Why has the demand and price of revolvers shot up recently?

I dropped into the LGS Saturday afternoon looking to replace a small item I broke in that morning. No gotee so I looked at his handgun selection which has grown this year, so much in fact that he just put in another display case since my last visit. To my surprise I found a brand new S&W 357 revolver and it's been years since he has had a new one on display. Not wanting another 357 I didn't look at the model but did notice that it has a 6" barrel and was priced a little south of $900. There were three other not Smith DA/SA revolvers beside them but I payed them no mind. I did find a CZ 75, something that hasn't been available there in a long time, in the same case and I did fondle it just a little but I really don't need any more 9's either so left empty handed. The only thing I got was hot and sweaty as his AC was on the fritz and barely keeping the place livable as it was 102 degrees outside.

jmorris said:

Might have something to do with the .gov printing money (making existing dollars worth less, now that there’s more of them) and giving it to people that didn’t earn them.

Drives the price of everything up. It’s the “well, it’s not like I had to work for the money, might as well blow it on something I don’t need and cost doesn’t matter much because they are going to give me more, right?”

Revolvers get caught up in it just like Eggs, milk, cars, clothing,…

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In the end, after we debate, speculate, toss around a few rumors and theories I suspect that you are exactly right.
After all, isn't the simplest reason usually the correct one?

There's many reasons for the increased costs, many of which have been mentioned here already. When combined they're like waves building on top of each other resulting in a tsunami of high prices on revolvers as well as everything else.

The used revolvers have gone up in price and will continue to do so because they aren't being made anymore. The type of person who goes out and buys a classic revolver nowadays is the sort who probably isn't going to sell or trade it anytime soon so little by little they are being taken off the market. This drives prices up.

All ot has to do with is the cost of fuel, supplies, utilities, and payroll has gone up everywhere. Everything everywhere cost more now than it did before Corona. M&P 2.0, Caniks, Shields, Beretta APX, and more were $300. The CZ P10c was $350ish. Sig P365 was $400. Tauruses were $200-$250. Rugers semiautos were $200-350. So on and so forth. Everything went up, and it has nothing to do with any "new gun owners" or the like.

I agree pretty much with everything said in this post so far. I also think simply put,one word also factors into all of this and that word is nostalgia. I'll admit freely here that I'm a revolver man all the way,having Always preferred them to semi autos,I also shoot them better as well,even the snub noses.

I love Colts D frame guns as well,and the Smith J frames just as much. My current EDC is an M&P340CCT that I feel I stole. I got it off of gun broker I won it for $640 it was a local shop here so I didn't have to pay shipping or transfer fees. All told my OTD price with sales tax and $5 background check fee was $680 which in today's market given current revolver prices and guns prices in general like I said was an amazing deal on this gun.

The scandium J frames have never been cheap to begin with. If only i still had the dozen or so J frames I've owned over the years. Ditto for the Colt D frames and Smith K frames as well. Wow I'd be rich LOL.

I think it’s probably more supply than demand, but try buying a higher end S&W revolver right now (meaning not an air weight .38 spl). I have some “notify me” picked out on some sites. Every one that comes up is $1200 and gone before I can click it.

Maybe, just maybe, a lot of folks have had the honor of handling and shooting a well tuned or well used revolver. There is something very satisfying about a smooth double action trigger pull or a light crisp SA trigger break. The simple 'mechanical'ness of the revolver just feels right. The ability of using reduced power ammunition ranging from mere popcorn farts to full power is another great attribute. The accuracy is just a fringe benefit.
No sliding sharp edged parts to rip the flesh off your left thumb, no FTF or FTE jams, no magazine failures etc.
No wonder the popularity of a revolver is expanding.

Y-T71 said:

In the end, after we debate, speculate, toss around a few rumors and theories I suspect that you are exactly right.
After all, isn't the simplest reason usually the correct one?

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Wouldn’t it be cool to live and work in a place where blowing 4+ trillion dollars, you don’t have, and having nothing but inflation to show for it, could be called “simple”…

jmorris said:

Wouldn’t it be cool to live and work in a place where blowing 4+ trillion dollars, you don’t have, and having nothing but inflation to show for it, could be called “simple”…

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“Opium” is the homophone for OPM, an acronym which means, “Other Peoples Money.” They are both highly addictive drugs which can be beneficial when used properly but become lethal when abused.

Some of the people I talk guns with who have never before seen the need or use for revolvers are starting to buy them. Their reasoning is that the Left is once again talking about mag limits and semi-auto bans. They feel they be left with no choice buy a revolver is "they" get their way and are trying to "beat the rush" as one put it.

jdh said:

Some of the people I talk guns with who have never before seen the need or use for revolvers are starting to buy them. Their reasoning is that the Left is once again talking about mag limits and semi-auto bans. They feel they be left with no choice buy a revolver is "they" get their way and are trying to "beat the rush" as one put it.

