Definitely a good point. I'm all for supporting the small guys, especially when they come up with something amazing like the 458 SOCOM, but I think getting it out there, letting it grow, and seeing how it takes off is only logical. Proprietary never works out very well.
Since I won't really be in the market for an upper in 458 probably until December or January at the soonest, I'll check then and see how the prices are, and make a decision then.
I think $705 isn't such a bad price, given it's a specialty cartridge. I do hope that someday it will be more 'mainstream', and prices would come down due to more demand and more supply. The 458 SOCOM will really help my AR15 become a complete weapon system for me to fill a few niches such as defense, tactical matches and hunting.