Thus far Troy Industries and Fulton Armory seem to be the only companies that offer a complete rifle.
I'm wondering why other companies have not followed suit and at least offer one or two different types of
retro rifles at a decent price.
Is there anything that can be done to encourage companies to start producing retro rifles?

IMO it's more fun to build, plus I think a lot of us are too detail oriented to buy a complete rifle. It seems like any retro offering that comes out has discrepancies, no one company can get it all "right".

Also retro stuff is a relatively small market segment, there's not a huge incentive to produce a clone that's 100% correct for this small interest group. That's why I'm happy Brownell's is taking the time to come here for feedback and excited to see what they bring out next.

The fed 11% tax on complete weapons? Or that A1 lowers are not the norm an castings cost $$$

Like it or not, we are a niche market. And at least up to this point, the guys building Retros had to buy parts and build them themselves. That scrounging has trained us to actually enjoy the hunt, and enjoy assembling things ourselves. That said, I don't think anyone would kick a genuine 601 out of bed for eating crackers, but we're used to piecing things together, and we're not a big enough market for most companies to bother offering full rifles.

+1



 

For me it is the hunt.
I have hunted for parts that took over a year or so to find everything for a build.
That is why I buy parts for them when I find them and just put them up for the future.

Ron

Back when I had my surplus store and FFL I had them
on the rack. No one local cared for them.

I had 601 603 and 604 nodak clones.

if you're foolish enough to tally up the cost of a build ask yourself if you'd just write a check for it.
no? i didn't think so.

HA HA! So true.  

By building it ourselves, out of parts, over many years, we get to trick ourselves (and maybe our wives?) into thinking it's less expensive than it really is.

I actually kinda wish no one made an off the rack complete retro rifle. It makes the whole thing less special, IMO.
Kind of like buying already built plastic scale models.  This is only my opinion.

The owner of a LGS told me that he sells at least 20-25 M4 style ARs to each 20" bbl AR.  The only time that ARs with A1/A2 uppers sell well is when his Highness King Obama starts going on anti gun rampages

A M E N !!

Hunting , pecking and winning is 1/3 the fun of this "hobby" Any shmoe can buy an overpriced cookie cutter M4 off the floor. At least I know what I have and what I have paid for in the end.

Rebuilding history one, small, part, at a time.

Casting?

Casting, forged, milled ... What companies are making them from A1 forged lowers not modified A2 lowers, one (NDS)?

The retros cost more to make because the retro parts are now specialty items that are not mass produced.

More companies will make them and make more of them if there's a strong enough demand backed up by actual sales at higher prices that reflect those higher costs.

If by "at a decent price" you mean roughly the same price as modern variants, then no, not unless demand gets those parts being made again in sufficient quantity to drive their price down through economies of scale.

http://www.republicfirearmsstore.com/product-p/rf15a1b20p.htm


Add one more place to your list. Cerakote grey .



I'll just build my own.  I was a little scared with the first one, I just knew I would dick something up. It went together super easy, nothing to it but to do it.

I was only going to build two, a 'Nam era M16A1 and an XM177E2. That was almost ten years ago, still waiting on the CAR15 but have slapped together an XM16E1 a few more A1's and an M4 in .22LR and helped some friends with theirs. I also have Nodak Spud's number saved in my cell.

DPMS makes 20" A1 and A2 style rifles. Neither one is exactly a precise "retro",  but not bad if you want a complete new build rifle from a reputable manufacturer.

Was just checking out this site, the right side pic shows it with an A2 lower, the left side pic shows it with a correct retro profile lower. Also one of the reviewers stated that it came with a C7 upper which the photos do not show. The pics are misleading

i restore antique motor cycles for a living.. i always wondered why company's like Harley  don't make the original parts. to me it's ," you made it once.. why don't you make it again?".  i know molds and dies wear out.. but the blue prints don't..  they made these guns and motorcycle parts before computers and CAD Machinery.
the aftermarket parts by and large just "Replicate" the parts.. most don't fit at all with out fiddling around with them.. now to a  Layman..  they wouldn't spot a aftermarket part. but to me.. they stick out like a sore thumb.
Car restoration guys go through same thing.. yes there are companies like Year One that make "Replacement" Parts for vintage cars and trucks.. but there again.. they don't fit like REAL parts..
and yes it's a small market, but it's a market none the less.
ok so the big companies don't want to get involved in the Reto or Repro parts  buis. but why not. lease out the blue prints? and  Copy Rights?  hell Colt leases out it's name and trade mark to knives made in Pakistan!
all the reproduction parts companies mostly reverse engineer parts from original parts. they don't have the original blue prints..
yes i realize it would take a whole other department to handle and keep tabs on the parts being made and make sure they are to spec. but i believe there is enough money to be made to make it worth while.
and it sure would make my life and job easier. i spend months and months searching for a part for a customer because they only want OEM parts. or the aftermarket part is so WRONG it's not worth my time to make it right.
and it's just that reason OEM parts are so freaking expensive. BECAUSE THEY FIT!!
now i've been doing this for almost 40 years now. and i've been saying the same thign for most all of those 40 years and it doesn't look like it's ever going to change.
 
  and then you have issues like Kahr Arms has with thei reproductionr M1 carbine  there were so many running production changes onthe original M1 Carbine..  just which model  do you make?? so they made a rifle  supposedly to Spec. but from what i've read, people just pick them apart for having this type part and not this type part.  customers can just nit pick it to death..
now the AR platform.. how many versions are you going to make?? just 601's or the entire line??  now  that gets PRICEY  FAST...
ok stepping off my soap box now...
Pete

ok  after i posted the earlier post i was still in gear.. and thought of a great example on just how hard it is  for a company to make  original early parts.
the example is the 1936 Harley knucklehead.. first off you need a mortgage to get a 36. and 2 mortgages to build one. in 1936 Harley had 400 running production changes on the Knucklehead and then scrapped the whole package in 1937 and changed the whole thing.. you pretty much need to know the day your bike was built in order to restore one correctly..no company is going to make and keep all those 1 off parts on the shelf.
original 36 EL parts are stupid money.. to the point of the parts alone are worth more than the bike as a whole..
which brings me back to the Kahr Arms M1 carbine.. they built a M1 carbine to mil spec.. so what you get is basically a mix master Brand new M1 Carbine.. it's not a INLAND, ROCKOLA, IBM..  but for the price it's a good rifle. and the way prices are going on original M1 Carbine's  it's a affordable alternative
ok stepping back off my soap box..