Why are AKs so expensive?

[Sunray]

Supply and demand. Same as everything else. The U.S.(Clinton, I think.) and Russian government's agreed, long ago, to stop importing/exporting, respectively, small arms. Low supply means higher retail prices.
Not really anything to do with inflation.

 

[PabloJ]

It is older design requiring more hand assembly during production. Most sold have US parts and are put together in this country. Labor is very expensive in USA. I will never understand why people buy old Eastern European and Chinese AKs for over $2000 when second-hand Arsenal put together in Nevada can be had for $1000+/-100. In my opinion the only ones worth a premium are ones from Finland based on 1960s design.

 

[1stmarine]

I agree with PabloJ. There is little reason to buy overpriced imports when one can have one US made.
There is a guy locally who takes orders and builds based on the RPK trunnions. One ends up with a superior product all the way
for $600 or so depending on add-ons. It is not like it is rocket science to put together a quality one and many aftermarket
parts made in the US and Israel are far superior to anything the east produces starting with mass produced quality barrels.
However I do think Molot and Izmash new receivers and parts are pretty good quality but right now everything is overpriced.
Look for experienced gunsmiths in your area/region and you will be surprised plus you will be supporting small business.

 

[Fishbed77]

Wait until February or so to buy an AK and I guarantee you'll get a good deal as all the distributors and retailers who stocked up on AKs hoping to cash in on a Hillary-induced panic (and have had their hopes dashed) look to liquidate stock.

 

[Rudedog]

Times have changed and importers/dealers charge more. Parts are drying up unless some daring entrepreneurs go to war zones and other locales to collect beat up AKMs for parts. I bought a WASR complete with kit the summer before Obama was elected and the price was 399.00. I still have it and will not sell it, because some day soon you can't buy one or if you could it will cost you. Any American company that will build them is not going to sell it like the cheaper Romanians or Norincos.

 

[barnbwt]

Have parts kits really dried up that much? With import restrictions (e.g. no barrels), is the US cost of labor and parts that high to drive these things above the $1k mark? I'm not looking for the simple generic supply vs. demand answer - I want to dig into the drivers. The contrast, of course, is the dip in AR pricing ...

-AKs don't have nearly the depth of suppliers (especially cut-rate overseas ones) as the AR
-Without receivers, trigger groups, or barrels, AK kits only deliver a handful of the most expensive parts to manufacture
-The AK has always been more labor intensive to produce than the AR (barrel assembly, receiver construction)
-ARs aren't seen as subject to 922r so cheap foreign made stocks/etc are more available

You have to remember that the real reason the AK --and all other common parts kits-- could deliver budget builds in the first place was because they had already been paid for by the manufacturing country. Their remaining value (since the rando AK kits we're talking about have no collector value) is literally derived from their scrap price; the host country often pays to have them removed or charges a nominal fee, the importer adds a cut for their risk & fees, the Port Authority takes a cut (as well as the ATF all too often), the distributor adds a markup, as does the final retail seller before it makes it into Joe Blow's hands. But now that more and more parts have to be fabricated domestically thanks to both Bushes, an AK build rivals an AR for manufacturing cost, but involves a lot more labor, skill, and uncertainty inherent to re-using worn or rough-shod parts.

TCB

 

[1stmarine]

hi @barnbwt ... what are the parts not made in the USA? There are a few US made trunions but not sure about carriers and bolts?
otherwise everything else can be found. I think the other side of the coin is the appeal of a rugged AK based sporter rifle in 18 or 20 inches in 308 and other calibers
with wood furniture that appeals the wihte tail and brush hunter. With the prohibitions for saigas and veprs this got really bad also as a source
of donors for other conversions. I think Trump will fix this BS ban on importations now that Russia will be open to negotiate with the USA.

 

[Fishbed77]

hi @barnbwt ... With the prohibitions for saigas and veprs this got really bad also as a source
of donors for other conversions.

VEPRs are not banned and are widely available.

 

[SSN Vet]

I think it's because on an AK, you have to rivet the lower in place, and this is a procedure/skill that few people are set up to do.

Hence, you will find very few peeps doing AK builds from "stripped Lowers"

Just my 2 cents.

