American Made Products And Patriotism

Status
Not open for further replies.
^As I previously alluded to, US manufacturing is an important criterion. I thought that was pretty obvious, citing history as prerequisites. But for the sake of clarity, I will edit the list.:D
 
Last edited:
I like to buy things that are made in america but when I look for a gun I really do not take that into consideration. In the auto industry we send all of our out of spec parts to Mexico, I would assume other countries do the same to the US. just somthing to think about with them American assembled firearms or anything else for that matter
 
Being American made is important to me but as the previous posts have said it's very hard to really know where the parts came from. I am too old and too lazy to research that hard. I learn alot from forums like this but it is the internet so I take it with a grain of salt.
That being said, if I find a firearm and fall in love I don't truly worry about where it was made. I would prefere American products but in this day and age what can you do?
 
No, as your question sits on it's face. Who makes the best gun (vehicle, widget, etc) for my needs? That's the crux of competition, that ultimately drives better products for everyone. Considering the innovation levels of the US, I'd bet on the US in most any long term competitive environment. And if it's close, hey, I'm for the home team.

If on the other hand, someone were to buy from "X" just because, there's little incentive for "X" to produce a better product. Remember the cra% sold by Detroit in the 80's? No wonder they lost market share? Remember the lack of innovation by Motorola in the last half of the 90's in the cellular market? No wonder they lost 80% of their market share. Americans can build great products, but it doesn't take much arrogance or 'assumed patriotism' to find out you're not such a great company...
 
It's a world market. Where would we be if nobody outside of America bought our products? We'd have a lot of grain, that's for sure...

And should we quit buying foreign oil???

Americans make money on everything sold inside our borders. Even the foreign made stuff makes money for importers, truckers, warehousemen, loaders, stockboys, merchants, cashiers, etc.

I don't spend a lot of time worrying about where stuff is made. If I want something I pick the item that I feel gives me the best value for the cost.

Since this is a firearms forum, I'll have to say I do have a few handguns that were not made in America. One rifle was made in Japan and brought home by my dad after they capitualted in '45. I'm proud to have it.
 
Where would we be if nobody outside of America bought our products?
Click to expand...

A good question. We would likely be the world's sole manufacturer of nearly all goods in the world.

A large portion of the industrial machinery used to make everything is produced in... you guessed it the USA. At one time nearly all of it was.
 
Duluth trader is sort of a good ol' boy supplier. Seems they had complaints about their pants not being made in the US. They found a company that would make one of their jeans to exact spec they were using in the US. The foreign produced jeans:$35. The new USA produced ones:$75. How many of the USA ones do you think they sell?

Things "made in USA" have to be 51% US parts UNLESS the country of manufacture has certain exemptions for trade agreements or their economy is in need of help and such. Then foreign made parts start to count towards the US percentage. It is a total joke and as some pointed out many of the "Foreign" companies are producing more in the US than the "US" companies. More importantly, almost all the big ones are publicly owned companies. You can buy Toyota stock just as easily as Ford and many many US citizens have, so the profits are likely to end up here anyways.
 
With regard to the quality difference between American and imported vehicles... Prior to 1988, that argument held a lot of water. Ford revamped their QC in a major way starting in 1988, and quality started catching up.

In recent years, GM cars also started catching up.

There are some very nice American cars out there, now.

American trucks have been pretty good for quite some time. I have had zero problems with my Avalanche, had to have minor front transmission work done on my old Z71, and had to replace a water pump and some belts over the course of 180,000 miles on my old Ford Explorer.

The Corvette is quite solid, and nearly impossible to beat at price point, for performance enthusiasts - while getting very respectable highway mileage.

The Cadillac CTS is a car that, if one is looking at mid-size luxury sedans, really deserves a test drive.

My intent isn't to introduce veer, but rather to point out that some people live by stereotypes that are a decade or two out of date.

Guns, cars, or widgets, buy what makes you happy.

My preference is to buy American when I can, and to minimize my purchases of products from countries that have serious human rights issues, or seriously unbalanced trade restrictions. But to each his own.
 
This is funny. Justifying an Anerican made gun while pounding the keys on your Chinese made computer.
 
raftman
Senior Member

Quote:
I find it interesting to hear American workers complaining about the quality of American products.
To be fair, I don't think anyone said American products are of inherently low quality. Some American goods are indeed of poor quality (but many are not). I think the point being made is, those manufacturers that do make lesser goods, especially if it at a high price, should not be rewarded for doing so simply on account of producing their guns here in the States.

