Euroarms is closing

[Todd Watts]

Just an FYI, I learned this morning that Euroarms has been bought-out by Pedersolli and will probably soon be closed. Blockade Runner has bought all the Euros they could find from thei suppliers as I am sure the other sutlers are also doing. Unfortunately, BRi said all the spare Euro parts were already bought-up by the time they acted. A panic-buy will soon commence and even Armis will probably become scarce as they will have to carry the entire load for the new gun purchases during the 150ths.

[Dan Wambaugh]

Re: Euroarms is closing

Fascinating. Thanks for announcing this Todd. I wonder if Pedersoli plans to do away entirely with the Euroarms brand and simply sell their own muskets exclusively. Could mean that the $600+ Armi Sports will be the only option for folks wanting a musket under $900.

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: Euroarms is closing

In a word: Yowza!

Not good news for swelling the ranks for the 150th's.

However, the "cost excuse" for not carrying an accurately reproduced musket begins wearing thin at $900. Is there perhaps an arms maker in the US able to step up and build an historically-accurate, say, US M1861 for $900-$1000? Dare we dream of a repro Enfield that accurately reproduces the Type 3 Enfield actually used during the war?

[Dan Wambaugh]

Re: Euroarms is closing

Another thought: What does this mean for the Parker Hale brand Enfields? If I'm not mistaken since moving from Britain many years ago these have basically been upgraded Euroarms muskets. Does mean the end to not only the Euroarms Enfield but the Parker Hale as well?

[WpnsMan]

Re: Euroarms is closing

Before everyone starts wringing their hands consider this,

Why should we assume that Pedersolli will stop production of products formerly in Euroarms line outright? I don’t recall Pedersolli producing an 1861 Springfield, 1853 Enfield, etc. that have been directly competing with Euroarms products.

While it remains to be seen, I find it unlikely that they would acquire Euroarms with the sole intent of killing off the entire product line thus giving Armi-Sport a defacto monopoly of the market. Such an action would be entirely short sighted on their part when they could just as easily re-brand the line and fill the niche that Euroarms has always held. In doing so, Pedersolli would increase their share of the over-all market as opposed to their traditional high end side of it.

This is not to say we shouldn’t expect a temporary disruption in production as this all transpires which will affect supply and demand and the associated price increase or availability to consumers in the short term.

My .02,

[Dan Wambaugh]

Re: Euroarms is closing

Bryan,

Just a point of clarification, Pedersoli has produced both the P53 Enfield and 1861 Springfield at various times, and currently still offer the Springfields at about a 50% higher price than Armi Sport.

But that is an excellent point about the future of the Euroarms brand.


Best,

[Dbackfed]

Re: Euroarms is closing

Maybe they will improve the Euroarm's product and become a real competiter to Armi Sport?

[tenfed1861]

Re: Euroarms is closing

Folks,
What is the possibility that Pedersoli will keep the Euroarms factory open,yet just stamp their name on it instead.It seems to me that Pedersoli is more high-ends traditional gunsmithing.Maybe they bought Euroarms not so much to take out competetion,but as means of increasing their sales.Have the Euroarms factory keep producing the Enfields and Springfield (since there is a decent market for those),stamp Pedersoli on the boxes,and the gunsmiths at Pedersoli keep making their traditional guns.Remember what Doc Brown tells Jennifer at the end of Back to the Future III.The future is unwritten.All we can do is sit back,wait and see.
Just my 2% out of 100 pennies

[WpnsMan]

Re: Euroarms is closing

Dan,

Good point regarding Pedersoli’s 1861 Springfield. However, I never see them advertised by any of the usual suspects when checking out current musket prices. Which would lead me to believe my original hypothesis “may” be on track. That being, Pedersoli could drop production of their seemingly slow moving 1861 and any other redundancies within their new acquisition, concentrate on their traditional best sellers while reaping the profits of re-branded Euroarms products.

