Manufacturing cost of a firearm?

[boredelmo]

Does anyone have any idea of much a firearm costs to make? Ive heard AK's are cheap to make, how cheap is cheap?

Anything, revolver/autoloader/rifle/shotgun/carbine etc etc.

I remember some movie quotes and such but no reliable sources.

-Elmer

 

[686S&W]

Wouldn't the cost depend on the quality? I don't think you could get a general, all around answer to that question. You have to keep in mind what materials are used, how was the receiver made, the type of furniture, extras like pillar bedding, drilling and tapping, and so on.

A Springfield M1A is going to cost more to manufacture than an AK47. The M3 grease gun only cost the U.S. $14 whereas the Thompson cost $200+ if I remember my history.

 

[SDC]

It depends on exactly what you're making; I've seen guns made in prison for less than $5 of materials, and I've seen guns that you can make from materials in any hardware store for less than $10. In terms of mass production firearms, the Mk III Sten got down to around $3.50 per copy at the end of WW2.

 

[bowfin]

The labor would be a sizeable amount of the cost, and that would vary widely as to location.

 

[logical]

Anything is cheap to make if you already happen to magically own a few million dollars worth of equipment, buildings and designs. People will get on here soon and tell you they heard form a buddies Dad that Glocks cost $37.50 to make....don't believe it.

It is easy to say this or that gun is $50 worth of steel and some machining. Let's put it this way...with the cost of lawyers, liability insurance, marketing, capital equipment etc., I suspect margins aren't all that good.

 

[boredelmo]

That....certainly...is logical......


Well i remember the Liberator was sometinhg like a few cents to make. Any else remember something specific? even if it was more like a rumor?

 

[General Geoff]

It depends a lot on if you're factoring in cost of R&D and labour, or the cost of raw materials and power to refine said materials into the finished product.

I'd imagine that just the raw materials and power required to make a complete AR-15 would be around ~$100.

..That's discounting the cost for equipment, labor of assembly, any hand-finishing, cost of research & development, paperwork, shipping, logistics, etc..

 

[JesseL]

The manufacturing cost of a firearm will vary hugely with the type of manufacturing being employed.

A fine bolt action rifle can be made by hand with fairly basic/inexpensive tooling (lathe, mill, etc), but it could cost upwards of $10,000 and take months to complete.

A cheap submachine gun could be produced in minutes and for a couple dollars, but the tooling cost will be enormous (Hydraulic presses and dies, barrel forging equipment, furnaces for castings, etc.)

 

[22-rimfire]

Manufacturing costs are a closely guarded secret. It would make no sense to let people know that $1000 MSRP on a Smith only costs $250 to make. But, my suspicion is that the manufacting cost is less than you think even on what are considered top-notch handguns and rifles. Everyone has to get their markup to cover their costs before the firearm takes a ride home. It costs a lot to stay in business and make even a reasonable 15% actual profit on an item.

 

[goColt]

Labor costs will almost certainly be the most expensive part of manufacturing followed by R&D, advertising, materials etc, not necessarily in that order.

This is the case with most any product, especially when unions are involved. This is not a jab against unions, this is just fact.

 

[AZ Jeff]

Several of the responses thus far have mentioned a variety of costs associated with being a firearm manufacturer, only some of which are what could be correctly called "direct manufacturing costs".

Things like advertising, R&D, sales support, etc., while being costs of doing business, are not considered direct manufacturing costs. Only the cost of materials used in the firearm, cost of labor to fabricate, assemble and test the gun, and certain overhead costs (electricity to run the machine tools, cutting oils, etc.) are normally included in true "DIRECT manufacturing costs."

As to the original poster's question--such costs depend STRONGLY on both the firearm under construction, and the geography of the firearm maker.

Firearms made by traditional methods, in traditional factories, tend to be fairly expensive in terms of "direct manufacturing costs". Examples of these would be arms such as the M1911 pistol as built by Colt. That design is labor intensive in it's manufacture, and reflects a design philosophy that was present in 1911, when machine tools were less consistent, but human labor to had fit parts could be had relatively cheaply.

