PSA market share?

IMHO yo can credit them with keeping prices throughout the market 'honest.' They obviously have the purchasing power to provide offers such as that recent 5 boxes name-brand 9mm cartridges AND 5 S&W Shield magazines for $99.99.

Again, IMHO, if ever there was a company that drove down the cost of entry level AR10s, it was/is PSA

There were some ATF sales numbers for PSA posted recently on AR15.com. I'll see if I can find them. Basically they blew away the competition.

They've become the current go-to for inexpensive sport rifles.
They're only slightly more expensive than the absolute cheapest ARs, but tend to be worth it.
They are the cheapest AKs out there--at least with their sales--and still better than the cheapest established brand (who I shall not name, but became known for wobbly magwells and canted sights, even if they've been improving) and cheaper than even the worse made-in-US ones.

If you are looking at just uppers I will bet Davidson Defense/Delta Team Tactical has higher numbers than PSA. I doubt their complete kits sell as well. They are somewhat dishonest. Try advertise complete AR kits but are missing the BCG and sometimes the charging handle. If you are just buying and upper they are hard to beat

DustyGmt said:

I've actually never heard of them. I just checked out the site I'm surprised I havent seen their stuff before.....

Click to expand...

If you never heard of PSA you don't assemble ARs.

I read a few years ago that there were only a handful of companies actually making AR parts, especially lowers. The people selling them like PSA dont actually make much of anything. They just sell them.

You might get the same exact receiver from 20 different sellers under 20 different names.

Here's some numbers I quickly pulled from 2017 data. I had to make some assumptions based on which location each was manufactured in, but I think it's fairly accurate as to the amount of AR15's (and AR15 lowers) made from each of these companies. This is rifle data only, doesn't include pistols

Ruger - 253,318
S&W - 265,356
Colt - 13,942
PSA - 126,899
Aero - 79,523

The total amount of rifles manufactured (which is all rifles of any type) is 2,504,092. So PSA has a 5% market share in the rifle world. It's going to be much higher in the AR15 world.

I pulled the info from here:
ANNUAL FIREARMS MANUFACTURING AND EXPORT REPORT

I think PSA's numbers are especially impressive when you take into consideration that they don't have a nationwide brick and mortar presence and these were mostly internet sales.

JONWILL said:

If you are looking at just uppers I will bet Davidson Defense/Delta Team Tactical has higher numbers than PSA.

Click to expand...

I would be very surprised if this was true.

ilbob said:

I read a few years ago that there were only a handful of companies actually making AR parts, especially lowers. The people selling them like PSA dont actually make much of anything. They just sell them.

Click to expand...

True, but to a lot of people it's semantics.
I tell guys all the time, "You do not build ARs, you assemble them".

Many of the receivers bought from a 3rd Party (Many major manufacturers do this) are un-machined. I believe PSA now has a machining operation and is a licensed manufacturer.

Anderson is about as cheap of a lower receiver as you can buy. A local AR assembler told me that Anderson made a great number of lowers for sale today. I can’t verify this of course but he might have meant the company who makes Anderson lowers makes them for many others as well.

Nonetheless it is quite likely that the ol Poverty Ponies get made at the same place as the higher priced ones and quite possibly even to the same specs.

However, as has been pointed out by many more knowledgeable on this subject, the lowers is one of the less important parts in an AR build and more marginal spending should be put towards items like barrels, triggers, and bolts/BCGs.

earlthegoat2 said:

Anderson is about as cheap of a lower receiver as you can buy. A local AR assembler told me that Anderson made a great number of lowers for sale today. I can’t verify this of course but he might have meant the company who makes Anderson lowers makes them for many others as well.

Nonetheless it is quite likely that the ol Poverty Ponies get made at the same place as the higher priced ones and quite possibly even to the same specs.

However, as has been pointed out by many more knowledgeable on this subject, the lowers is one of the less important parts in an AR build and more marginal spending should be put towards items like barrels, triggers, and bolts/BCGs.

Click to expand...

LGS stocked up on Anderson Lowers prior to 2016 Election. Got caught with thousands when the bottom dropped out. I got more than I will ever need at 3 for $89.99. I have only put together a half dozen so far but no issues.

Actually, if you dig through the numbers, PSA's manufacturing (at different addresses) adds another 29,500 rifles, or so, to the 2017 total. So, around 155,500 rifles that year, plus or minus 1000.

And, correct me if I'm wrong, but that tally does not include stripped lowers.

bassjam said:

Here's some numbers I quickly pulled from 2017 data. I had to make some assumptions based on which location each was manufactured in, but I think it's fairly accurate as to the amount of AR15's (and AR15 lowers) made from each of these companies. This is rifle data only, doesn't include pistols

Ruger - 253,318
S&W - 265,356
Colt - 13,942
PSA - 126,899
Aero - 79,523

The total amount of rifles manufactured (which is all rifles of any type) is 2,504,092. So PSA has a 5% market share in the rifle world. It's going to be much higher in the AR15 world.

I pulled the info from here:
ANNUAL FIREARMS MANUFACTURING AND EXPORT REPORT

I think PSA's numbers are especially impressive when you take into consideration that they don't have a nationwide brick and mortar presence and these were mostly internet sales.

Click to expand...

wojownik said:

Actually, if you dig through the numbers, PSA's manufacturing (at different addresses) adds another 29,500 rifles, or so, to the 2017 total. So, around 155,500 rifles that year, plus or minus 1000.

And, correct me if I'm wrong, but that tally does not include stripped lowers.

Click to expand...

I assumed a different address meant it wasn't an AR15 so I didn't count those. And I believe those numbers are ONLY looking at PSA's stripped lowers. I listed what I believe to be lowers from PSA and Aero (Misc Firearms), while the numbers from the rest are fully assembled rifles.

If we assume PSA only makes AR pattern rifles in their Columbia SC plant, then they also built 3,123 AR pistols and 25,331 AR rifles.

ilbob said:

I read a few years ago that there were only a handful of companies actually making AR parts, especially lowers. The people selling them like PSA dont actually make much of anything. They just sell them.

You might get the same exact receiver from 20 different sellers under 20 different names.

Click to expand...

From what I have heard, PSA makes nearly everything they sell or they own the company that makes the part. I think they buy a lot of FN barrels, but are making their own cold hammer forged barrels now as well. I think they said they don't make springs.

Lifestyles of the Locked and Loaded has done a couple of extended interviews with them in 2019 on youtube.

Only thing is it isn’t just lowers or complete rifles that should be tallied in my eyes.

Many shooters looking to get into the AR game in an inexpensive way buy the cheapest lower they can (usually Anderson/‘The Poverty Pony’) or maybe they’ll splurge a bit and get (Spikes or an Aero) something considered slightly better. Then they’ll get a PSA complete upper and a PSA complete lower parts kit that are generally considered one of the best out of the bargain parts companies.

If PSA wasn’t around not as many would be completed.

Are these AR’s that are sporting Anderson lowers or Spikes or Aero, but everything else is PSA considered *that* brand just because the logo on the lower says one thing or another? If they do that’s a short sighted way of looking at it.

Just saying, PSA contributes more than just the technical number of their lowers that are sold. If their parts or uppers were trash or not quite so affordable not as many AR’s would be stuffed into closets or safes in the US.

They have a lot of my money!
Don't forget they sell a heck of a lot of other STUFF besides their name brand items(ARs AKs). They sell other makes and models along with ammo, gear and tacticool stuff.