Winchester Repeating Arms Co. - 1929 dated Gun Stock Certificate

Stock dated the year of the "Crash". Rare color. The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a leading American manufacturer of repeating firearms, headquartered in New Haven, Connecticut. Today, the Winchester brand is owned by the Olin Corporation, and its name is licensed to two subsidiaries of the Herstal Group: Fabrique Nationale (FN) of Belgium and the Browning Arms Company of Ogden, Utah.

The origins of Winchester Repeating Arms trace back to the Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson partnership based in Norwich, Connecticut, distinct from the later Smith & Wesson Revolver Company founded by the same individuals. Smith and Wesson acquired an improved version of Walter Hunt's 1848 "Volition Repeating Rifle" and its innovative "Rocket Ball" ammunition from inventor Lewis Jennings. Although Jennings' rifle was commercially unsuccessful and Robbins & Lawrence, the producer, ceased manufacturing in 1852, Smith developed a significantly enhanced rifle based on Jennings' design. The partnership also recruited Benjamin Tyler Henry, the former shop foreman at Robbins & Lawrence. In 1855, seeking to produce their "Volcanic" lever-action rifle and pistol, Smith and Wesson incorporated as the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company. Oliver Winchester, a clothing manufacturer, became its largest stockholder.