In case you missed it, Remington is dead. Like… super dead. This time for real.
Back in July Remington filed for bankruptcy…. Again.
Yesterday it was announced that Remington Outdoors Co. will be purchased by seven buyers–each taking a different piece or pieces of the once-great American firearms manufacture.
But what does that mean going forward? Is this good news for the average gun-owner or bad?
Let’s take a look at who got what piece of the carcass and see if we can’t draw some conclusions.
SOLD!
The winners are, pending final court approval but I would be shocked if there were any take-backs:
- Vista Outdoor Inc. bought the Lonoke based ammunitions business and other IP assets
- Roundhill Group LLC bought everything firearms that is non-Marlin
- Sierra Bullets LLC bought Barnes ammunitions
- Sturm, Ruger, & Co. bought Marlin firearms
- JJE Capital Holdings LLC won DPMS, H&R, Stormlake, AAC and Parker brands
- Franklin Armory Holdings Inc. won Bushmaster brand and some related assets
- Sportsman’s Warehouse Inc. won the Tapco brands
So that’s a nice list–but we need to take a closer look at each one to really get an idea of what it means.
Vista Outdoor Inc. Buys Remington Ammunition
If you don’t know who Vista Outdoors is, they are the guys that own almost everything. Bushnell, RCBS, Hoppes #9, Federal, CCI, Speer, Blazer, M-Pro 7, Camelbak, and a dozen other brands all fall under the Vista banner.
And now we can add Remington Ammo to that list.
While I haven’t seen anything detailing what “other IP assets” means, it’s likely just some brand names and trademarks.
I like this buy, personally. Remington ammo like their UMC line is about the only Remington product I’ve bought in the last 10 years. It’s decent ammo, it’s cheap, and it goes bang.
Vista Outdoors owns a bunch of other ammo brands so one more is one less layer of diversity, but maybe we’ll see some more ammo on the market soon.
Roundhill Group LLC Buys Non-Marlin Firearms and a Steam Plant Parcel
This is the only non-firearms industry company to win a bid. From the digging I did, they are a property investment firm out of Virginia.
Reading up about them, I’m surprised they even entered this cat fight.
From what I can tell, they are almost exactly what they say they are–a firm that invests in real estate.
They bought the Remington gun factory that builds the once legendary 870 and other shotguns, a handgun barrel factory, and a steam plant parcel.
Honestly, I don’t know what to make of this and I’m all sorts of confused. This seems like a strange buy for the firm, but from the sound of it, they plan on keeping the plants open–great news for the employees.
The president of the United Mine Workers of America, who for reasons I don’t know is the union representing the workers of the Remington plant in Ilion, has said that they have been in talks with Roundhill about the collective bargaining agreement at the factory and that the plant will remain open even after the sale.
I hope it works out, and I hope we get good shotguns from Remington again. But I’m wary about this one.
Sierra Bullets Buys Barnes Ammunitions
This is some news I really like! Sierra has long been one of the best manufacturers for great precision rounds, both match grade and for hunting.
Barnes is another huge player in both worlds. My greatest hope is that with their powers and IPs combined, we’ll see some huge changes in bullet technology.
Of anyone that could have bought Barnes, I’m glad it was Sierra.
That said–it also wouldn’t surprise me if Sierra decided to buy Barnes with the express goal of canning the whole brand and absorbing the assets. From a purely business standpoint, that seems like a great plan if you just want to make a big pile of money.
Sturm, Ruger, & Co Bought Marlin
Everyone knows who Ruger is. The 10/22, the Ruger Precision Rifle, and recently the Wangler are all amazing products brought to us by Ruger.
The idea of them owning Marlin should be awesome news for all of us.
Right now if you want a lever-action rifle your main choices are Marlin, Winchester (if you can find one), Henry, Italian-based companies doing reproductions like Uberti, or some very questionable Rossi rifles out of Brazil.
Marlin has been in the lever-action game for a long, long time–but under Remington ownership, the quality has declined sharply.
Ruger with their talent for great quality control and reasonable prices could bring new life to Marlin–either under the Marlin name or as Ruger producing their own branded lever-gats.
Either way, I’m excited!
JJE Capital Holdings LLC Buys DPMS, H&R, Storm-Lake, AAC, and Parker
JJE is probably a name you don’t recognize right off the bat, but you actually do know them. JJE is the parent company of Palmetto State Armory.
While JJE wanted to buy the Remington ammunition division, it looks like they lost to Vista Outdoors.
DPMS
Stripped and sold for parts basically right before Remington announced their bankruptcy in July, so I expect that is more of a branding buy than anything.
