Ridiculous Ruger Revolver Prices

[Mr. Mosin]

Can someone please explain to me why in the blue blazes Ruger revolvers across the board are suddenly ~$200 higher than the given S&W equivalent ? I can buy a 686 or 19 for what Ruger’s asking for an SP101. It just doesn’t make sense to me... Ruger’s fit/finish hasn’t jumped enough to justify the price increase, and from what I’ve handled, their QC is as shoddy as it’s ever been, if not moreso. And yes, I’m a Ruger fan. Help me understand this please.

 

[CraigC]

Ruger went up 20% a couple months ago. There's a whole lot of reason for it and none of them have anything to do with Ruger. Rampant inflation, this thing called COVID that has made everything more expensive to produce. I have a customer that is a major sporting goods manufacturer and so I am on their internal mailing list. They announce temporary plant shutdowns every week due to COVID.

 

[Mr. Mosin]

Ruger went up 20% a couple months ago. There's a whole lot of reason for it and none of them have anything to do with Ruger. Rampant inflation, this thing called COVID that has made everything more expensive to produce. I have a customer that is a major sporting goods manufacturer and so I am on their internal mailing list. They announce temporary plant shutdowns every week due to COVID.

Then why hasn’t Smith, Colt, Taurus, etc; jumped by that much ?????

 

[chicharrones]

CraigC is correct. In my industry, we've been getting price increase notifications every three months. Before the pandemic, those price increases were maybe every two to three years.

However, I too am curious how Ruger's revolver competitors have kept their prices from noticeably increasing.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Is Smith and Wesson even producing their larger frame revolvers currently? Aside from a few J-frames and maybe a Perf. Center model or two, I haven't seen a brand new one in a couple years. Maybe they haven't raised their MSRPs beacause the guns dont actually exist anyway.....

The Colts were already premium priced and selling well, perhaps they are doing enough volume to absorb the production cost increases and still make an acceptable profit. Honestly, at $1500, the new Python is a relative bargain these days.

 

[Mr. Mosin]

Is Smith and Wesson even producing their larger frame revolvers currently? Aside from a few J-frames and maybe a Perf. Center model or two, I haven't seen a brand new one in a couple years. Maybe they haven't raised their MSRPs beacause the guns dont actually exist anyway.....

I’ve seen PC and standard 686’s, a Mdl 69, and a few others. I would mind seeing a Mdl 10

 

[Mr. Mosin]

CraigC is correct. In my industry, we've been getting price increase notifications every three months. Before the pandemic, those price increases were maybe every two to three years.

However, I too am curious how Ruger's revolver competitors have kept their prices from noticeably increasing.

Don’t feel bad. In my industry (aluminum fabrication) aluminum is absolutely skyrocketing. If it wasn’t for contractor discounts, I’m not sure we could keep the doors open.

 

[ontarget]

Are the Ruger MSRPs up that much? Or is it just the prices at the retailer?
I ask that because I see big price differences from one LGS to the next. To be fair, I cover the entire state for work, and stop by almost every LGS that I see.

 

[Mr. Mosin]

Are the Ruger MSRPs up that much? Or is it just the prices at the retailer?
I ask that because I see big price differences from one LGS to the next. To be fair, I cover the entire state for work, and stop by almost every LGS that I see.

Go to the various manufacturers webpages, and view MSRP

 

[ontarget]

Go to the various manufacturers webpages, and view MSRP

I could, but I wouldn't know the difference as I don't study them on a monthly basis.
I figured you'd know off the top of your head since you started the thread.

 

[Mr. Mosin]

I could, but I wouldn't know the difference as I don't study them on a monthly basis.
I figured you'd know off the top of your head since you started the thread.

Ruger SP101 MSRP’s were... vastly lower 1-1/2 years ago then now.

 

[Mr. Mosin]

Academy still lists the standard .357 SP101 at $649.99, and the 4” GP100 at $779.99, but how long that will last, I dunno.

 

[Phydeaux642]

Hard to discuss this without bringing politics in to it, so, I guess I'll go eat a cookie.

 

[Paul R Zartman]

CraigC is correct. In my industry, we've been getting price increase notifications every three months. Before the pandemic, those price increases were maybe every two to three years.

However, I too am curious how Ruger's revolver competitors have kept their prices from noticeably increasing.

They just might be selling more thru this panic than Ruger, makes sense to me, I rather own a smith or colt than A ruger in this market...Rugers short sightness may have caused this in the supply chain...IMHO

 

[UncleEd]

Might just be what's in the pipelines
at this time.

Ruger prices may be reflecting higher
costs and newest production.

Meanwhile, Smith has plenty of unsold
models still around that don't reflect
the higher costs. Looking at Gunbroker,
it seems Smith "buy now" prices are
still $100 or more higher than Ruger.

