Any idea who made this 'Winchester' branded multi tool?

Magpie52 · **on:** December 18, 2015, 04:20:38 AM

Got this for Christmas last year with a small belt knife, they are both solid and reasonably well made. The timber scales are better than I would have expected and well finished - one side had a gap but it has been filled with a black adhesive (epoxy?) and it doesn't stand out.

The only markings on the tool are the Winchester name acid etched into the blade and the numbers 4660914B on the reverse of the blade.

Interested to know who made it, or is it just one of the great mass of clones from China? It lives in my range box and has come in handy a few times over the last few months tightening a recalcitrant tang sight!

David · **Reply #1 on:** December 18, 2015, 04:36:15 AM

Mass clone from China would be my guess.

SAK Guy · **Reply #2 on:** December 18, 2015, 05:05:47 AM

Quote from: David on December 18, 2015, 04:36:15 AM

Mass clone from China would be my guess.

+1

enki_ck · **Reply #3 on:** December 18, 2015, 03:02:29 PM

The general rule is never buy a knife or multitool "made by" a gun company. (they're not actually made by them, just branded on some cheaply made tool that will most often break with first real use)

Dem · **Reply #4 on:** December 18, 2015, 03:32:11 PM

I've got one of those. For a non-name brand MT, it's actually pretty good. Much more solid feeling than most cheapos and has locking tools, using a Supertool-type mechanism (so don't open all the tools on one side at once.) Biggest flaw aside from the always-useless Chinese fishscaler/file/hook remover combo tool is that there's no Phillips onboard, so you're stuck carrying the shealth (which will almost certainly be cheap) and bit drivers. It's also quite thick for what it is.

World better than nothing. About a hundred times better than those awful Chinese PST clones.

dks · **Reply #5 on:** December 18, 2015, 03:55:41 PM

The tool set and the blade reminds me of Ganzo. Does it say 2cr or something similar on the pliers head?

I do not see why it is described as a clone.

Dem · **Reply #6 on:** December 19, 2015, 02:45:25 PM

Quote from: dks on December 18, 2015, 03:55:41 PM

The tool set and the blade reminds me of Ganzo. Does it say 2cr or something similar on the pliers head?

I do not see why it is described as a clone.

Mine doesn't. Only mark I can find on the tool is the blade which is stamped '6580512A1'.

edit: but looking at it I realize mine lacks a real file which his has, but has a real Phillips (not as bad as those PST knockoffs but certainly not on par with a proper #2.) Whoops, I feel dumb $:-\$ .

Gareth · **Reply #7 on:** December 20, 2015, 07:57:22 PM

Isn't Winchester a Fiskars owned brand? I could be wrong, but I seem to recall that's the case. Almost certainly made in China, but so are quite a few other good tools.

Chako · **Reply #8 on:** December 20, 2015, 11:48:58 PM

Isn't Winchester licensed by the Olin Corporation?

I know that a lot of Smith & Wesson branded knives are made by Taylor Brands. I know I have a few Winchester branded multi-tools that are based on older Gerber designs.

lowtech · **Reply #9 on:** December 21, 2015, 07:34:23 PM

Quote from: enki_ck on December 18, 2015, 03:02:29 PM

The general rule is never buy a knife or multitool "made by" a gun company. (they're not actually made by them, just branded on some cheaply made tool that will most often break with first real use)

I would like to exempt the Victorinox Walther and Mauser 108 mm knives from that list. While not everyones favourite, the 108mm Victorinox knives are solid knives that are well made and have a nice finish.
but in general, sadly, this rule is correct - same goes for many watches branded with Firearms logo. While working, The UZi and Smith&Wesson watches usually are overpriced for their performance.

ColoSwiss · **Reply #10 on:** December 22, 2015, 07:38:19 AM

Some of the early Beretta knives were made in Italy, probably by one of the big Maniago companies, and are pretty decent.

In addition to Walther and Mauser, a number of other firearms companies appear on Victorinox.

Remington and Winchester produced their own knives back in the 1920's-30's. Those older knives are excellent and highly collectable.

cody6268 · **Reply #11 on:** January 12, 2016, 10:39:08 PM

Quote from: enki_ck on December 18, 2015, 03:02:29 PM

The general rule is never buy a knife or multitool "made by" a gun company. (they're not actually made by them, just branded on some cheaply made tool that will most often break with first real use)

Except that some of the older "Remington" knives were made by Camillus and are extremely well made (i.e. the well known "Bullet" series). Winchester (or was it Remington?) made a Scout knife in the '20s or '30s that's well made and highly collectible (P.S one's on my want list). As mentioned before, Victorinox has made a number of knives for gun makers.

I used to get cheap Walmart knife sets as gifts from a family friend every year, and some were Winchester, and they're OK knives. My favorite is a set of three in a wood box that includes a fixed blade, and two different folders--all with wood and mother of pearl combo handles. At least that's ones pretty to look at. The others I got (gift set with about half a dozen small folders, SAK clones, and pliers-multis) are mostly mediocre (one of the SAK clones has bent scissors), but I do like the little tiny pliers tool for its pretty strong blunt nose pliers (everything else is mediocre including the rounded tip flat drivers and very uncomfortable handles) They are made by Carolina Knife and Tool.