Sheels over here put all their Winchesters in the back room and are setting on them waiting to run the price up. Sportsmans Warehouse said a guy from Scheels came in and bought every Model 70 that they had. They are now taking people names that call in and telling them that when they find a Model 70 they will call them. They won't have to look very hard.[:@]I have done a ton of business with Scheels but no more.

I heard yesterday that someone is going to buy the outfit and make the guns again but the deal may take up to three years to get going again. I just heard this from a Dealer that I visit with at gun shows. I have no Idea where he got his info or if its true or not.

This should help Marlin out a lot. They will own the cowboy action shooting market. They should buy Winchester. They would own the lever action market then. Of course the lever action market is not so good except for the cowboy action game. Same for the single action revolver.

That sounds about typical James. I havent been around a lot of model 70's but the ones I have been just didnt have the right "feel" for me. Im sure they are pretty good guns but there are none in my cabinet with the lone exception of a Mod 94 in 32 win spcl.

Yup, I've heard that they've been putting out a crappy product lately,,

I scheels is buying up winchesters, they should have been in the business of speculating on beanie babies a decade ago by trying to corner the market.
I just don't see model 70s going up in value, especially when you consider that another domestic manufacturer, Ruger, makes a very similar product that is even nicer, and a foreign company,CZ, makes a rifle about on par with the model 70.

Went to the local dealer yesterday. Said the distributers are wiped clean. They still had featherweights in 243wssm, 6.5 Swedish, and 325wsm. Considered geting the 6.5, but wound up buying a Model Seven in .243instead. Go figure. I have a model 94 in .44 mag that I love. There are still a few .44 mag rifles at the local Gander mountain. Most everything else is wiped out. Though it was cheap, my old winchester model 120 pump is one of the most accurate slug guns I have ever seen. Bad enough to lose Ithaca last year, now this. Hope it isn't a trend.

KEJ

we lost ithaca ???????
how did i miss this ??
why did they go under ??

and it may help marlin to have the cowboy action market to itself but , without competition , they usually stop trying to compete , and sometimes forget how , grow stale and then fold.

Ithaca went out of buisiness again around October of last year. They had justtransferred theplant in Auburn NY, and borrowed a bunch of $ from New York. They had some production problems/quality isssues and just never turned things around. I think New York State now owns the rights to the Ithaca name. Almost bought a Deerslayer II yesterday, just cause they are difficult to find. Barrels are getting very hard to find also.

Kej

To Jones123,
When I lived in Billings about 10 years ago, Scheels was my favorite place in town. I bought my Winchester 94 30/30 there, as well as a model 70 270. I also have a Savage 12 gauge I got there as well. Does Mike (slim guy with glasses) still work there?

With the 94 gone it will only take another 100yrs to go through the MILLIONS of current 94s on the market. So I think the supply on them (as well as the 70s in all honesty) is probably safe for now. Sure there might be a short supply from a temporary run on them right now, but the shortage won't cause a spike in their use (they are still a limited range caliber in a limited use gun) so the ones being snapped up now probably won't be used in all likeliness.

As for leaving Marlin to snap up the cowboy action market, that isn't true the people already in charge of that market are only going to continue to grow in popularity. Uberti (Beretta) is in the drivers seat with the cowboy market and if you have picked up one of their Italian built leverguns lately you will quickly realize they they have built the Winchester levers probably better than Winchester EVER did before. I have a 45LC Goldenboy in my shop right now and it feels as if it was machined from billet. The last 94 Winchester I picked up felt as though Remington had built it for Walmart instead of Winch for the public!

I'm sure something will happen with the name, but in all honesty that is ALL Winchester guns HAS been for the last few decades.
RA

I agree with Red about the quality. After 64 things were bad from what I saw, then they started producing under another company. I did try one in 22 250 but accuracy was lacking and I sold it off, so they never tempted me again. Basically I found military surplus rifles matched or exceeded their ability to hit the bull!

As a kid winchesters were legend and I still drool a bit when I see some pre-64's, but then I could go custom too for those prices! Soooo, although I hate to lose a factory here, I have to lay this aside and honor them through an historical perspective.

And the Uberti's do look good!