"how sad is it's easier for the average hard working American to afford the gun most chosen by the enemies of our nation, than the service rifle thats used to guarantee our freedom?"


SAD? SAD? why the heck would you be sad?

your friend just purchased a rifle that's far more reliable and durable than your ar-15 for less than half the price. mags and ammo are cheaper and the ak ain't no 'maintanance queen'. without a doubt, he got the better tool for the money. over 90 million satisfied kalashnikov customers in the world!

"Are AR's REALLY that expensive to make compared to AK's."

yes. in addition to higher american labor rates (in most cases. some countries that produce the ak have commensurate standards of living, such as finland and israel), the ar is way overengineered, overcomplicated, uses materials far beyond what is required to get the job done, requires more resources to build and more complicated machinery and tooling to build the rifle on.

"Is there any reason why there couldnt be a high quality AR on the market for $450?"

read above.

i get quotes (rfq's) over my desk for colt m4's (single source bids) with a pre-specified purchase price of $640+ (in lots of 600-2000 pieces) being paid by uncle sam (that's you and me).

go over to the angelfire site that lists military arms for sale on the world market. last i checked, a fully kitted out russian ak-74 (4 mags, bayo, sling, cleaning set, oiler) was for sale for $170 u.s..

for what a colt costs, we could buy 2 nikanov an-94's.