Why are bullpup rifles so expensive?

[henschman]

It is a supply and demand thing. The demand comes from the fact that they actually do offer some advantages over something with a standard layout like an AR. I think most of us who own multiple 2A-purpose rifles would LIKE to have a quality bullpup, that there is some price that we would be willing to pay for one, and that the number is probably at least SOMEWHAT larger than what we would be willing to pay for a basic AR of comparable quality.

The supply issue comes from the fact that for each of these designs, there is typically just one manufacturer, who can only supply a certain number of units.

They set a price that they think will move all their units at the greatest profit. If you started seeing multiple producers start making, say, AUG pattern rifles, and the market became flooded with them, you would see prices just marginally above the cost of production and distribution, like you do with most AR-15s right now.

 

[justin22885]

well, why is a SCAR so expensive? its little more than an inexpensive extruded aluminum upper and an injection moulded plastic lower that takes them about $100 to put together.. answer is same for the bullpups, they cost that much because they can get away with charging that much.. until someone releases a better one at lower costs to drive prices down.. so lack of low cost competition, thats why

 

[barnbwt]

I suspect these guns cost the same 300$-400$ that most AR or AK type guns can be made at (I believe cheap ARs are even less than 300$). The difference is both in competition driving prices down, as well as R&D and marketing required to promote a new design to a very skeptical market. The fact 'puppers tend to not mind paying through the nose (an artifact from when the only bullpups were extremely rare import models that were only intermittently available) helps, as well.

TCB

 

[justin22885]

bullpups are really not more expensive than other propietary designs like the sig 556, projected price of the galil ace, XCR, and many other rifles

 

[woodweasel58]

I picked up a Bushmaster M17 for $700 10 years ago, incredible except trigger, and had to aerate the forend and put a vert grip it got so hot. But very accurate.