Harrington & Richardson
Makers of single-shot rifles and shotguns. I guess we might see a line of budget single-shot firearms from PSA in the next few years?
Storm-Lake
A handgun barrel manufacturing brand. I don’t know if PSA is building their own handgun barrels in-house for the PSA Dagger, but if they aren’t then this makes perfect sense to buy.
Even if they are already doing the Dagger’s barrels in-house, buying another plant will open up even more options for them down the road. Hopefully, this means we’ll see even more handguns from PSA.
Advanced Armament Corporation
This is an interesting buy. I would love to see a line of PSA suppress come to the market. With their ability to make economical options for the masses, I think this could be very beneficial to the people.
Parker Brands
Are they even a thing anymore? This name set off the history dork in me and after double-checking, I think this is referring to the Parker Bros. shotgun line.
Remington bought Parker Bros. in 1934, but it went defunct in 1942. In 2006 Remington brought back the Parker Gun for a hot minute as a publicity stunt.
Way back in the day these were the cool guy shotguns and were wielded by Annie Oakley, Frank Bulter, and other legendary badasses. Today, original Parker shotguns sell on the low-end for at least 1 or 2 grand and on the high-end for as much as $75,000.
I don’t really know how to feel about it. Maybe JJE got it as a package deal, buy 4 brands get 1 free? I really don’t think we’ll see them or PSA try to revive the Parker Brothers legacy, but PSA has dived into some strange waters before so… maybe.
Franklin Armory Holdings Inc. Buys Bushmaster
Ah… Bushmaster. Much like DPMS, Bushmaster was basically stripped and sold for parts not long ago. Once upon a time, Bushmaster made a solid line of AR-15s.
Maybe Franklin bought them for the name, maybe they got some manufacturing bits out of it, we’re not sure yet.
Either way–I don’t think this will really change anyone’s day.
Sportsman’s Warehouse Inc. Won Tapco
It’s a match made in heaven if you ask me. If Bubba wants to murder his SKS, he drags it through the Tapco catalog. That just sounds perfect to now be owned by Sportsmans Warehouse.
I expect this means we’ll see Tapco parts and accessories making a comeback soon. Maybe even get an expansion under new ownership.
Is this bad? Is this good? Eh… really too soon to tell. Tapco never made outstanding products, but they weren’t bad either.
Honorable Mentions
To me this part is interesting also, but here are some brands that didn’t win the auction. Now maybe they were just in it to see if they could get something on the cheap or to drive the price up for the competition, but it’s interesting either way.
Sig Sauer
The backup winner for the Remington ammunition plants is Sig!
Sig already makes some very nice ammo, but with their attempts to score some US military contracts for things like .277 Fury adoption — it makes sense that they’re shopping for more manufacturing capabilities.
Barnes Ammunition Business
I can’t confirm this, but it looks like Barnes tried to buy itself. Not uncommon, and it’s a little sad that they weren’t able to.
Century Arms
Losing the bidding war to Roundhill Group, Century Arms was in the running for the non-Marlin firearm business part of the deal.
Long Range Acquisition LLC
This is the investment firm that in 2019 bought Savage Arms from Vista Outdoors. It seems they also wanted to buy Marlin but lost to Sturm, Ruger & Co.
After spending $170 million dollars to buy Savage last year, you got to wonder just how flush with cash they are to try and bid on Marlin now.
Parting Shots
As much as we might not like it, Remington has been in the gutter for years. Quality-control problems, rust problems, bankruptcy after bankruptcy, and the Bushmaster-Sandy Hook lawsuit.
This once-great American brand was killed off by accountants and investors that cared only for the dollar and not the customer.
My hope is that with these brands under new ownership, we’ll finally see the innovation they deserve and the quality we demand return to each branch.
Maybe we’ll even see something totally different like a new line of Parker Bros shotguns or Ruger lever-action rifles. Only time will tell.
What do you think of the sell-off? Let us know in the comments!
74 Leave a Reply
I wonder if any company received the LAR Manufacturing rights and intellectual property? Remington bought LAR Manufacturing, producer of the LAR Grizzly .45 Win Magnum pistol, and then promptly shut them down. I was saving money to buy a new LAR Grizzly when Remington bought them out and would love to have a new version.
What happened to para ordinance?
im glad ruger got the marlin brand, i have a marlin 30a model and i would put it better than winchester. if you want to hunt use the marlin rifle, if you want a display rifle get the winchester. plus rugers quality control is much better than the current remington brand. remington was once a great gun maker, but those days are gone.