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When has the left NOT talked about mag limits and bans? I can not recall a time in my life time. Were they not around during Clinton and Obama?

Where did they hear that Democrats are pushing for a semiauto ban? I heard of magazine capacity and semiauto rifles with certain features. Most people why worry about magazine bans simply buy a 10 round or less magazine for a gun they already own or are going to buy, or, more commonly, they start stocking up on and horde large capacity magazines before they are banned.

Had someone recently offer me $850 for this. Declined. Told him to add another two hundred and I might think about it.

Nickel Colt Trooper MK III

jmr40 said:

But all revolvers have been expensive for several years.

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Except for Heritage.

Styx said:

When has the left NOT talked about mag limits and bans? I can not recall a time in my life time. Were they not around during Clinton and Obama?

Where did they hear that Democrats are pushing for a semiauto ban? I heard of magazine capacity and semiauto rifles with certain features. Most people why worry about magazine bans simply buy a 10 round or less magazine for a gun they already own or are going to buy, or, more commonly, they start stocking up on and horde large capacity magazines before they are banned.

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I didn't say they were being rational in their thoughts. And you may have noticed the use of the word feel, indicating the involvement of emotion in the thought process.

I think it's supply related. Manufacturers know a polymer framed semiauto will sell more easily and they focus on that . also the fact that revolvers take more precision to make them right and they may be short on workers and quality materials. It's funny because the tacticool crowd generally dismiss revolvers as outdated and under capacity but revolvers sell quick and for top dollar so they must not be all that bad.

I'm in the market for a new revolver and have only found slim pickins out there and my lgs said I can order whatever I want and they'll take my money, when it comes in they'll call but expect several months. This is in contrast to a couple years ago when you could go to the case full of revolvers and find whatever you may want, might not like the price but there was a nice selection .

Expense in the eye of the beholder....
Revolvers are more expensive to manufacture than semi autos and the demand for revolvers are much lower than that of a semi these days...
So expect a high quality run of the mill revolver to cost double than that of your run of the mill Semi Auto. Let's just call it 500$ and 1000$ respectively

I am of the mind we are in a big bubble right now. Yes inflation is crazy that is a reason for sire but it cannot last. I have been watching a few Gunbroker listings, prices are high but the guns are not moving at the price asked. They do set trends however, deals are very hard to find. My locals have revolvers in the case that haven’t moved. Not every Colt is a gold nugget and as much as I love revolvers I am not gonna pay over a grand for a well used Model 19. My theory is that guns will start showing up at the pawns and LGS’s soon. The economy is gonna tank. That COVID bucks are already spent and unemployed will start to trickle in. Hard core gun people will hold tight but guns will be sold off when money gets tight by many.

The new Colt Pythons are probably worth the $1,500.00 if you can find one. Personally, I'd rather have a Freedom Arms revolver than a Colt or a S&W.

I look at used S&W revolvers now and again on an ongoing basis. I only have one, but like it and poke around to see if I can pick up more. I think I got the one I have in 2018 and watched prices slowly climb higher and higher until the pandemic, and now they are 3 or 4 times what I paid. It is just supply/demand and inflation. All the markets are usually impacted together, less availability of new, sends more buyers to the used market. All the prices go up as there are buyers competing with dollars for limited products.

I noticed revolver ammo is back about 3 months ago and has been steadily increasing in availability.

Its driven by fear, when you look at the moron in the White House and the people pulling his strings it really comes home. Look at what Obummer did for gun sales, this clown is doing the same thing plus he's managed to make it harder to ship anything due to fuel costs. It may take some time to undo the damage he's done.

The price of all firearms has been skyrocketing the last couple of years. And it's not just their asking price. People are buying at the price.

br549arkie said:

The price of all firearms has been skyrocketing the last couple of years. And it's not just their asking price. People are buying at the price.

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Prices sure have skyrocketed but I'm seeing less (panic) buyers, still seeing "tire kickers" but less buyers

I think most people feel they have what they need by now and also with "biden bucks" being finally shut off, buying at "crazy" prices have slowed down.

Shelves at my LGS's are pretty well stocked again and I'm starting to see the same guns sitting on the shelves after multiple visits.

Hopefully that's a good sign for other related products to start doing the same (reloading component, ammo etc)

At least that's my feeling locally.

High end, collectable or (semi) "rare" guns excluded.

Those always are up in price to one degree or another.

Just my observation in my AO.

There are a couple of firearms I'm interested in but honestly I have far more guns than I need and I'm not going to pay $150.00 to $200.00 more than one is worth. I've actually sold 3 of mine in the last year at a tidy profit.
There was a time I figured I had a use for 5 firearms for different uses and if I wanted something else one of the ones I had got traded in. Started breaking my self imposed rule about 30 years ago and you can figure how that turned out.