Prices on ARs

[danprkr]

There seems to be a disconnect in the AR market right now. I can buy an AR as cheap or cheaper than I can buy the parts to build one. That wasn't the case a month ago. Now though parts prices are rising and gun prices are falling. Seems odd to me. I know it's supply and demand somehow, but do you guys have any ideas on what may be the particular market forces at work causing this? Opinions on if/when it will change are also sought.

Mods - if in wrong section feel free to move.

 

[.45&TKD]

I hadn't heard that, but if so it might be a good time to pick up another AR.

What brands and what vendors have you noticed this of?

 

[jbh13]

Just speculation, if part prices are rising it could be that building an AR has become more popular than you think.
However I have not seen the price change as you stated.

 

[taliv]

i noticed that today. i was not really in the market for a new AR but an interesting painting opportunity came along and i thought i might be persuaded to buy parts if they were cheap and do another build. sadly, they weren't cheap at all and seem to have returned to post-clinton-ban-expiration / pre-obama normalcy.

i saw a couple good deals here and there. denny's guns and palmetto state both have stripped m4 uppers in the $60 range.
prices at BCM were higher than i expected.

and oddly enough, there just wasn't really a particular configuration i just have to have right now... and the two complete AR-pattern guns I want are both still sky high

 

[scottr]

There is tons of inventory of complete black everythings right now. When you can buy a S&W M&P-15 M-4gery for $800 and get $100 rebate why build? I think Sportsman's Warehouse had Bushy ORs for $700 during a sale this summer. Most people buy stock M-4gerys and maybe put a light and Eotech on it. Most people don't have the knowledge or skill to build an AR, and don't want to. And the big reason that ARs are cheap: most people that want one bought it during the first year of the O-scare, and have no desire for more ARs, or money left to spend.

Parts normally cost more than a whole thing. Buy a car; buy the parts to make a car. Parts cost more; a lot more. Ordering, receiving, inventory, pulling, packing, shipping all make parts cost more. Do all those things for 10,000 parts (and make 10,000 little profits), versus 1/100 the work for 100 guns/cars/illudium Q-36 explosive space modulators. I would charge more for the parts too, because they would cost me more as a business. That holds true if I'm the manufacturer or the retailer.

Taliv, I have been watching parts prices too. DSA uppers started out a year ago at $60, but as you say prices have risen. Didn't see $60 stripped uppers at Palmetto and Denny's but $70+. BCM has a great deal on uppers right now IF you don't care about perfect appearance. They have stripped uppers with FA and ejection port kits for $70.

Some of the BCM barreled uppers are on sale for cheap too. I am trying to save enough for the mid-length lightweight 16" and add their BCG. For BCM quality they are cheap. DSA has even cheaper barreled uppers. DPMS had a screaming deal on complete uppers at Labor Day. Get on the email lists for most of these companies and you get earliest notice of sales they have.

Both Brownells and Midway are out of the DD 4150/CL M4 barrel that they have been selling for $169 all year, but Midway says it will backorder. PK Firearms has barrels and parts for OK pricing.

 

[W.E.G.]

Completed guns are VERY trend-driven.

Witness Ruger getting on the piston-gun bandwagon too late.
If they had offered that gun three years earlier, they would have eaten everybody's lunch.

Now, its yesterday's news.

Parts is parts.
People always gonna want parts for AR's, because this is a HOBBY as much as anything else. If somebody wants a particular trigger, they're gonna pay whatever it costs.

Right now, there are a lot of dealers with excess inventory of last-year's fashions. That stuff has gotta move if they are gonna afford next year's marked-up fashions.