I don't know about the States, but these Japanese Winchesters haven't been flying off the shelves up here. I thought the reason was because they wanted $1900 for a reproduction. It makes sense that people would want an original.
They don't fly down here either, BUT, they do move.
IMHO, we still have enough of a lever gun market to drive a demand. Henry's product line has certainly expanded over the last few years, and they don't seem to be slowing down.
Inflated "Winchester" prices for old and new, limited Browning lever gun offerings, and the aging hunter market helped this niche grow.
Businesses like Turnbull's usually have a pretty large pile of overseas Winchesters in the store room waiting to be made into final products - for their product line, or customer requests.
Originals are becoming scarcer, and while we are seeing a lull in the market, haven't really lost value - as much as they aren't as in demand at the moment.
