub- pr ...

s in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

, under

license A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

from Olin. Production of

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other we ...

and cartridge components under the Winchester Ammunition Inc. name were retained by Olin and not licensed to USRAC. In 1989, after the

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...

of USRAC, it was taken over by Fabrique Nationale Herstal (FN), a Belgium-based international group producing firearms. In early 2006, it was announced that the factory in New Haven would close. Production of several Winchester rifles would cease worldwide, while some models would be continued at factories outside the United States. This later changed, as according to the FN website, Winchester-branded guns are still being produced by FN in both the U.S. and Belgium.

Factory in Newhallville

Industrial activity in Newhallville was reduced drastically after 1965 when Winchester, at that time the largest employer in New Haven, decided to move its main production line to East Alton, Illinois. After a machinists' strike in the late 1970s, the factory was sold to U.S. Repeating Arms.Associated Press
'Gun that Won the West' becoming just part of history
''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'', January 18, 2006 The neighborhood's long history of arms production finally ended completely in 2006, when the U.S. Repeating Arms factory closed, laying off 186 workers.Out With A Bang: The Loss of the Classic Winchester Is Loaded With Symbolism
''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'', January 21, 2006

References

External links

Winchesterguns.com website
(Winchester firearms made by

Herstal Group , type = Public , traded_as = , industry = Firearms , fate = , predecessor = Fabrique NationaleBrowning International , successor = , founded = , founder ...

subsidiaries)
Winchester.com website
(Winchester ammunition made by the Olin Corporation) {{Herstal Group Firearm manufacturers of the United States Privately held companies based in Connecticut Olin Corporation

History

Factory in Newhallville

See also

References

External links