This is what happens when big corporate holding companies buy up iconic brands. So long Remington.
Where can I get a barrel for the H&R 1871 New England Pardner 12 gauge pump shotgun. I'm looking for a slug barrel or is there anything that will fit it.. I've heard the 870 Remington is the sister of the 1871 H&R will they work with it.
Any idea who has the parts for shotguns and rifles?
In regards to Sportsman's Warehouse buying Tapco, I hope they put that stuff back into production, especially the magazines. Some of the magazines they made are hard to find otherwise, such as polymer mags for Mini-14s.
When you make the Model 700 Remington rifle and the 870 Remington shotgun and you cannot make a profit... You are either a moron or an evil money-grubber that wrings all that you can get out of something and then throw it aside like trash, no matter who this hurts.
I could certainly have done better!
Remington died when it was turned into a Holding Company and started buying up everything they could then gutting them. DPMS was a great little company, until Remington acquired it.
The whole X-Mark Pro® (“XMP®”) triggers problem was a fiasco that showed where Remington was going. It took 8 years for them to admit the problem then took court to get them to take responsibility. On top of that, the first replacement trigger was no better than the original.
It all sucksthat a great company goes under
Does anyone know where or who might NOW
Manufacture black synthetic stocks for Remington rifles ?
Can u give names of
Owners other than the corporate names?
Several of them are publicly traded, the rest are owned by dozens of individuals.
Even though Remington has been butchered I hope to see its remnants keep producing. Perhaps evolving for the better. I'm 70 and the Remington line has been a part of my life since I was 8. Very sad for me but Hope still lives.thanks for the info!
Does anyone know who now owns the Para/Para-Ordnance pistol production rights and if such guns are still being made?
Vista getting Remington's ammunition manufacturing is a bad deal for the consumers since it creates a monopoly, they already have Federal and CCI, and with less competition, we could have prices increase. It also has National Security implications. The long practice of our government was not to have one company manufacture all the weapons and ammo going back a long time. You don't put all your eggs into one basket!
I don't know why you would think it would create a monopoly. There is numerous other ammunition companies out there. Sig, Hornady, Winchester, Black Hills and many more. Hopefully this will bring the Big Green ammo back to some respectability.
Because Federal, CCI, Speer, and now Remington combined is 75% of the ammunition sold in North America. Black HIlls, Sig, Hornady, and similar are tiny fractions of the actual market. Steve is absolutely correct.
Ugh! I've had a AAC Blackout Flash Hider, 5.56mm, 56T - 1/2-28 on back order for months. I kept hoping that they would get some more out to the market. I wonder how long I'll have to wait before things start appearing at PSA? No fun if I can't attach the can to the barrel.
What does this mean for the warranty on the AAC products? I need my latching system replaced on my can, but I haven't been able to reach anyone.
FTR...
Author...
it was auctioned off live... over the course of many days
The UMWA representing gun factory workers is not the strangest union/ labor mismatch I have seen.
A Norge/Magic Chef/Maytag/Whirlpool (They may have closed before Whirlpool bought Maytag, I'm not sure)plant in my area was represented by an aerospace workers union. As far as I know, none of their washers, driers or ranges could fly.
When Lionel toy trains were made in MIchigan the workers were represented by the United Auto Workers union. Workers at Colt are also represented by the UAW. So if you make cars, tractors, forklifts, construction equipment,guns or toy trains you could all be in the same union.
Makes a lot of sense.
It makes even less sense than that - United Auto Workers also represents graduate student teaching assistants at some universities.
When people want representation, they contact many unions that represent others in their area. Generally they chose a local union who has a good reputation for doing what they say they will do. I was with International Union of Operating Engineers in Michigan and we represented custodians, secretaries, nurses, police in addition to maintenance people and Stationary Operating Engineers. I am sure I missed some occupations. This is not uncommon, and the unit has to have a vote to be certified and to be represented.
Jim, as a former employee I can tell you that all of the above are true. When I was there the motto was quantity not quality i knew when I was there this day was coming sooner than later. To bad!
Don't know hard to say. I did pick up a very nice DPMS A2 Classic with heavy barrel, for cheap a few years back. Hope I can pick up uppers and lowers and whatnot. Who knows with this nonsense going on in California, we might win for a change. I have been happy of late because I did get my permit. I am limited to three, but hope that all changes soon. I think we should have the same things no matter where we live.
Where did Remington’s newer factory that builds the 783 go?
Roundhill, wonder what will happen there. Will the Remington 700 and 870 be rejuvenated?
Marlin to Ruger is a good move, they are great with legacy products/IP.