Also, Mr. Mosin's comments about Ruger
quality or lack thereof are way off. He
makes it sound like Smith products are
peachy keen.

 

[Pat Riot]

Truck prices have gone up $8000 on average from last year’s MSRPs.
Motorcycles up $1000 - $2000.
Groceries up 10-20%
Everything is going up in price due to something we all learned about in high school economics class - the law of supply and demand.
Ruger isn’t the only company raising prices. I just saw a Henry .22 model H-001 for sale at my LGS for $369. Before CoVid I recall seeing them for around $300.

It’s unfortunate, but it’s the way it is right now.

 

[Slamfire]

If you can find an S&W for $200 less than a Ruger, tell me where it is.

Might be like nickle a cup coffee. Something that is only a memory.

 

[ThomasT]

Then why hasn’t Smith, Colt, Taurus, etc; jumped by that much ?????

Because they were already high to start with. Used to you bought a Ruger because they were a bargain by comparison. Taurus guns can still be had for a somewhat decent price but they are still way more than they were a couple of years ago.

I’ve seen PC and standard 686’s, a Mdl 69, and a few others. I would mind seeing a Mdl 10

There was a seller on GB just a couple of days ago selling skinny barrel model 10s priced at $400 or just a little more. And he had several listed.

And I have always thought that some of the gun prices are a product of the on line auctions. Guns sold on GB usually bring top dollar or even scalper prices. You can bet that manufacturers see the silly prices guns are selling for and raise their prices to be in line with the auction sites.

For a while Midway USA even had primers. And their prices reflected what sellers were asking on GB. I mean why should they sell them for normal prices when the scalpers will just buy them up and sell them for 5 times what they paid for them? This way Midway can get their own piece of the action. Don't like it, don't buy 'em.

 

[ThomasT]

Around 1990 I bought a NIB Ruger GP-100 with 6" barrel to shoot in the falling plate matches. IIRC I paid right at $375.00 for the gun. Using an inflation calculator the price today for that gun would be $784.91. So how far off is that from the prices you are seeing on these guns? I think the 4 and 6" guns are close to the same price.

I also bought an SP-101 with 4" barrel in 32 mag around 1999 (I think) and paid $425 for it before taxes so about $455 OTD. Today that would be $747.14.
An inflation calculator is a lot of fun to play with. https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

The gold 1oz coins my dad bought for $300 way back in the 1980s are now worth around $1800.00. But the buying power of $1800 is no better than the $300 in the mid 1980s. In a word. Your money is almost worthless. And its getting more worthless every day.

 

[Old_Grouch]

Can someone please explain to me why in the blue blazes Ruger revolvers across the board are suddenly ~$200 higher than the given S&W equivalent ?

I can give you a very simple (perhaps overly simple?) explanation:
The value of anything is exactly what someone is willing to pay for it. If people were willing to pay $10.00 for a stick of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum then a stick of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum would be worth $10.00.
If people are willing to pay $200.00 more for a Ruger than a comparable S&W, well..................................
In the late 70s gold was around $160.00 per ounce. Yesterday it closed at $1761.02. Earlier this year it topped $2,000.00. Why? because that's what people were willing to pay for it on that day.

 

[Seedy Character]

Why are Ruger prices up?

1. The idiot in charge of country
2. FUEL COSTS. Supplies cost more to ship. Product costs more to ship.
3. Fixed cost remains but production is slowed or stopped.
4. S&W and Colt were already over stocked and sold for premium.

 

[Bazoo]

Part of it is people are scared. They seen the government shut the country down. They seen black lives matter protests with local governments catering to them. They seen the beginning of the end of society and they are scared. They want to get a gun. And what is the revolver to have through the end of the world? A GP100 or sp101.

 

[Riomouse911]

I paid $405.00 for a Glock 43x MOS in a LGS back in spring 2020. That same LGS had Glock 43 standards for sale last week for $469.00. That’s roughly a 15% increase over the last 15 months… for a less expensive option.

The average pump price for a gallon of regular unleaded here in Ca is $4.40. Diesel is $4.30. I can’t say for sure that’s why prices are rising like crazy locally, but I bet that shipping costs may have something to do with why my local retailers keep raising their prices..

I’ll freely admit Rugers are pricy…but sadly so is everything else.

Stay safe.

 

[Jonesy814]

Around here the Ruger revolvers were traditionally about $150-200 below msrp, while SW ran $75-100 below msrp.
Now they are all running at or even above msrp

 

[chicharrones]

An inflation calculator is a lot of fun to play with. https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

In a word. Your money is almost worthless. And its getting more worthless every day.

Sadly, my salary and benefits haven’t kept up with the inflation calculator over the last 20 years.