Winchester Repeating Arms Company
 |
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| Industry | firearms |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Volcanic Repeating Arms Company, New Haven Arms Company |
| Founded | 1866 |
| Founder | Oliver Winchester |
| Headquarters | New Haven, Connecticut, United States |
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Key people
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Benjamin Tyler Henry, Oliver Winchester, T. C. Johnson, Edwin Pugsley |
| Products | rifles, pistols, shotguns, ammunition, shooting accessories |
| Parent |
Olin Corporation (Ammunition) Herstal Group (Firearms) |
| Website | www.winchester.com |
Olin Corporation (Ammunition)
The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American maker of repeating firearms, located in New Haven, Connecticut. The Winchester brand is owned by the Olin Corporation and the name is used under license by two subsidiaries of the Herstal Group; Fabrique Nationale (FN) of Belgium and the Browning Arms Company of Ogden, Utah.
The ancestor of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company was the Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson partnership of Norwich, Connecticut (not to be confused with the famous Smith & Wesson Revolver Company founded later by the same men). Smith & Wesson acquired Lewis Jennings' improved version of inventor Walter Hunt's 1848 "Volition Repeating Rifle" and its caseless "Rocket Ball" ammunition, which had been produced in small numbers by Robbins & Lawrence of Windsor, Vermont. Jennings' rifle was a commercial failure, and Robbins & Lawrence ceased production in 1852. Smith designed a much-improved rifle based on Jennings', and the partners also hired away Robbins & Lawrence shop foreman Benjamin Tyler Henry. In 1855 the Smith & Wesson partnership, in order to manufacture what they called the "Volcanic" lever-action rifle and pistol, sought investors and incorporated as the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company. Its largest stockholder was clothing manufacturer Oliver Winchester.
The Volcanic rifle had only limited success. The company moved to New Haven (without Smith or Wesson) in 1856, but by the end of that year became insolvent. Oliver Winchester and his partner John M. Davies purchased the bankrupt firm's assets from the remaining stockholders, and reorganized it as the New Haven Arms Company in April 1857.
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Wikipedia