Why have lever prices doubled?

Start driving a Tesla and you’ll spot all the other Teslas. I’m not a huge lever fan, checked out a few at this weekend’s gun show where inflated prices were found on everything. If you think firearm prices are wretched, go shop used trucks. Everyone short sighted is ripe for sheering.

Because they are cool
Because they are not scary black rifles that may get banned and they can still put out good firepower aka 30-30 or 45-70
Because they can be had in matching calibers to a handgun (45 colt, 357, etc)

because everything is more expensive right now.

just a few guesses.

d

Part of it is due to the cost of raw materials, cost of labor is going up (trying to attract new machinists and keep current employees). Plus the demand for the last 2 years was insane. So they are still trying to catch up. I'd give it maybe another year before prices can stabilize and maybe drop down a bit. I almost choke when I look at the price of a Mini-14.

The new stuff, I can understand the higher prices. Material, manpower and supply chain issues have all contributed to the cost of new levers.

Older Marlins and Remlins? I don't know why they are so high in price. Used to be able to pick them up used for around 300-400 in decent condition. Now they run about 550-700. With all the hate the Remlins got you would think they would still be at or around the same $300-400 price mark.

Moparnut said:

The new stuff, I can understand the higher prices. Material, manpower and supply chain issues have all contributed to the cost of new levers.

Older Marlins and Remlins? I don't know why they are so high in price. Used to be able to pick them up used for around 300-400 in decent condition. Now they run about 550-700. With all the hate the Remlins got you would think they would still be at or around the same $300-400 price mark.

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You would think that. But they haven’t been made in a few years and the demand never went away. So prices rise because of the scarcity

Moparnut said:

The new stuff, I can understand the higher prices. Material, manpower and supply chain issues have all contributed to the cost of new levers.

Older Marlins and Remlins? I don't know why they are so high in price. Used to be able to pick them up used for around 300-400 in decent condition. Now they run about 550-700. With all the hate the Remlins got you would think they would still be at or around the same $300-400 price mark.

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Every time somebody calls the best Marlin I have ever owned a Remlin the price for it goes up $20.

A rising tide lifts all boats .

3C

I hadn’t noticed this until last weekend. I went to a gun show in Waco and started seeing Marlin 45-70s just like the one I paid $400 for a few years ago with $1400-1500 price tags on them.

I think it's a perfect storm of supply, demand, current manufacture and senior provenance.
Don't know how long it will last.


A prepared and astute manufacturer with a very solid product line could likely make a tidy profit right about now. I find it puzzling that nobody has tried any harder than they have.

Beyond the cost of initial investment and labor training, manufacturers can reasonably predict that future demand won’t equal the current crest.

Right around March of this year I went to a large NE Ohio gun show.

I found 3 Winchester 94's

1st, a '59 in .30-30, scoped with checkered stock (and ugly white spacer between stock and butt plate) little bit of wear but no sign of abuse.
Was asking $500.

2nd, a like new '76, pretty sure it was also .30-30, asking $475

And, finally a '79 also in excellent condition for $495.

Of course I also saw plenty of other, older, more rare '94's that started at $800 and up.

I passed on all 3

I won't make that mistake again but I have a funny feeling that there won't be too many sub $500 '94's when the shows start back up this fall.

Skylerbone said:

Beyond the cost of initial investment and labor training, manufacturers can reasonably predict that future demand won’t equal the current crest.

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True and fair enough. But weren't there a couple of vendors with offerings (Mossberg? others?) that couldn't have "stepped in and stepped up" whilst they are (already supposedly) making levers to begin with?

Over two whole years and change??


Granted that the best ROI ship has sailed and all that.
Don't any of these manufacturers still want/need to make money beyond absolute peak profit?

demand and inflation are pushing new prices up, but in comparison demand is shrinking the distance between new and used. used is ususally my first pick, but the last few years I've just gone with new out of the box.

I think Obturation (love the name and the word) is on. All things have a cycle. When I was a kid, an 'old' car was sometimes all that could be afforded. As I grew older, that 'old' car was cool to rebuild into something really snazzy. (Now I have convinced you all I'm old.) Then, Jay Leno started collecting them and they're rare artifacts.