For instance, SIG-USA's 556R rifle costs around 1200 dollars, can only use plastic AK mags (anything else causes damage to the receiver), and seems to run on only expensive, hard-to-find varieties of 7.62x39 ammo. The materials on these rifles are cheap, and the workmanship isn't praiseworthy either. So is it really rational to pay 2, 3 or even 4 times the price for something that's (IMO) a decidedly inferior product, just because it's made here?
Click to expand...

Ok so we have American workers complaining about the cost and quality of American made products.

Then of course they complain of the low wages and long work hours.
 
Then of course they complain of the low wages and long work hours.
Click to expand...

I suppose. But at least they are not committing mass suicide to escape the working conditions like their Chinese counterparts in the workers paradise.

The things that are still produced in the US are widely recognized as being high quality around the world. Consumer goods are not made much here any more because the margin is too small and the product life cycle too short. The goods that we see in the US, Europe and parts of Asia (developed in the US, made in China) are much higher quality than many consumer goods sold around the world.

In the US for example we don't expect things to break. If it does break we return it. Try that in most of the rest of the world and the merchant will laugh in your face.
 
"Ok so we have American workers complaining about the cost and quality of American made products.

Then of course they complain of the low wages and long work hours."


We complain about European and Asian guns, too. What's the big deal? And buy what you want. Those foreign gun makers can't buy American imports if they aren't working.

John
 
I don't have an extensive collection of weapons, but with the exception of an old British .303 they are all American made.

My preference is to buy American when I can, and to minimize my purchases of products from countries that have serious human rights issues, or seriously unbalanced trade restrictions. But to each his own.
Click to expand...

MLeake that pretty much sums up my feelings on this. There are times when buying American is not possible and I use foreign made and assembled electronics, and Lord knows what else, just like the rest of us. It is a global economy, but American jobs and products are the engine that drives our economy.
 
Ok so we have American workers complaining about the cost and quality of American made products.

Then of course they complain of the low wages and long work hours.
Click to expand...

It's more like American workers complaining about the cost/quality ratio on some American products. For instance, I brought up the example of that 556R rifle. It's a product made in the USA, that is of high cost, yet relatively low quality. There are makers right here in the USA that make a better gun and for a lot less money. For example, one can easily get a respectable AR for $400 less than the cost of a 556R. Also made by American workers, earning American wages, working American hours, etc. These latter category of manufacturers should certainly be rewarded for making a quality product at a good price. It can be done, and often it is done. Then there are makers who apparently choose not to make a good product at a good price. If people are to buy high-cost, low-quality goods out of some misguided attempt at patriotism, it only continues to provide an incentive for companies to make high-cost, low quality goods. Doesn't seem like a working model.
 
[If people are to buy high-cost, low-quality goods out of some misguided attempt at patriotism, it only continues to provide an incentive for companies to make high-cost, low quality goods. Doesn't seem like a working model.]

Absolutely agree.
I recall when Win discontinued the Pre 64 M 70, and the new one was junk in my view. Sadly, the quality did not improve for many years. Before it was discontinues even the Pre 64 M 70 quality had slipped.

When I was stationed in Alaska in the early 60s we could buy the Win for about $106. Husqvarna rifles were the same price, and were much nicer and better quality. I wish I had bought a couple but the barrel length was, I think, 21 inches, and I did not like that.

If American manufacturers cannot or will not produce high quality products I will buy foreign. I also believe that US manufacturers priced themselves out of the world markets for a while. Especially in autos.
I think that in general foreign makers of rifles, shotguns, and rifles exceed the quality of most US factory made firearms.

Jerry
 
This is funny. Justifying an Anerican made gun while pounding the keys on your Chinese made computer.
Click to expand...

Ironic, isn't it? The whole idea of "american-made" is largely an illusion these days, as resources used to make most anything are obtained globally by manufacturers. The best one can hope for is that most of the labor is supplied by americans.
 
You know - many of the metals use in American gun models and accessories may come from overseas and from not nice countries. Titanium, scandium, rare earths.

Oil and gas in your vehicle?

Now, such a quandry - my favorite cheeses - Hopelessly Blue from TX or Hoch Ybrig from Switzerland!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top