winchester now

[bruce moulds]

of recent note is a new? winchester semi auto hunting (not military) rifle called sxr2.
of interest to some here is that it is available in 9.3x62.
also 308, 30/06, and 300 win.
of concern is the now very limited choices of the mod 70, in both calibres and types.
hopefully this trend reverses itself.
bruce.

 

[BeeMaa]

I'm guessing the SXR2 was made to compete with the likes of the Benelli R1 and others in the European driven hunt semi-auto rifle game.

The rear sight on the M70 Classic Hunter is anything but "classic".

And now the Classic Hunter is only available in 30-06?!?! The M70 Extreme Weather is available in 243WIN, 308WIN and 30-06. While the M70 Safari Express is still available in 375H&H, 416RM and 458WM.

Yes, things at Winchester are certainly changing.

 

[mark-hunter]

Now they have a chance to fill up a market gap, that remington left with closing down production of rifles, and after CZ has phased out their CRF action rifles 550, and now in Winchester are reducing the models, and calibers?

 

[mdwest]

Sadly there isn’t much of a gap to fill..

The US consumer (the largest piece of their market) wants MSR’s, “tactical” precision rifles, and cheap entry level bolt actions like the Ruger American and Savage Axis...

There simply aren’t a lot of Winchester 70, Rem 700, Browning A-Bolt, Ruger 77 buyers out there anymore... and those that are out there also have access to kimber, sako, Christensen, etc etc at similar price points (flooded market for a small consumer base)...

Hunters are a dying breed... I’m betting we see further reductions in both rifle variants and caliber offerings over the next few years...

Walk into a Cabelas or a Bass Pro Shop... 10 years ago 90% of what was on the shelf in the firearms section was hunting related... today it’s maybe 50%..

Walk into a typical local gun shop and you’ll be lucky to find 25% of the rifles on the shelves to be hunting designs.. many barely carry any at all...

The only big chain sporting good store I know of that still remains hunting focused with the majority of their rifles and shotguns being hunting models is Scheels.. but Scheels hasn’t had a Winchester on the shelf the last several times I’ve been there...

 

[Shootist43]

Although we don't want or like to see it, the "handwriting is on the wall." There is very little market for the type and caliber rifles we talk about here on a daily basis. I'm afraid that unless we are able to pass our "toys" down to our children that most of them will go "wanting" for a good home.