illinoisburt
Member
I seem to recall a couple years ago when the government was contracting for agency personal defense weapons and replacement military m4's that the price was right around $700 per unit with full kits of rails, mags, and optical sight. I think the per unit manufacturing cost for the base firearms were around $275, though I would have to fire up the Google-fu to be sure. Anyway I suspect the cost of manufacture, or in many cases the cost of assembly for the AR variants is likely somewhere around that since we have a number of firms putting out $600 retail prices guns right now. The squeeze will surely make that drop, but how far before companies start hurting is really going to be a matter of leverage and operating capital. Small shops that cannot absorb the tighter margins are likely the ones that will need to swap over to more intricate or niche designs to remain viable. I'm sure some new equilibrium will arise, and if that is a mil-spec AR at $450 then so much the better for consumers. Rather than worrying aboutvthe industry which has obviously done well (at we the buyers expense), maybe we should just look forward to a buyer market where we can finally stretch our hard earned dollars.