Quote:
Marlin Firearms to close next year
By The Associated Press
Friday, March 26, 2010 at 4:36 a.m.
NORTH HAVEN, Conn.— Marlin Firearms Co., a 140-year-old company which made a gun that was a favorite of Annie Oakley, is closing its Connecticut plant, company officials said Friday.
Workers at the plant in North Haven say they've been told all 265 employees will lose their jobs.
Jessica Kallam, a spokeswoman with Madison, N.C.'s Remington Arms Co. Inc., which owns Marlin, said the Connecticut plant will close by June 2011 and employees would be offered severance and help finding jobs. She said Marlin is relocating its manufacturing operations to an undetermined site.
Kallam could not confirm if all employees in Connecticut are losing their jobs.
She read a company statement that says Freedom Group, which owns Remington, must reduce its costs to remain competitive.
"Although long term prospects of the business look positive, economic factors beyond Freedom Group's control related to increasing costs and pricing pressures within the firearms industry are impacting the entire Freedom Group of companies," the statement said.
Remington Arms bought Marlin for nearly $42 million in 2007.
Marlin's Web site says John Marlin opened the company in 1870 in New Haven after having worked at the Colt plant in Hartford during the Civil War. The company says its lever action 22 repeater was a favorite gun of Annie Oakley.
The Associated Press
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According to Freedom Group's website the decision will cost them $8.4M and will be complete in mid-2011. This news sucks for the 265 souls who're going to lose their jobs in CT.
FWIW, I've had a hell of a time finding a new Marlin .22 Papoose for my BOB. Everywhere I look they say it's "out of stock". Guess this is the reason.
Discovered that a Marlin 795 is the same action, basically the same rifle, as the 70PSS, but with a fixed black synthetic stock. Weight of the Papoose is 3.75 pounds. The Marlin 795 weighs 4.50 pounds, so not a lot of difference there. The 795 appears to be more readily available.
Thought you'd want to know.
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