Sales Figures?

[RPCVYemen]

On another very long thread, people were asserting things about the popularity of a particular design. It would be interesting to know (even approximately) the sales figures for various brands/designs.

I found one web page that listed sales (by caliber) for Glocks.

http://shootingmessengers.blogspot.com/2007/01/most-popular-glock-models-in-us.html

The number claimed was that 318,000 Glocks were sold in the US in 2006.

For 1911 designs in 1999, according to this article:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BTT/is_148_24/ai_64565415

Colt: 44,112
Kimber: 23,493
Springfield: 11,005

Does anyone know any other semi-reliable figures for any other manufacturers/design?

Mike

 

[Scorpiusdeus]

That is very interesting if true. I'm not surprised to see the .40 S&W coming on so strong, but with ammo prices what they are, I wonder if they will hold that position?

I'm amazed at how many 10MM there are. I can't for the life of me figure out why Springfield doesn't come out with on in their XD line.

 

[Bobo]

Here's a resource:

http://www.shootingindustry.com/Pages/07FAReport.pdf

and the latest BATFE info online (2005):
http://www.atf.treas.gov/firearms/stats/index.htm

 

[JohnBT]

Interesting numbers, but possible misleading. The question is, popular with whom, the end users or the purchasing officers. Police departments buy a lot of Glocks with sweatheart contracts and probably a lot of .40s. They are relatively inexpensive even if you don't get the department discount.

I work for a state agency not far from the state central garage/motor pool. They have had fields of Chevy Cavaliers and Malibus that no doubt drove up Chevy's sales figures. Ask yourself, does a high sales volume of some Chevy models mean they are the best car?

John

 

[RPCVYemen]

Interesting numbers, but possible misleading. The question is, popular with whom,...

I am mostly interested in refutable statements. Not hand waving - not anecdotes.

My hypothesis is that 1911 style weapons are very popular among a very small segment of the population - gun cranks. That segment of the population is vocal, which means they are very likely to post on THR or the internet. That segment also tends to be very involved in guns as a hobby, and are more likely to buy non-hunting gun rags, which means that 1911s get a lot of press.

My hypothesis, further, is that 1911s are not very popular among gun purchasers in generall.

Looking for evidence that could refute that hypothesis, if 1911 sales were a very large portion of handgun sales, then my hypothesis would be clearly wrong.

Other than your own assertion, can you specify any stats or facts which would refuteyour claim - that Glocks are more popular with purchasing officers than with gun buyers in general - if those facts were true?

Mike

 

[HisSoldier]

I'm not sure, but it seems to me that police sales would skew the heck out of sales figures, take the police numbers out and that might be revealing.

 

[sdj]

Interesting thread....

I suspect that 1911 sales are not as high as the sales of what I'll call the modern polymer pistol (M&P, XD, Glock, HK, etc). If I take my local range as representative of the market (big assumption and possibly not correct, I admit) and if I look at who's shooting what on the firing line, I usually see the following:

1. Mostly Polymers (Glock and it's brothers), followed by:
2. Modern steel semi autos (CZ, Sig, Baretta, etc.) followed by:
3. Rifles of some kind, ARs, AKs, 22s; followed by:
4. 1911s followed by:
5. Revolvers.

Again, just observations, and the observations of a 1911 / revolver fan.



-SDJ

 

[RPCVYemen]

... and if I look at who's shooting what on the firing line, I usually see the following...
1. Mostly Polymers (Glock and it's brothers), followed by:
2. Modern steel semi autos (CZ, Sig, Baretta, etc.) followed by:
3. Rifles of some kind, ARs, AKs, 22s; followed by:
4. 1911s followed by:
5. Revolvers.

That's more or less what I see. And my guess is that even though 1911s are #4 on you list, they are over-represented on the range. My guess is that 1911 owners are more likely to seek training than gun purchaser's as a whole. My guess it the owner who buy a weapon, trains enough to get his/her CCW, and then practices at most one a year after that is much more likely to be a non-1911 owner.

If that is true, then what we see at the range tends to over-represent the popularity of 1911s.

How could we test this hypothesis?

Mike