Had to be total management failure, with a lack of a long term plan of recovery from earlier mistakes. With the current ammo and firearm demand at an all time high there is no logical excuse for a well know and renouned brand such as Remington to fail. I've bought their products since I was a kid, and I'm now 77, and I stil have some of their classic guns. Let's hope some of the companies that purchased parts of the company are going to restore the Remington name, and not just continue the process of bleeding the name dry for profits.
Guess the 35 Remington made in 1938, that I bought it in 1962 and my falling block 22 rifle model 4 made in 1913 now have a special place in the safe
As long as they make lot's more V3-TAC13's I'll be happy
Sadly, Remington isn’t what it once was. Bought a 1100 back in the late 60’s. I have fired 100’s if not thousands of rounds through it and never, never a misfire. Still have it. Just don’t shoot as much these days.
I like the ruger marlin deal. Hopeful we'll see some good come out of it. Like both brands but Ruger is my company.
Maybe Tapco will be revived and we’ll see some new G2 AK triggers. Best thing Tapco ever made.
Hands down, easily.
i'm very interested to see what comes of the Remington 870. I love my 870 but there is no denying that the quality has gone down on the newer firearms when compared to older versions. Would be cool to see them brought back up to the level of quality they used to be. Hopefully this new company continues to make them.
Does one of the acquisitions include Remington rifles or is that line now gone? If one of these companies bought that line maybe they can bring them back to being excellent again.
Sorry not sorry that Remington is finished. Tried several of their products over the years and came to dislike them almost immediately. Finally refused to even consider them regardless of the price.
WHY? Is the fate of Remington Arms a product of an outdated business model, mismanagement, labor union stress, over-regulation by federal, state and local government, bad marketing, or all of the above? Any insiders or former employees out there?
Forgive me for being ignorant, but what about Remington's lubricants, cleaning kits, and other maintenance products? Will Rem Oil be discontinued? Thank you.
I realize this has been in the works for a long time, but since late Feb we've been in the potentially most lucrative time in history for the firearms related industry...if they'd have gone all in on production (especially on ammo) while gouging at even half of what most sources are doing, they probly could have resurrected themselves by using the absurd profits to bring quality across all product lines up to old-school Remmington levels. The election consequences make the ramp-up investment a no-brainer...Biden wins and the ban threat will grow exponentially, driving sales. Trump wins, and the riots grow exponentially, driving even more non-gun owners to face the reality of, and purchase in preparation for, violence at their door.
As usual though, once the owners and executives sniff out a leak in the hull, it's every rat for themselves. The cash out and dash out option has destroyed many a company and family name.
That being said, I'll always fondly remember the Remmington pump .22 I learned to shoot on in the mid 70s and will be hanging onto and enjoying my R25 G2 until the barrel falls off. (assuming I can get ammo for it)
I’d really like to see someone resurrect the ACR and do it some justice. So many good things about that platform that could have been leveraged by a company willing to follow through with the product that the market actually wanted.
I love my ACR, and packing it around has made me a much stronger man. Lol
This is hard to believe, wow, the best bolt action the average hunter could afford now history. Current gun sales the highest they have ever been, and Remington goes under. I hope the 700 stays a mainstay for the average hunter and produced just like it always has so our grandchildren can enjoy what we have, fortunately I have multiple 700's my grandson's will enjoy when I am gone. Thank you Remington.
Hopefully the winners will bring back some of the brands that have fallen by the way side, especially the H&R long guns. Palmetto has always offered good products at a reasonable price, I just hope they haven't bit off more than they can chew.
I think the Ruger/Marlin combination could be good for the Marlin line. I know Remlin took a while to get the Marlin line up and running with some better products finally coming out but significant damage to the brand was already done with the first shoddy products. As far as the Roundhill Group running the Remington line - this could go either way. These guys could be gun guys with some background in manufacturing and want to make it work or they just want to disassemble it further for the value of the parts (real estate) if they got it for very short money.
We have to think back to the Harley Davidson fiasco back in the days when they almost completely with the AMC buy-in. I dang near killed HD but they rose again from the dung-heap and have been doing great. Maybe Marlin could follow HD’ strategic climb out of the dung-heap strategy and do likewise. Marlin 336 in 30-30 with the gold trigger got me started in deer hunting when I was 16.
AMF owned HD
A nice add-on to this would be putting a business analysis on this. Something like, "In the Midst of the greatest ammo and gun shortage in half a century, Remington goes bankrupt" or "How a legendary arms and ammo manufacturing company couldn't figure out how to make a profit in the midst of the greatest ammo and gun shortage in half a century." Something like that. It would be really interesting to read from a BizAnalytics perspective.