Though, if this does not transpire, I would agree with John that this is not promising on the eve of the 150th’s. It seems we are losing far too many quality vendors across the board at a time when they should be increasing their sales in preparation of the next 5 years worth of events.

[Dan Wambaugh]

Re: Euroarms is closing

Bryan,

Well said. Though in your last sentence the "should" is the most important word...For me personally I've noticed no significant increase nor decrease in sales in the last couple of years with the 150ths looming, while I know other vendors whose sales have dropped off the face of the earth. The advent of better communication networks (ie the Internet) have led to a boom in P2P sales of used items at fractions of the price of new items. This is especially true in the area of firearms, where a well maintained musket can often be quickly sold for less than a 10% loss over its new price, and occasionally small improvements can recover the owner his complete investment. It's a great time to be a buyer, but the unfortunate downside of that is that it's a terrible time to be a manufacturer. Not editorializing in any way, but simply stating things the way they are, and accounting for the dramatic loss of quality vendors we have seen in the last year.

The 150ths will be fine for sales, but I think the AC and other forums will see the lion's share of the commerce. If only they could charge a $1/sale fee to donate toward preservation, imagine what that could accomplish!

[Blair]

Re: Euroarms is closing

Don't everybody get your shorts in a bunch just yet.
I have found out Euroarms of America (EoA) had indeed closed its doors and sold off all its in house stock and parts. I don't know to whom yet.
Pederosoli did offer several Euroarms of Italy made revolvers and the M-1861 Springfield and the P-1853 Enfield made by EoI. But I can't confirm if it were Pederosoli that bought out EoI at this time.
There is one thing that "we" can probably count on is a "major" price increase in repro CW arms.
This price increase is something I have been aware of for about three months now. The original price increase was set, not at the normal 10 or 20%, but much closer to 100% of the "current" cost of these firearms across the board. Makes no difference who the maker is.
Has your "pucker factor" reached 10 yet? It should!
As I get info from some of my "inside" sourses... I will pass that info on.

[jmbyrnes]

Re: Euroarms is closing

Cullen,

A quick question...why would a company with a reputation for higher quality and authenticity stamp their name on an inferior product? I think the probability of them keeping the euroarms stamps is greater, however the revenue will ultimately be going into the hands of Pedersoli.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Euroarms is closing

Hallo!

IMHO, we will, shall, see.

On the one hand, as shared, eliminaitng competition is usual the precursor to pricv increases.

On the other hand, while basically, and over simplifying here, CW Italian repro's come out the "Brescia Valley" industries where I have lost track over the decades of the "name changes."

On the sinister side, maybe the Civil War is dying and almost dead, and the Italians are beginning to retool for the WWI Centennial in 2014.

Just a-funnin' on the later...

:)

Curt

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Euroarms is closing

Euroarms made the US 1861 that Pedersoli sold under their brand name, or at least they made the parts
and Pedersoli finished them. Pedersoli makes a very good product for a premium price. If they (in fact)
bought Euroarms, it would be to improve their products...and of course sell them for 50% more than they
cost now.

I am not as impressed with Euroarms as far as the perception of higher quality and they have not introduced
a new product in twenty years. The Parker Hale barrel in a Euroarms stock that they used to sell for $950
under the Parker Hale name has not been imported to the US for a few years now. I think 2008 was the last
year that was an option. The last true Parker Hales (made in the UK) were produced fifteen to twenty
years ago. They are serial # 15000 and below.

Let's see what Blair comes up with from his contacts in the business. If this is true, it is a good thing.
It means Pedersoli will grow their product line to include more Civil War muskets.

[FloridaConscript]

Re: Euroarms is closing

I don't mind the price inceases if quality increases. What with the resources available, making them right shouldn't take much more energy than making them wrong.

that said, maybe this is the excuse I need to buy a defarbed 42 and tell the wife it is an "investment" seeing as how the internet said they would double in price.