Just saw this on the interwebz. Looks like they feel that "Smith & Wesson" has unpleasant connotations in the modern global market place.

Gunmaker Smith & Wesson to change name to American Outdoor Brands Corp.

what a fail.
killing of a trademark name know the whole world wide.


.

It is not changing the name of the "firearm division". It is changing the name of the holding company which holds each individual division. More at the link: "Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (NASDAQ Global Select: SWHC), today announced that its stockholders have overwhelmingly approved a change to the holding company's name from Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation to American Outdoor Brands Corporation. The name change does not impact Smith & Wesson Corp., the name of the company's firearms division, which has legendary roots dating back to 1852 and will remain unchanged. The name change pertains only to the holding corporation that acquired Smith & Wesson in 2001 and now owns Smith & Wesson Corp., Battenfeld Technologies, Inc., and Crimson Trace Corporation, which represent the company's firearms, manufacturing services, accessories, and electro-optics divisions."

Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (SWHC) Shares Bought by Engineers Gate Manager LP

Just read about this on my homepage. They also own the former Taylor cutlery firm, which probably makes the S&W knives.

Someone who actually takes time to read and understand what a news article actually says instead of just the headline! Imagine that.

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Gunsmithing since 1961

Didn't we already hash this out?

American outdoor equipment? what the heck

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Halfway and one more step

If this name change thread already happened - Sorry, I did not see it.

I read today:
(dated today - SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Dec. 13, 2016 /PRNewswire via COMTEX News Network/ -- Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (NASDAQ Global Select: SWHC), today announced )

that the name change was just passed so it was new to me.

Try to compare this change to another iconic name.

We have all heard or OREO's
MANY of us have heard of Nabisco food Company

Nabisco owns the Oreo brand.
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Same deal here with SWHC (Smith and Wesson Holding Corporation)

SWHC owns many different brands including:
-Smith & Wesson Corp. (NOT Smith & Wesson HOLDING Corp)
-Battenfeld Technologies, Inc., and
-Crimson Trace Corporation

The holding corp (Main name like Nabisco) is changing it's name from SWHC to American Outdoor Brands Corporation (AOBC)

There is no name change for "Smith & Wesson Corp" (the gun side) NOR for Crimson Trace Corporation, etc

Not sure if that helps or not.

Actually, I did read and understand it, and thought I alluded to the distinction between the firearms division and the larger S&W holding corp, when I mentioned the S&W name having unpleasant connotations in the global market place, which seems to be the case, given this totally un-necessary, (and likely politically driven) name change.

There has been many threads on this already, and several closed or deleted.

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Still Running Against the Wind

Not sure what all the fuss is about:

1852: Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson form a partnership, Smith & Wesson Arms Company, to build a repeating, lever-action pistol.

1854: Partners sell the company to Oliver Winchester, who later bases his famous Winchester repeating rifle on some of the pistol's features.

1856: Smith and Wesson create new partnership, Smith & Wesson, Inc., to begin manufacturing the first Smith & Wesson revolver, in Springfield, Massachusetts.

1873: Smith sells his interest in the company to Wesson.

1906: Wesson dies; the company continues to be owned and managed by members of the Wesson family.

1965: Wesson family sells the company to Bangor Punta Alegre Sugar Corp.

1984: Lear Siegler Corporation acquires Bangor Punta.

1987: F.H. Tomkins PLC (later Tomkins PLC) acquires Smith & Wesson.

2001: Tomkins sells Smith & Wesson to Saf-T-Hammer Corporation.

2002: Saf-T-Hammer renames itself Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation.

2016: Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation renames itself American Outdoor Brands Corporation.

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

You might throw in the one black eye Smith and Wesson got in 2000 with the compromise agreement on mag sizes and locking devices and such. Nearly marked the end of this company, people were upset to say the least if I recall correctly and sales went down the proverbial toilet. Still it remains today, strong again. No matter what they name their holding company S&W will remain a trusted name in the firearm industry.

New Home Page for the new Company name American Outdoor Brands
UP 2.04% today Also a neat bit of info on profitability: Smith & Wesson Holding Corp's Worst Business Segment in 2016 | Fox Business "While firearms sales recorded greater growth than did the outdoors and accessories segment, the latter carried better gross margins. Stripping out one-time expenses related to the acquisitions this year of Crimson Trace, Taylor Brands, and Ultimate Survival Technologies, the segment has margins of nearly 50% compared to around 42% in firearms.

They suffered a one year drop in sales, from $112 million to $71 million (still a lot of guns), and then rebounded immediately, back to $100 million in total sales in 2003. Hardly the end of the company. A very vocal minority was unhappy, but guns still went out the door . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Oh-I thought you meant their native American name, "sendem' back crooked sight."