Pistol vs Revolver price difference: Why?

[Packman]

I'm getting the urge to start playing around with some rocklocks to complement my percussion toys. However, I'm noticing a huge price difference between stuff like the 1858/1851 revolvers and stuff like the Kentucky pistol.

At Cabelas right now, the revolvers can be had for about $180 and up, or about $220 and up if you want steel frame. The least expensive single shot is the Kentucky pistol kit, and even in kit form it's $220. The finished version of the gun is on sale right now for $280, down from a normal $350. That's just for the percussion version. The Flintlock version is currently on sale for $299, down from $399.

What's up with the price difference? You'd think the revolvers would be more expensive due to the complexity of manufacture. I'll grant that they probably sell way more volume of revolver, which helps bring cost down, but I still don't understand the gap in price for a comparatively simple single-shot, whether it's percussion or flint.

I'm tempted to get the flintlock version of the Kentucky pistol for the $299, but even that seems kind of steep for what you're actually getting. At the same time, I've never run across one any cheaper, and there isn't much BP stuff to be had locally.

 

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

The Flintlock seem to typically demand a premium but a percussion sidelock can be found more reasonable if you are patient.

You probably should have pulled the trigger when Cabela's was having their one day 20% off sale

 

[[email protected]]

I think the flintlock takes more time to make. It is not as simple as the revolver. Today if you were to buy a quality lock say from Track of The Wolf,
it would cost you more than what you can buy your revolver for. And that's
just the lock. It was the prime source of ingtion in our guns for 700 years.
There is nothing more beautyful than a proper set up Flintlock.

Watch this short video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIUNBFw0YAE

 

[BowerR64]

I thought it was because of the manufacture.

Most of the higher priced stuff is all uberti, Pedersoli and Traditions

 

[BowerR64]

What caliber is that?

http://youtu.be/y9397CT4970

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Locks can vary widely in quality. This can affect cost. When I was a kid I built a flintlock rifle from a cheap CVA kit. The lock was very cheap. Raw castings still exhibiting parting lines. It worked fine, sparked every time, but it was not a quality lock.

It was the prime source of ingtion in our guns for 700 years.
There is nothing more beautyful than a proper set up Flintlock.

Sorry, I can't let that pass. Flintlocks have not been around for 700 years. The first true flintlocks appeared in France in the early 1600s. Nobody really knows when the first small arms appeared, hand cannons may have appeared as early as the 1200s. Matchlocks showed up sometime in the mid-1400s, followed by Wheel Locks around 1500. Snap Locks and Snaphaunces around 1550, finally followed by the true Flintlock made by a French gunsmith named Le Bourgeoys around 1610.

 

[[email protected]]

You are correct, I had meant to say 200 years. More likely 150. Don't know
where the 700 came from. I need more meds

 

[jaxenro]

I think revolvers are easier to CNC automate

 

[CraigC]

I would suggest one of the Pedersoli Kentucky pistols from Dixie Gun Works or a Lyman over anything from Traditions. Last I looked, they were on sale. I bought Dad one for Christmas and it's a nice pistol for $375. Much nicer than my Lyman.

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

Volume of production is probably the biggest cost factor. Revolvers are probably produced at a 100 to 1 ratio greater than muzzle loading pistols. I am doing my part to bring the price down though, as I have three Pedersoli pistols and no BP revolvers of any kind!!