this is an old thread but I am compelled to revive it, don't be foolish, buying a new Japanese made firearm, no matter HOW PRECISION made it is, is a POOR INVESTMENT. If you want to see what you'll end up with, just look at a 15 year old Toyota or Honda car.
I've seen these Japanese made Winchester clone rifles with a Browning name at gun shows, brand new in box with 800-900 dollar price tags on them, they sit with no buyers.
if you buy one made in Japan, you will lose money on it when you sell it
if you buy an original at a good price, it will go up in value
it's like comparing a new 20 dollar bill, to a 20 dollar gold piece made pre-1933
they both have a 20 dollar face value, but the gold piece is now worth $1700- it's weight in gold
the smart money is on an original. I just bought an original 71 for only $950, and an original 1886 33 wcf for only $1050. What happened was speculators cornered the supply of these old levers and pushed the price up 2x 4x what it really should be. They are getting tired of sitting on them, so the prices have come back down to what they originally paid or only slightly more. It's a buyers market on vintage lever guns now.
add to it, if you keep walking down the road of buying new foreign made goods, it will only continue to undermine this already unstable USA economy. I can't describe the feeling inside I get, when I pick up an American designed gun and see Made in Japan on it. I don't know what else to say other than it's not a re-assuring feeling. Americans in New Haven and elsewhere in USA should be making those guns, and we should be exporting them to other countries with pride.
Not the other way around.
