Guns getting more expensive?

[LexusNexus]

Have you noticed that guns are more expensive than a couple of years ago? It seems that inflation has finally caught up with firearms market. The prices have been stagnant over past 5 years but recently it seems the prices have gone up across the board. WHat's up with that?

 

[MechAg94]

No really. Some guns yes, some guns no. That has always been the case.

 

[asknight]

WHat's up with that?

The same reason ammo prices have increased 10% or more, and all other goods as well. The most important thing I've noticed is the increase in basic requirement items such as groceries. It's likely directly related to current world energy prices, but the currently weakened state of the US Dollar is also partly to blame.

[sarcasm]You've just got to love fiat currency![/sarcasm]

 

[Old Dog]

Inflation is inflation, no matter what the consumer goods are ... I remember buying my first Colt's Commander for under $300 ... Hard to complain too much, when gun prices haven't escalated as much as gas prices (or furniture or appliance prices) ...

 

[Croyance]

Price of construction materials has been going up. Not just steel, but lead, copper, zinc, etc. Some of this is foreign construction (and factories).
But where I am, new Beretta PX4's go for less than Glocks. K-frames are getting crazy expensive though.

 

[pete f]

Yup some guns have skyrocketed. some have nosedived.

A good clean model 12 winchester used to run minimum of 8 hundred up here. now down under 500.

A5's used to be all over 500 most over 700, now available for under 300.,

SKS used to be way under a 100 bucks now pushing 200 all of a sudden some listed at 249!!!!


savage 99's some a hole has decided that they should be worth 750 for a worn shooter, like anyone wants one of them........:banghead:

 

[bpisler]

It seems like the prices for all steel
guns are going up faster than those
with polymer frames.

 

[Low-Sci]

Wonder if the market isn't shrinking...

I think prices are going up because demand is going down.

To be totally fair, firearms aren't really a great mass-market item. Sure lots of people hunt, but those people have guns or borrow them or even rent them because they only hunt once a year. Don't even get me started with anti-handgun bias in big cities, which are a catalyst for mass sales.

So where is the market for firearms regenerating itself? People don't usually buy a gun every time a new season starts. And guns, for most people, are far too expensive to justify. $800 for a hunting rifle that you'll shoot twice a season, once to zero and the next on your game? $500 for a pistol that you'll "maybe" ever use? The use doesn't justify the cost for most people. RKBA doesn't even enter into it, its just too expensive for occasional use.

And there's less space to shoot them. Urban and suburban areas are expanding, while rural areas are contracting. People even in smaller cities have to drive 45 minutes to even get to a shooting range, and then there's even more charges.

Bottom line is, I think the demand is going down, which requires a price hike to maintain profit margin.

 

[dmckean44]

Prices on the surplus rifles will always go up as the supply is tapering off.

Prices on new firearms (esp american made ones) will go up because of the rise in manufacturing costs.

Guns are a good investment but ammunition is a better one.

 

[redneck2]

Evidentally you're fairly young....

I remember the Jimmy Carter years. I owned a John Deere dealership. I remember when we got three price increases in two months. Inflation was something in the range of 20+ percent a year. I remember having tractors that were identical but I'd paid 5 different amounts for identical units.

My first house was a decent 3 bedroom for $21,200. Gotta remember though, I was making $11,000 a year and that was good money in 1974.

Hang on to your hat chief. In a few years, 50k a year will be nothing special income-wise. Basic cost of production is going to skyrocket. Google "commodities prices" and look at the price of copper. Crude oil.

If you're 30 or less, you'll see average home prices approach $750k and up.

 

[Manedwolf]

In a few years, 50k a year will be nothing special income-wise.

It already isn't. At least in the northeast.

 

[dfaugh]

Guns are a bargain

In a few years, 50k a year will be nothing special income-wise.

Yeah that's poverty level in areas like Boston, NYC and San Francisco. I was actually musing the other day about the fact that since I started shooting, 35 years ago prices for guns and ammo haven't gone up nearly as much as other things.

For example: In 1973 my mother bought a brand new Buick LeSabre (loaded) for a little over $4000--today a similar car costs $40,000

Gas back then was $.17 a gallon, in Texas (where I went to college) and about .$.35 a gallon here in NY (mainly because of higher taxes). We're now over $3 a gallon for gas, here.

So, some things cost 10x as much as they did 35 years ago.

Yet, a nice centerfire rifle was about $200 back then, and a similar one today is only $600. So if you look at it from that perspective, guns are a bargain. Ammo, too. I used to shoot trap alot, and a box of shells cost about $2.50, IIRC. Now they're only $3-4. I also remember paying almost $1 a round for my .270, and that's still about what it costs today!

 

[ajax]

When I was a kid a ride on the dinosuar to school only cost one stone.Sorry sometimes I really think i'm funny.

 

[mrmeval]

Lead, copper, tin gah! Commodity metals markets are going nuts.

A copper penny is now worth 2cents or more, the zincy is worth 1.2 or more

So look for ammo to rise.

 

[Standing Wolf]

How expensive does a gun have to be before you can't afford to save your life with it?

 

[mrmeval]

More expensive than I can scrape up money to buy it.

 

[Edmond]

some things cost 10x as much as they did 35 years ago.

Too bad our paychecks aren't 10x bigger!

From what I've seen, some guns have seen big increases. To me, it looks like the Sigs have increased by quite a bit over the past few years. While the Glock has increased in price, I don't think it has been to much, IMO.

 

[ReadyontheRight]

I think prices are going up because demand is going down.

 

[Edmond]

If anything, I think the demand has gone up. With the events that have recently happened in our country these past few years, I believe that people are realizing that when bad things happen on a large scale, the responsibility of personal protection rests on the individual even more so.

 

[zeke1312]

Price a Luger lately? Get ready for sticker shock.

 

[jhco50]

Quote: Bottom line is, I think the demand is going down, which requires a price hike to maintain profit margin.

If they keep trying to keep their profit margin high and the price of their products keep rising, they will price themselves right out of business...like Winchester and Colt.

 

[fisi]

guns??? not around here (phoenix). It's the bloody ammo that has gone through the roof.............

 

[BozemanMT]

Some guns are up, some are down, overall I think they are up. (ammo is up a lot).
I think some of the pricing going down is due to the AWB disappearing and that factor being removed. (AR's, AK's, etc, all basically down)
Used guns are all over the map. Some are up (Colt revolvers), some are down (Winchester model 12's, excellent example). The Colt revolvers I get, the model 12's I don't get.
Buy it now, it's only going to get more expensive.

 

[gopguy]

With fuel prices up everything will go up.......and soon. So buy now.

As I keep telling my buddies at the shows when they think they got hosed on a deal. "You didn't pay too much, you just paid it too soon."

 

[1 old 0311]

I bought a NIB Glock 19 in 1991 for $369.00. With inflation the prices now should be higher.

Kevin