I think you should have spoken Para's name, even if it did die nearly a decade ago....with the assets being asorbed.
I'd like to see it resurrected. Maybe it was part of some of that first "IP" you discussed...
I’ve got Rossi lever guns and have found them to be dependable, reliable, accurate, and, being lever guns, just a hoot to shoot.
I feel extra fortunate to have acquired, last year, a new Remington 1911-A1 (WWII GI-style reproduction). It's high-quality, shoots great and the deal I got was fantastic. I have long been a confident consumer of Remington ammo, as well. In fact, one of the best ammo deals I got online very recently was Remington 9mm. The price was well below the scarcity-highs that are currently typical. Alas, all those deals are probably history.
That wasn't a Remington. It was 'actually' a Para•Ordnance.....And I wish they'd bring the nameplate back.
Your 411 taken under advisement. Thanks.
Remington has went through many Owners such as Stren, Cerberus Capital Management, and many Others. And Still Manufactures their Fine Shotguns & Rifles. I am Sure they will for another 50 Years. Just Hope the Custom Gun Shop can make me a Fine Grade 11-87 SPS.
As Americans we should be outraged that Remington was allowed to be sued for Sandy Hook! When you get hit by a drunk driver you don’t go after GM. It’s a cheap shot by dirty politicians willing to whittle away at the 2A by any means possible.
Remington had it problems with quality due to corporate greed but they didn’t deserve this. Now the precedent has been set. Who’s next, Ruger, Winchester, maybe Colt? This is a huge deal that needs to be dealt with head on. We need to research and remember the politicians involved that got that lawsuit pushed through and vote them out. In fact, as voters, we should vote as if term limits existed. We don’t need a chance for these dirty politicians to settle in and make a career of robbing the taxpayer.
Much more of that to come if Biden wins.
I am curious to see how things play out. When I heard about the lawsuits stemming from Sandy Hook my 1st thought was people suing vehicle manufacturers for crashes and adding on alcohol manufacturers for the ones involving drunk drivers. There is a long list of potential law suits.
Almost infinite.
Salt manufacturers for high blood pressure? Needle makers for heroin ODs? Refineries for arson victims? The logic is so bad it hurts.
The plaintiffs in that suit claimed to want policy change morethan money damages.
Remington offered to bury the Bushmaster patent andname rights.
Plaintiffs declined.
Totally Agreed Paul.
As much as I dislike many politicians, they can't be blamed for this. The Republican Congress actually passed a law intended to prevent lawsuits against manufacturers by victims of criminals like the Sandy Hook murderer. The problem is that intellectually corrupt leftist judges invented out of whole cloth a tortured rationale to allow the suit to proceed in spite of the law. However, I suspect the lawyers and plaintiffs in the lawsuit will get nothing from the bankruptcy sale. This is speculation on my part, but there are probably too many secured creditors that are owed too much to leave anything for an unliquidated, unsecured tort claim.
Vote all the bums out of Washington. Term limits for every politician and judge no more than two terms just like the president. They should be paid no more than the lowest serviceman who is putting his ass on the line. Then go home with no benefits or pension. It needs to start local first so start a petition in your home town
I wonder what will happen with their stable of shooters.
I think the whole thing sucks, totally. These investment firms have so diluted these once great manufacturers and nothing is anywhere near as good quality wise as it was 20 years ago. These brands names mean almost nothing anymore. And I am still pissed that Bill Ruger was pro assault weapons ban back during the Clinton years, Ruger is still dead to me.
Agreed about Bill Ruger. What did He think He would Gain by Being a Sell Out?
+1, though I will probably still buy a Blackhawk someday...
Maybe that was so he could sell more minis.
I wasn't happy with Ruger for a long time because of that. However, I was later told that was a specific-to-Bill-Ruger thing, and that the company was completely different after he was gone. Which is why they've gone full in on things Bill Ruger shunned, such as the AR15. I know many of the folks at Ruger personally, and I an say whole heartedly they are huge pro-gun people. I strongly believe they would never support the AWB if it happened now.
Maybe you should view the AR-556 as Ruger's act of contrition.
Bill Ruger has been dead for 20 years, and Ruger is now run by pro-gun owners.
As of 2016 they were the largest gun manufacturer (by sales) in the US.
Thank god, Ruger got Marlin, now I can finally have enough confidence to buy a brand new Marlin!
R.I.P., Remington.
I feel like 2020 is what we all thought the year 2000 was gonna be
Wow. I think you just hit the distinction nail on the head