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Western was founded in 1898 by Franklin Olin. Western & Winchester were combined in 1932 by the Olin Corporation to form Winchester Western. In 1938 they purchased the USC Co., which was absorbed into the company. As of 1980 named Winchester Olin Corp. The Ownership has changed many times in the past few decades. In 1981, Winchester sold its shotgun and rifle manufacturing operations in New Haven, CT, to U.S. Repeating Arms Corporation. Winchester rifles and shotguns are still manufactured today under a licensing agreement, while Winchester makes sporting ammunition at its major plant in East Alton, IL, and now in Oxford, MS (as of 2012), and at a smaller shotshell plant in Geelong, Australia.