 

[dh1633pm]

We don't have inflation except in our currency. If you had a $20 gold piece in 1850 you could buy a nice custom tailored suit. If you had that same $20 gold piece you could still buy a nice tailored suit. See no inflation.

As for the economics of AK's, the topic is well covered above. Problems with the rules of capitalism to include supply and demand. Less imports, more American Made stuff, and pretty good demand, all force prices higher.

 

[1stmarine]

VEPRs are not banned and are widely available.

Oh! I see. So why are they so expensive? also could not find them in stock... who has them?

 

[barnbwt]

I think it's because on an AK, you have to rivet the lower in place, and this is a procedure/skill that few people are set up to do.

And press the barrel & headspace it in an antiquated fashion, and press on & align the gas block in a similar antiquated fashion, and fold & weld/rivet rails & trunnions using more operations. The whole gun is simply labor-intensive by modern standards, and it's not like anybody's gonna invest in a robotic assembly line to automate the fabrication of trash-can guns (but a robotic assembly line is precisely how AR receivers get machined)

New
We don't have inflation except in our currency. If you had a $20 gold piece in 1850 you could buy a nice custom tailored suit. If you had that same $20 gold piece you could still buy a nice tailored suit. See no inflation.

There's just a teeny bit more gold in circulation these days than back then; your gold also won't be paying for anywhere near the same value in terms of labor or materials (machine-stitching, machine-looming). Similarly, there's just a teensy few hundred thousand more AKs that are no longer parts kits than a decade ago, but a few ten thousands more kits have been imported subsequently. In the 80's, ARs cost more than nearly any other military-issue semi-auto. In the 70's (I think, could have been the 80's) HK products and FALs were the most affordable option, and STGW57's were cheap since their ammo was scarce.

TCB

 

[Walkalong]

And I remember racks of $70 SKS's and $150 AKs that didn't sell well, but those days are over. Not to mention Chinese steel core ammo for dirt cheap.

 

[justice06rr]

what are the parts not made in the USA? There are a few US made trunions but not sure about carriers and bolts?
otherwise everything else can be found.

All foreign made AK's receivers are not made here and are imported either in parts or a whole rifle. Unlike AR15 parts which are all made mostly in the USA. All the good quality AK's (Bulgarian, Russian, Chinese etc) are all imported.

So the cost and burden of importation adds to the price of AK's. AK's are also not as easy to build as AR's. And as already mentioned, AR15's are built by countless manufacturers here in US, so competition drives down prices.

 

[SSN Vet]

Just remember that the AK is, and always has been, a mass production rifle, made in countries with inexpensive labor. So tooling up a press and fixture to press fit the front site block would be much more desirable than adding a 5 cent pin and bolt. And stamping and bending sheet metal, followed by welding on the rails (all done on purpose built machinery) is more preferable than starting with a big billet of expensive metal and making a big pile of chips on a CNC mill.

By way of comparison, if you live in Lancaster, PA and want to build a barn, you can go with 200 year old designs and a crew full of camera shy guys in straw hats, for short money. But if you want something new, and custom, with galvanized metal this and aluminum that, and no support posts every 12', you'll have to pay more for Anglo contractors to do the job.

 

[rskent]

For the money/value, a decently home built AR simply cannot be beat in todays market. I'd take my home built $500AR over a $750 Wasr anyday.

I couldn’t agree more.

I don’t think I could build an AR that I would want for $500, but I sure could build a solid AR for $750.

 

[1stmarine]

All foreign made AK's receivers are not made here and are imported either in parts or a whole rifle. Unlike AR15 parts which are all made mostly in the USA. All the good quality AK's (Bulgarian, Russian, Chinese etc) are all imported.

So the cost and burden of importation adds to the price of AK's. AK's are also not as easy to build as AR's. And as already mentioned, AR15's are built by countless manufacturers here in US, so competition drives down prices.

I can find US made receivers of nice quality, some trunnions(more expensive) but not matching carriers, trunions and bolts. The rest we can also find made in the USA of decent quality.
So I guess many still depend on the parts kits to get at least some of the parts unless one knows of a source for US made carriers and bolts with matching trunnions. But those parts can be found online too but imported.
In terms of manufacturing it could be done a lot easier. Very small modifications need to be done to make manufacturing available to everyone without heavy tools including easy to swap
barrels. I guess there is not enough market for it?