Firearms are no different. Revolvers are more popular than any time in the last twenty years or so. Lever guns are very useful and functional as well as connecting one to the 'old west'. Even a Winchester 88 is a reminder as well as a seriously powerful arm.

I'm not discounting the JB inflation, either.

tubeshooter said:

True and fair enough. But weren't there a couple of vendors with offerings (Mossberg? others?) that couldn't have "stepped in and stepped up" whilst they are (already supposedly) making levers to begin with?

Over two whole years and change??


Granted that the best ROI ship has sailed and all that.
Don't any of these manufacturers still want/need to make money beyond absolute peak profit?

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Its an excellent question you pose, and to be honest I’ve little idea why these companies haven’t ramped back up but a few suspicions.

On that list would be labor; workforce may have shrunk with the pandemic, or profit margin; if say Mossberg can pump out cheap Plinksters and bolt actions then there’s little incentive to ramp up or re-start the lever line, consumer wants; threads discussing “Remlins” or “pot metal Henrys” remind us that not all levers gain favor with all lever action fans.

All of it speculative of course but I doubt these folks are oblivious to current market trends as witnessed by FN’s re-entry to the High Power market in the wake of Springfield’s successful introduction (for example).

I have a love/hate relationship with lever actions. I've had a total of five in my life and am down to two.

I love how they look and how they carry but only two (Marlin 1894C and Sears-made Ted Williams Winchester) worked flawlessly. The 1894C became more valuable on the market than it was to me so I sold it (and it would have doubled in value since). I had a 336 (actually a Glenfield 30AS) in 30-30 that wasn't timed quite right and didn't lift the cartridge early enough if you didn't work the lever at lightning speed. A Henry .22 refused to feed well or extract reliably and had crooked sights so Henry replaced with one that had equally-crooked sights and uglier wood but at least functions well. A Marlin 39AS (2002 manufacture) didn't extract or eject well so I sold it. I also had a 39M that stopped feeding well, and I couldn't get the cartridge guide calibrated just right.

I'd like to have more lever actions but they have way too many function issues. The high prices right now aren't worth the risk to me. At $250 like five years ago? Sign me up and I'll take the risk! $500 - $1000 now? I can pass and get better reliability and accuracy out of a bolt action (no need to tinker with forearms or barrel bands!), and not be largely limited to round-nose bullets.

But lever actions carry so nicely!

There is and was a perfect storm.

1. Winchester stops USA production. Now it’s made in Japan, a lot pricier too.

2. Marlin gets bought by Remington, quality takes a nosedive, people start seeking out anything “JM” stamped.

3. Remington somehow manages to go bankrupt and close due to financial shenanigans, taking Marlin with it.

4. There’s a global pandemic that simultaneously slows or shuts down global supply lines and transport (making those Mirokus, Ubertis, etc much more scarce.)

5. Said pandemic brings with it unrest, which means there are millions of folks who suddenly decide the time is right for a gun. Many probably bought levers, because the humble 30-30 is on about every easily google-able internet list of good value guns. Plus levers are more old timey, less off-putting to many than a new AR or Glock.

6. Said pandemic also brings free stimulus money. Guns are hot commodities. This boosts everything that can go bang.

7. Biden gets elected. Now unrest becomes full on panic as seemingly every gun guy decides to buy what he may ever want since gun-grabbing is in the air. Many decide to buy lever actions since it’s well known (those internet articles again) that levers are very effective, nearly as fast as a semi-auto, and far less likely to be banned. What a great time to buy that Winchester 94 or Marlin 336 you always wanted.

Long story short: lots of folks decided to buy a lever action in the last couple of years as an ideal “just in case” gun, and meanwhile supply of new ones has been very few and far between (except Henry which many look down on.)

Skylerbone said:

Its an excellent question you pose, and to be honest I’ve little idea why these companies haven’t ramped back up but a few suspicions.

On that list would be labor; workforce may have shrunk with the pandemic, or profit margin; if say Mossberg can pump out cheap Plinksters and bolt actions then there’s little incentive to ramp up or re-start the lever line, consumer wants; threads discussing “Remlins” or “pot metal Henrys” remind us that not all levers gain favor with all lever action fans.

