When the LCP came out I wanted one badly. I stopped in the LGS and the gun I wanted to like I couldn't stand. The ergonomics for me were horrible and the trigger reminded me of Sigma. Basically the gun felt funky in my hand and the trigger was long, gritty and you never knew when it was going to break. It felt cheap. I no longer wanted one.
My FFL guy is a couple houses away. I like to look at Slickguns and Buds and they had the Taurus TCP in black SS for $199. My FFL guy doesn't charge me for transfers, we met when I was putting his mail that was delivered to my house in his mailbox. What actually started off as "what are you doing in my mailbox" has turned into a friendship.
For $199 I ordered the TCP with reservations about buying a Taurus automatic. I also figured that worst case I would be out $200. After 2 years I have no regrets. The Taurus IMO is a far better pocket gun. There is no comparison with the trigger, the TCP trigger is very smooth and after 500 rounds it had no issues at all. It did not like steel cased ammo but my 1911 doesn't either and that's a far more expensive gun. The fact that the slide is SS has come into play. I put it in the garage and after two years of alternating between very hot and very cold, there was no rust on or in the gun at all.
I would think that with the parts coming from Brazil even though they are assembled in the USA that the $30 cost of manufacturing is in the ballpark, maybe within $20 or so. I figure about $50 from plastic to the finished product. Pretty much the same margins as most plastic guns. I will tell you this, for it's intended purpose of being a up close really personal last resort gun, it does the job well. It is not a pleasant gun to shoot (very snappy) but if you are going to have a gun better to shoot it and make sure it's reliable.
After 500 rounds the only hiccup was Herter's ammo. After a couple of stove pipes, back to brass. No other problems since. If you absolutely have to have a LCP, Buds has them for $229 right now.