Firearms made by more modern methods, taking advantage of lower labor cost designs, are usually less expensive. A good example of this would be the Glock pistols. Glocks are, by design, virtually free of hand fitting, and thus labor costs to assemble a Glock is low, and the parts are relatively simple to make.

Now before everyone jumps up and down about how a Glock costs almost the same as a M1911, remember that I talked only of DIRECT manufacturing costs. Glock frames are cheap to mold (compared the cost of forging and cutting an M1911 frame like Colt does it).

Where Glock's are NOT so cheap is in the amortizing of that very expensive and complex injection molding tool that makes those frames for a fraction of the cost of an equivalent M1911 frame.

Once you start adding in INDIRECT costs like tooling amortization, then costs of more modern designs don't always appear to be so very much less expensive.

 

[pbhome71]

Manufacturing cost depends on many factors. In the nutshell - Material + Labor + Overhead. It always has been like that.

Economy of scales is also comes into play. For industrialized countries, labor will be where a lot of your cost come into play. This can be offset, if you have enough volume, by automation/better manufacturing processes.

Most of the manufacturers of durable goods aims for 65% margin. From there, you can estimate the cost of the goods - not including R&D cost.

-Pat

 

[Old Time Hunter]

General rule of thumb for an OEM product is....take the MSRP and divide by four. That will give you a pretty good idea of what the "hard" costs are to a product in material, labor, and overhead. From my experience, this should be pretty close to fresh inventory cost. Figure 1% additional for each 30 day period of unmoved stock, add in for scrap, the drayage material (packaging) and the additional costs of special promotions and you usually end up with a total of about 1/3 of the MSRP.

Some one tell me I am wrong and why.

 

[waumo]

Old Time Hunter...

You are not wrong for a US manufactured product.

But the typical statement is that manpower can be up to 80% of the cost.
Then they move to offshore and cut the manpower cost by up to 10X and
DO NOT lower the selling cost.

Then I think it is more like take the MSRP and divide by 8 to 10 for the
actual cost.

 

[Tokugawa]

The manual "how to shoot the M1 rifle", published 1943, says the cost to make a garand is about $80. Using the inflation index, this translates to $840.24 in 2003.

 

[Rembrandt]

Been associated with manufacturing for years......for a rough idea just work the numbers backwards.

$1000 gun list price
$ 750 dealer cost
$ 500-600 manufacturers cost (Labor & materials plus overhead, insurance, R&D)
$ 300-400 (labor and materials only)

 

[Frog48]

General rule of thumb for an OEM product is....take the MSRP and divide by four. That will give you a pretty good idea of what the "hard" costs are to a product in material, labor, and overhead.

I'd imagine thats pretty close to true, if you're talking about a US built auto or something of that sort. If a vehicle is built outside the US, that rule of thumb goes out the window, as it would vary widely depending on location.

 

[krimmie]

"Anything is cheap to make if you already happen to magically own a few million dollars worth of equipment, buildings and designs. People will get on here soon and tell you they heard form a buddies Dad that Glocks cost $37.50 to make....don't believe it".

Good point...if weapon design had depended on me, we would be discussing things on the "sticks and rock forum".

 

[default]

Anything is cheap to make if you already happen to magically own a few million dollars worth of equipment, buildings and designs. People will get on here soon and tell you they heard form a buddies Dad that Glocks cost $37.50 to make....don't believe it.

It is easy to say this or that gun is $50 worth of steel and some machining. Let's put it this way...with the cost of lawyers, liability insurance, marketing, capital equipment etc., I suspect margins aren't all that good.

+1 and thanks for the pre-emptive strike. It's like complaining that fine restaurants charge far more for an excellent meal than what the raw ingredients could be bought for at a supermarket.

 

[BBQJOE]

Just my 2 cents.
I know of a number of places that sell jewelry.

They mark it up three times what they paid for it.
I wouldn't doubt the formula for guns are that far off.