FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE              CONTACT:  KENT A. MCKEE
DATE:  November 11, 1994                (316) 636-6300





                           MUELLER INDUSTRIES, INC.
                        ADOPTS SHAREHOLDER RIGHTS PLAN
                            AND AMENDS ITS BYLAWS     


          Wichita,  Kansas --  Mueller  Industries, Inc.  (NYSE:MLI) announced
today  that its Board  of Directors has  adopted a Shareholder  Rights Plan in
which preferred stock purchase rights will be distributed as a dividend at the
rate of one Right for each share of the Company's common  stock held as of the
close of business on  November 21, 1994.   The Rights will expire  on November
10, 2004.

          The Rights are intended to enable all of  the Company's shareholders
to realize the long-term value of their investment in the Company.  The Rights
will not  prevent a takeover,  but should encourage anyone  seeking to acquire
the Company to negotiate with the Board prior to attempting a takeover.

          The  Company also announced that its  Board of Directors had adopted
amendments  to  the  Company's  Bylaws   implementing  notice  procedures  for
stockholder proposals and for nominations for the election  of directors to be
considered at annual or special meetings.

          In a letter  being sent to shareholders, Harvey L. Karp, Chairman of
the Board  of Mueller Industries,  Inc., said the  Rights Plan is  intended to
protect the interests of  the Company's shareholders in the event  the Company
is confronted with  coercive or unfair takeover  tactics.  He noted  that such
tactics  include "offers  that  do not  treat  all  shareholders equally,  the
acquisition in  the open market  or otherwise  of shares constituting  control
without  offering fair value to all shareholders,  or other coercive or unfair
takeover  tactics  that  could   impair  the  Board's  ability  to   represent
shareholders' interests fully."

          Mr. Karp stressed, however, that the Rights Plan "is not intended to
prevent an  acquisition of  the Company  on terms  that  your Board  considers
favorable and fair  to, and in  the best interests  of, all shareholders,  and
will not do so.  The Rights Plan is designed to  deal with the serious problem
of unilateral actions by hostile acquirors which are calculated to deprive the
Company's  Board  of  Directors  and  its  shareholders  of  their ability  to
determine the destiny of the Company."


















          Each Right will  entitle shareholders, in certain  circumstances, to
buy  one  one-thousandth   of  a  newly  issued  share   of  Series  A  Junior
Participating  Preferred Stock  of the Company  at an exercise  price of $160.
The Rights will be  exercisable and transferable apart  from the Common  Stock
only if  a person or group acquires beneficial ownership of 15% or more of the
Common  Stock or commences  a tender  or exchange  offer upon  consummation of
which  such person or group  would beneficially own 15%  or more of the Common
Stock.

          If any person  becomes the beneficial  owner of 15%  or more of  the
Company's common stock other than pursuant to an offer for all shares which is
fair  to  and  otherwise  in  the  best  interests  of  the  Company  and  its
shareholders,  then  each Right  not owned  by  a 15%  or more  shareholder or
certain related  parties will entitle its  holder to purchase,  at the Right's
then-current  exercise  price,   shares  of  common  stock  (or,   in  certain
circumstances  as determined  by  the Board,  cash, other  property,  or other
securities) having a  value of twice the Right's exercise price.  In addition,
if,  after any  person has become  a 15%-or-more  stockholder, the  Company is
involved in  a merger or  other business combination  transaction with another
person in which its common stock is changed or converted, or sells 50% or more
of its assets or earning power to another person, each  Right will entitle its
holder to  purchase, at  the Right's  then-current exercise  price, shares  of
common stock of such other person having a value of twice the Right's exercise
price.

          The Company will generally  be entitled to redeem the Rights at $.01
per Right at any time until the tenth day following public announcement that a
person  or group  has  become the  beneficial  owner  of 15%  or  more of  the
Company's common stock.

          Details of the  Shareholder Rights Plan are outlined in a summary of
the Rights Plan which will be mailed to shareholders.

          Mueller Industries,  Inc. is  a leading  and diversified  fabricator
whose products include copper tube and fittings; brass and copper alloy  rods,
bars and  shapes;  brass  and  bronze forgings;  aluminum  and  copper  impact
extrusions; plastic fittings and valves; and refrigeration valves, driers  and
flare  fittings.   The Company  also owns  a short  line railroad in  Utah and
natural resource properties in the Western United States, Alaska and Canada.