The Forum at Handcuffs.Org

Winchester Cuffs Discontinued

13 visible archived posts · 13 preserved total · topic ID 1093

Edward 26 Jan 2006

According to Discount Handcuff Warehouse, the newer Winchester Stainless Steel Handcuffs have now been discontinued. For those of you who collect, better get them now before they fetch ridiculous e-bay prices later on.

Edward

BFW 26 Jan 2006

For all intents and purposes, it seems Winchester is gone, other than the name. Here's the guts of a recent news article:

Winchester Repeating Arms Co. was sold to Olin Corporation in 1931, which later sold off Winchester's firearms manufacturing business in 1981, retaining only the Winchester name and its branded ammunition business. From 1981 until 2006, rifles and shotguns were made by the U.S. Repeating Arms Company using the licensed Winchester name. On January 16, 2006 U.S. Repeating Arms announced it was closing the New Haven, Conn. plant where Winchester firearms were produced for 140 years. Olin retains the right to license the use of the Winchester name.

I don't own a set of Winchester cuffs, but the ones I've seen seemed quite serviceable. On some Winchester ammunition boxes I have, it shows the cartridges were manufactured by Olin in East Alton, Illinois.

Were the Winchester handcuffs manufactured by U.S. Repeating Arms Company in New Haven, Conn., or by another company?

stan willis 26 Jan 2006

The Winchester cuff was made in Taiwan for a company in Illinois that licensed the rights to use the Winchester name on them.
Stan

The Amazing Michael 27 Jan 2006

Stan, at least now we know it is a high quality restraint! LOL! They make great cuffs down in good ol' Taiwan, where you would expect a product like Winchester to be made! LOL!

Cheers, Mike

stan willis 27 Jan 2006

Actually, the Winchester and the Chicago Handcuff X33 (Handcuff Warehouse) are both NIJ approves, and are fairly nicely made.
Stan

The Amazing Michael 27 Jan 2006

Stan, I have seen the Chicago X33 and I am impressed with how well it is built for the price, but I have not seen the Winchester close up yet. Pretty good quality, aye? I noticed that it features a right and left-hand cuff and that it has a groove in sides the movable bow, which are usually absent in cheaper cuffs.....how are the tolerances? Are they easy to shim and or pick?

Cheers, Mike

stan willis 27 Jan 2006

I COLLECT them. I don't care about the tolerances. I havn't tried to pick it or shim it, since I would rather not screw up the cuff or the finish.
Stan

Howy 27 Jan 2006

Too bad to see Winchester gone, sounds as they actually have been really gone for quite a while.

On the ODCMP.com forum some Winchester M-1's (and possible the last one's) were just sold and they went fast.

BTW apparently Ithica Arms went belly up last summer, my 12 Ga "Steakout" should be worth more now.

Howy

BFW 27 Jan 2006

Well, I couldn't resist. I wandered by the local cop shop today to see what all the fuss was over, and now have a lifetime supply of Winchester handcuffs. If nothing else, they should come in handy for trading purposes at a gun show, where nobody ever lets the truth stand in the way of a good story.

I'd never seen the name Winchester on the NIJ approved list, but now know why: the certification was in the importer's name: Tactical Steel Products, Inc. It seems this company moved around a lot. The cuffs themselves are stamped Chicago, IL, the address on the box is Gurnee, IL, while the NIJ address is in University Park, IL.

All in all, while not a work of manufacturing art, they are indeed quite serviceable. The ratchets are a little odd, but they seem to be as secure as a S&W 100, and the overall finish is a little nicer.

Dorson 27 Jan 2006

#10

okay, you got my interest. What is odd about the ratchets on the Winchesters? It has been awhile since I have seen a pair of Winchesters and I thought they were over priced to start with.
-Dorson

BFW 27 Jan 2006

#11

Oh, sorry.

Instead of a single piece of steel riveted in place between the double bows, there's two pieces, like you see on the el cheapo "real handcuffs for official police duty". The odd thing is that the ratchets are also each made of two pieces of metal, side by side, that work in tandem. I can't tell if these are laminated together or simply work that way due to a single spring in back.

While it looks kinda cheap, potentially this may add some strength, like a piece of plywood being stronger than solid wood.

Although the general, overall shape is closer to a Peerless than a S&W, just going by the way the key engages the lock works, it mimics a S&W mechanism using a push pin.

While I have the greatest respect for NIJ testing, I may put one set to the acid test: I'll let my three-year-old grandson mess with a set the next time he's over. If they survive for 30 minutes, they'll get my stamp of approval. If they fail, I'll let you know what the insides look like.

Howy 28 Jan 2006

#12

That would be a great destructive test - if they survive

Howy

Anonymous 04 Jan 2012

#13

Discontinued but still around in 2012