I have the opportunity to buy a Winchester XTR 100 reel. Its tag on the foot says "Product of Korea". I had no idea Winchester ever made reels. Does anyone know anything about them?
Dennis
Winchester has a long history of producing fishing reels.
I believe they produced reels from the late 1800s on.
In 1919 they acquired Hendrix, and in 1930/31 they were acquired by Horricks Ibbotson. So collectors focus on the reels from this period. They had many trade accounts (including Airex) and made high quality product at the time.
I really don't know what became of the Fishing reel/rod/tackle divisions of the company in more modern times, but suspect anything post 1931 is likely to be a different (low quality) product.
I found this online...
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the following are Modern WINCHESTER branded reels (made in KOREA and distributed by CABELA'S)
"AA" (Spinning Reel)-need models AA35 and AA40
"SUPER-X (Spinning Reel)-need models SX30, SUS30 and SUS40)
"SUPER-X (Casting Reel)-need models SX50 and SX400
"WILDCAT" (Spinning Reel)-need models ww30 and ww40
"CLASSIC" (Casting Reel)-need "GOLD" model
"CLASSIC" (Spinning Reel)-need models CL40 and CL50
"MAGNUM" (Casting Reel)-need model 21)--has a wood handle
John
Hey, thanks a lot for the history John. I didn't think it was anything special for sure, just did not know Winchester produced reels....especially since it was a product of Korea.
Dennis