User Panel
Posted: 6/2/2008 1:03:53 PM EDT
I am just curious why handguns are so expensive compared to rifles? There is much less raw material involved, I would imagine the machining process are very similar (except more material to machine and manufacture with a rifle), etc.
What is it: supply and demand, more regulations, what? |
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I think sales volume has a lot to do with it. How many 870's are sold per year versus Colt 1911's?
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A thread like this was started a few years back. It ended up turning into a Glock bashing thread.
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Maybe your buying the wrong stuff.
raven arms and lorcins are where iz at my shizzle |
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Smaller parts, higher precision required to make them work properly, etc.
Kharn |
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because you'll pay it.
start a business and undercut all those gouging manufacturers like Beretta, Sig, Glock, Colt and Springfield. stick it to the man. You'll be amazed when you find out just how cheap it is to make a quality handgun, and you can pass that price on to the consumer. |
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Because you'll pay it. Also there may be some sort of unholy pact between handgun makers and the Brady's to make handguns generally expensive.
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Lawsuits. |
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Same reason gas prices are as high as they are. |
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More regulation on handguns = more BS the manufacturers have to go through = costs passed on to us.
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My high point was cheap.
Lifetime warranty too. Really though, higher liability insurance. |
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I can't think of many decent rifles I can buy for under $450. I also can't think of many decent handguns I can buy for under $450. A nice 1911 may cost $600-$1000, and an AR15 will run at least that.
Not seeing the disparity. |
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Yeah, shotguns yeah. Rifles, about on par, if not more expensive than handguns.
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Handgun futures? |
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i dont know...it depends on what kinda rifles vs pisolts you are comparing to
i know of a LOT of pistols that are cheap (lorcin, hi-point, jenkins, AMT, jennings, keltec, llama, RIA/Armscorp, taurus, charter arms, HR, rossi, intratec....sh*t, so many, i cant begin to name em all) |
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Make a reliable modern featured handgun and sell it for $200 watch how fast Uncle Sam comes after you.
Also factor in lawsuits, testing/R&D, warranty expenses, advertising, buying off gun rags for nuetral-to-favorable reviews, campaign contributions, etc. Glock for instance might actually be able to produce a gun for <50 dollars but thats not the only cost. |
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CZ |
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I could never figure out why any gun is as costly as it is. It's not exactly the complicated technology, either in design or manufacture, and materials are cheap. I think its like anything else, you're buying an image or a name.
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How dare you invoke the name of Jennings in this house of ARFCOM! I SMITE YOUR POSTINGS!! I think some bad craftmanship rubbed off on me just be reading that word. I need to go fondle an XD-9 and get a good 9mm back in my brain. Trying to kill me or something...?? |
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The M1 Carbine was about half the cost of the M1911 to make. Lots of broaching operations make for an expensive pistol.
Every machining change required a setup, done by hand. With CNC, the cost has gone down. But like petroleum, it isn't the cost of production, it is what the market will bear. |
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Kel-Tec? Bersa? Taurus? Rossi? Granted these aren't the best of the handgun world, but neither is Mossberg. There are options out there... hell, it's a lot harder to find a usable $200 centerfire semi-auto rifle than a centerfire semi-auto pistol... unless you count surplus. |
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yep. |
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Heck, why is a 16 inch barrel more expensive than a 20 inch barrel? There's less metal!
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AR15 = 7 pounds of Al, Fe, and plastics 1911 = 2 pounds of Fe 7-2 = 5 That is the disparity. Not that it matters to me. |
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What will really blow your mind is why are companies charging the same prices on pistols that are made with cost-cutting measures?*
*Cost cutting measures that often produce a gun of inferior quality. |
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Yup. CZ-75B: The only other handgun with more clones is the 1911. The CZ-82 runs for about $200 and those are pretty sweet little handguns too. |
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Serious answer - standard barrel blanks are 20", so shorter barrels means more machining, and thus, higher costs. I finally get to use that tidbit of info! ETA: And I bet you can also charge another $50 for the cool factor that carbines have. |
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+1. Also, rifle recoil mechanisms are longer, distribute recoil forces over a larger surface area, etc. By contrast, handguns usually either have NO buffer recoil mechanisms (e.g. revolvers, derringers, break-opens) or very limited recoil mechanisms (closed bolt handguns like the 1911s, CZs, etc.) These recoil stresses require handgun receivers to be much more stoutly manufactured than rifle counterparts. All this adds up to cost... Plus, it always costs more to put comparable function into a smaller package. Back in days you used to be able buy wind-up mechanical alarm clocks like the Baby Bens, they cost a LOT LESS than a wind-up wrist watch of similar accuracy... |
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Hey, if someone is going to pay 2700 bucks for a 1911. Sucker born every minute and the industry will support this type of spending. I think its for tacticoolness factor.Or maybe that 1911 already has dead haji claimed to it. Kinda like seeking training as long as the instructor has killed before, in ARFCOM that is the requirements for seeking good training. I duno but for the moist part, standard pistols, still cheaper than rifles.
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My theory was the cool factor, rather than machining. |
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Depends. CNC? That cuts cost and increases quality. |
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Always the right answer. |
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Agreed on CNC - it also allows manufactuers to create limited runs of weapons with minimal cost to them. I was more thinking of pinned barrels on S&W revolvers and MIM parts in 1911s. |
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Not if you are looking at H&K's. The rifles are more expensive than most of the pistols.
Of course, most of the rifles are banned from importation. |
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My Benelli SuperSport is by far more expensive than anything I have and it doesn't have one piece of wood on it. Kevlar for the win
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During Obama's second Term/Administration (All Semi-Automatic Weapons including all handguns will be banned)
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+3 |
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You've never worked in manufacturing, have you? |
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There can never be too many Glock bashing threads! I have 6 handguns and not one glock amongst them! KABOOM!!!!! |
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All pricing is supply vs demand. Handguns are the same way.
I suspect that the cost of raw materials is a small part of the cost involved in making firearms. Note that the investment cast steel process and the use of plastics is mostly to reduce labor costs. But the cost to produce the item only influences the supply, it doesn't directly set the price. |
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yea you can never have to many glock bashing threads because it brings out a whole world of ignorance we wouldn't normally get to see
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Glock owners are an interesting mix of towering arrogance and wiffling insecurity. 'Tis odd. |
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You found the universal answer! I think it will create a black hole! |
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