Posted on 05/15/2018 12:37:35 PM PDT by C19fan
Remington Outdoor, one of the country’s oldest and largest gun makers, is getting ready to emerge from bankruptcy.
The question is whether somebody — anybody — will buy the company, especially at such a politically and emotionally polarized time for the gun industry.
The usual suspects of potential buyers are circling, including rival gun manufacturers like Sturm, Ruger & Company and some small financiers willing to accept whatever criticism would come from buying Remington.
More tantalizing is a pie-in-the-sky idea: whether a beneficent billionaire, like Michael R. Bloomberg, could buy the company and either try to transform it or shut it down — a sort of philanthropic euthanasia in the name of gun control.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Elmer Fudd might bid on it.
It wouldn’t matter. The AR craze of the Obama years caused a lot of new small firearms manufacturers to pop up to cater to the demand. Many of these are now big enough to be able to expand to cover any void in the market left by the departure of Remington. Besides, Remington has been going downhill for awhile. I would miss their plentiful ammunition at Wal-Mart more than their firearms.
I’m pilling for Spectrum Brands to purchase the company. Victor Kiam is no longer with us, alas. I just like the idea of getting a free Remington nose hair trimmer when you buy a rifle.
Remington developed and manufactured some of the great sporting arms in US history.
Model 700
Model 1100
Model 870
M 1903 Springfield
Model 760
Model 740
Gorgeous line-up.
Ruger would do well to buy them and KEEP the name.
Using modern manufacturing the fit and finish could be what it once was, while still keeping costs moderate.
I think the best bet for a new Remington business model would be to take both a national and state level approach. The national side would market “upscale”, high quality precision designs with advanced materials. Premium guns at premium prices.
The State level Remington subsidiaries would be “half franchises”, to design and make guns completely from state products, and for use only in a given state. While still quality, the guns themselves would be “federalist”, outside of national gun laws.
Will Remington follow Springfield Armory and Mossberg’s example? Will Remington ALSO cut off Dick’s?
There are parts worth keeping alive, like the 700 hunting rifle platform. The rest can be done better by other companies.
This is mostly right.
The “assault rifle” product lines are the most substitutable, and shutting down Remington won’t have the slightest effect. The tooling is generic.
The “acceptable” lines, legacy designs, will be eliminated, if the tooling is not sold to another manufacturer. Like Marlin lever-action rifles, 870 shotguns, etc. But even these will be substituted for quite quickly with different but similar designs.
Ammunition is something else though. Remington owns significant manufacturing capacity that will take longer to replace.
That car episode of the Simpsons had it backwards. Homer’s design was retro and would have done well. It was like a Chevy Nomad, IIRC.
Would love to buy it and move it to Indiana
or arkansas (where they have their .22LR ammo plant)....cranking out 7 million rounds a day.
I’m worried that some activist billionaire like Tom Steyer or Bloomberg will buy Remington and then shutter it permanently.
“More tantalizing is a pie-in-the-sky idea: whether a beneficent billionaire, like Michael R. Bloomberg, could buy the company and either try to transform it or shut it down — a sort of philanthropic euthanasia in the name of gun control.”
Even MORE tantalizing is a billioniare buying the New York Times and shutting it down. It would be a great step toward restoring a responsible press.
Yes, along with some of the partner brands such as Marlin and Dakota Arms. Ruger has dropped its shotguns and lever-actions, so internal competition isn't a problem. Dakota just makes gorgeous high-end rifles which, again, don't really cross over into Ruger's mainstream products.
IIRC, Dakota is already Remington/Marlin's "custom shop", so maybe they'll be able to finally sort out the mysteries of those 1890s Marlin designs.
Perhaps Armalite or some similar sport-utility rifle manufacturer will absorb DPMS.
Marlin also has some of the greatest sporting arms in history.
They must be preserved.
If I had the money I would buy the whole kit and kaboodle.
Oh, Ruger would have to drop their POS Model 7.
No way is it a competitor to the Model 700 or the Dakota 97/76.
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