All of it speculative of course but I doubt these folks are oblivious to current market trends as witnessed by FN’s re-entry to the High Power market in the wake of Springfield’s successful introduction (for example).

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All reasonable and I don't disagree with anything you've said. Thanks for trying to provide an answer to what is probably a puzzling question to any lever gun fan. As you say - not everyone is... and not every fan will buy one just because somebody made one. I sure didn't; granted I didn't need to.

So taking a stab at understanding it myself.

Limited supply, increasing demand, inflation for materials, inflation for labor cost, diminishing available work force (short-term), surplus government provided funds, and a skill intensive product to assemble and properly tune.

What I do not understand is rifles at 100-150% of already inflated MSRP. Calibers in .45-70 Gov’t, .444 Marlin, and .450 Marlin. All of which are highly useful calibers but are a handloader’s delight and a consumer’s nightmare. $2-3 per factory cartridge put many off their feed, better really want that deer or maximize precision and minimize blasting. All of which have a useful range of 150-200 yards unless you practice.

All of the modern bolt actions in 7mm or up make better precision weapons with more energy past 100 yards. That said I joined the Big Bore club over a decade ago because I grew up watching Westerns.

We are seeing some of the Western resurgence with the remake of a few Westerns. Nothing like Jeremiah Johnson, Pale Rider, or the Outlaw Josey Wales did for muzzleloading and cap / ball revolvers 40 years ago though.

Also consider how supply and demand works. It’s not really linear.

If there are 2 lever guns coming into the market every day and 2 people buying, things hold steady. Prices are MSRP or whatever the prevailing going rate on the used market is.

If there’s 3 a day coming into the market and only 1 person a day buying, it very quickly becomes a glut. Prices fall. These things sit, are seen to sit, and prices must fall to inspire anyone to buy the excess. Pretty soon there are thousands sitting in pawnshops, gun stores, on Gunbroker… and nobody is snapping them up. They’re old, outmoded, not chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, etc. They become even harder to sell because everyone “knows” they’re not too desirable and not worth much. Articles get written and YouTube videos made to lionize the “classic,” (while the authors really prefer their 6.5CM or 223 for daily use.)

Suddenly a bunch of new gun owners come into the market and buy up the existing supply. Covid, gun ban fears, funny money, whatever. Now there’s no glut, there are few available. The sellers perceive this and prices rise sharply. Even if there are 5 coming onto the market a day, if there are 6 people looking to buy, very quickly there are going to be a pool of frustrated would-be levergun owners who can’t find product and will gladly pay a higher price. Prices rise.

Now consider that all of a sudden we had supply go from (figuratively) our 2 lever guns a day to 1 a day at best, and our demand go from 1-3 buyers a day to 6+…. Prices will rise dramatically, quite quickly, and only fall very slowly as supply catches up.

4v50 Gary said:

How about fed res going brrrrrrrrrrrr! I remember the dollar losing value virtually every month in the late '70s and prices of German guns going up almost every month. What we're seeing today is the devaluation of the dollar and along with it, your earnings, savings and retirement. Asset classes (housing, equities) go up until those falsely inflated bubbles also go *pop* with the dollar.

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Yep. My dollars have felt like toilet paper over the last couple years. Good times.

One last point of consideration: numerous States have in the past few years re-written laws concerning allowable cartridges for deer hunting. I found myself in the market when that occurred, buying a .357 lever action for kids to hunt with in addition to numerous other rifles chambered in 350 Legend in keeping with new straight-wall laws. As little as these latter rifles are shot, paying $1/round is perfectly acceptable.

I don't think the current prices are purely a function of supply and demand. Some but not all

We are in the middle of a lever action speculative bubble. People can drag these guns out of the back corner of the safe and ask all they want. It does not mean they're going to get that.

About a decade and a half ago savage 99s did this and the absolutely oozed out of the woodwork when that happened. Now you never see one because people don't want to sell them at a loss.

I thought I over paid just bit for my Marlin 1894 Cowboy but now it is selling for four to five hundred dollars more than I paid. I don't clearly understand why except for the effects of inflation. I do know that the levers have to be in very good shape to command the higher prices. Much as I love it, if I HAD to save one rifle from my collection it would be a bolt action and not a lever or semi auto.