And, those allen head, torkx, and phillips looks oh so, very, very nice on your old Ballard or Winchester. 'Specially in stainless.

How would a damascened breech block make any difference to, say, a tang screw? Now, a laminated stock would stand out, wouldn't it?

It was bad enough that Kmart/Sears went off-shore to get most (all?) of the "Craftsman" line made.  But now in yet another effort to stop the company's financial bleeding, the "Craftsman" name has been sold.

If you were me and were fond of "Craftsman" tools, you'd start haunting eBay and the like for vintage nos or little-used examples.  It may take a while, but as popular as that line was, you will eventually find exactly what you want.

Bill Lawrence

Craftsman began separating themselves from Sears when Sears and Kmart merged. My local Ace Hardware has been a Craftsman dealer for many years.

I'm sorry, Marlinguy, but until they sold their best-known and -repected brand to Stanley-Black & Decker, Sears alone had owned Craftsman for 90 years.  What Sears got was $525 million up front, a promised $250 million at the end of 2020, and an annual payment through 2032 based on a percentage of SBD's yearly Craftsman sales; all-in-all, an estimated $900 million dollars.

What you are referring to was a loosening of Sear's policies after the Sears-Kmart merger, yet an earlier attempt to get more money from the Craftsman line by letting selected others sell it.

Sadly, no matter what they have done or will do, Sears will likely die; and I say it's mainly the fault of today's consumers, who no longer seem to know the difference between "price" and "value".

Bill Lawrence

The opening up of exclusivity of the Craftsman brand at only Sears store was indeed a way to make money for the faltering Sears stores, but it was always part of their plan at Sears and the Craftsman division to save the Craftsman brand name. A later sale was just the final step towards Craftsman becoming totally separated from Sears, but that too was always their plan from the beginning of Sears merger with Kmart, and what will become the final demise of Sears/Kmart.
Unfortunately Craftsman brand is not the same tools we loved decades ago! I used to buy broken Craftsman wrenches at garage sales and turn them in for new. But the last new 1/2" ratchet I got felt horrible, with heavy and crunchy clicks. I handed it back to the salesman and asked if he had more in his drawer. He eventually handed me a repaired one that felt good, and I've never bought any broken ones to exchange again. Just get poor quality if I did, so why bother?

If Sears had truly wanted to "save the Craftsman brand name", they would have kept the quality of the tools high, and they certainly wouldn't have sold the brand to Stanley-Black & Decker, another merger of once-highly-respected names that now increasingly chooses price-point and profit over quality.  So very, very sad!

Bill Lawrence