How much?! Price matching across the decades.

P

Pond James Pond

New member
A little experiment. I've just posted on a thread bemoaning the loss of quality in some corners of the manufacturing sector (the gun industry: what a coincidence!) and I suggested that it was the pressure of other parts of the business, and an unwillingness to let share price suffer that has meant costs are cut in production, rather than elsewhere.

This got me thinking. If guns were better made before, did they cost more or not? By my logic, they should have cost more, because cost-cutting is a cause of lower quality now.

Let's put it to the test. I want you to tell me about a gun you bought some years ago that has a modern day equivalent.

For example it could be a Ruger Redhawk in 1982 (still sold today), or a S&W .357/.38 in the 60s that has a similar descendant on sale now. It could be a Colt 1911 bought in the 40s given that Colt still makes 1911s today (I think).

The important thing is this:
YOU HAVE TO TELL ME:
  1. THE APPROXIMATE YEAR YOU BOUGHT IT,
  2. WHAT IT COST,
  3. AND WHAT IT IR ITS EQUIVALENT COSTS TODAY!!!

I have found a historic inflation calculator and I want to have some fun seeing if, in relative terms, gun prices have increased, stayed level or fallen.
 
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I'll try...
My S&W 686-3 was, iirc, $422 msrp in 1989. I actually paid $310 for it, new. Retail now? I don't know, probably $700-something.
 
My S&W 686-3 was, iirc, $422 msrp in 1989. I actually paid $310 for it, new. Retail now? I don't know, probably $700-something.
Click to expand...

Good man!!

If you bought it now at the same relative value, you'd be paying through the nose at a whopping €594.
So, if current retail is about €700, then example no.1 doesn't do much for my hypothesis!!
 
I was able to buy it through a kitchen table FFL, which was popular at the time... then nearly eliminated entirely through the 1990's and have now made a comeback on the scene.
 
I actually miscalculated. Your discounted price yielded a present day equivalent of 594 USD, but bought at RRP, and the modern day price jumps to $810!!

I can see why those kitchen FFLs were popular!
 
Kitchen table FFL's basically got wholesale pricing (or nearly so) and if you were buying new guns, you could beat gun shops quite well. During the Clinton presidency years, they (seemingly?) tightened the reins about who was able to get or maintain an FFL and the tread was to genuine brick & mortar stores and businesses with regular hours.

These days, kitchen table FFL's have made a comeback and I would imagine that a large share of their business is not buying news guns at wholesale prices, but rather simply being able to send & receive firearms for different local buyers who purchase via some sort of internet-based transaction.
 
Here's another...
Bought my Ruger Mark II Stainless, KMK-512 in early June '94 for $319.95 before tax from a large local gun store. Current retail on the closest model being produced today (a Mark III stainless target) would be $569. That's MSRP, real-world prices are certainly lower.

I bought a Taurus PT-99AF at very nearly the same time, from the same place and I paid $449.95 before tax. MSRP right now appears to be $638.06. Street price on a new one today looks like around $382. :p So let's see if THAT example wrenches up the works!

Keep in mind that the Taurus PT-92/99 series were made on Beretta tooling in a former Beretta factory located in Brazil. I don't know how or what has changed in the last 20 years, but we might all imagine that the tooling and overhead costs in 1994 for a gun that has hardly changed a lick have long since been recovered by this point.
 
OK: let's see what comes up!!

The Ruger (the same as my recently sold one, but I had blued) would be $514 at '94 prices. Again, prices seem to have gone up relative to then.

The Taurus would set you back $722!!!
You weren't wrong. That Taurus bought at 94 prices would be twice the achievable price now!! Could it be the QC issues people sometimes mention that have affected market share?
 
INI Nickel 38 special (copy of Chief's Special): Paid $125 in 1980.
Taurus PT99: Paid about $400 for it new in 1988
S&W 659: Paid about $400 for it slightly used in 1989

Steyr GB - I passed on this in 1988 in favor of the Taurus PT99 (:mad::mad::rolleyes:). It was selling for about $475.
Polytech pre-ban AK: Purchased this new in 1989 for $399.
 
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INI Nickel 38 special (copy of Chief's Special): Paid $125 in 1980.
Taurus PT99: Paid about $400 for it new in 1988
S&W 659: Paid about $400 for it slightly used in 1989

Steyr GB - I passed on this in 1988 in favor of the Taurus PT99 (). It was selling for about $475.
Polytech pre-ban AK: Purchased this new in 1989 for $399.
Click to expand...

The .38: Nowadays it would be $361.
The PT99 would be $804
The S&W $767
The Steyr would set you back $955 and the AK $765

Now if you know what these go for now, assuming they are still made, you can see if they're a better deal now, or then.
 
New England Arms/H&R 12 gauge 1999. $99 Now $170

Mossberg 500 1997 $199 Now $274 cheapest I can find it at walmart. $284 at most others.
 
OK. A few more.

New England Arms/H&R 12 gauge now would cost $141. Cheaper then!!

Mossberg 500 now $294 in corrected value: cheaper now again!

Springfield Armory Standard M1A. Today's price is about $1,400.00, but would be $1725 if bought at '82 values!!

So it seems that cheaper guns in absolute terms may have gone up a bit, whereas expensive guns are trying to come down. Not much data to support it, but a hypothesis that sort of makes sense at this stage...
 
In 1991 I purchased a new 4" stainless steel Ruger GP100 revolver with adjustable sights. I paid $395 plus tax at the local Wal-Mart--they still sold handguns in those days. From what I can tell, a good price for the same basic gun purchased today would be about $570.
 
ok, here's two that I can remember off the top of my head...

Browning BDA .45 .45ACP (Sig P220, what is today called the European model -heel type mag release)
Bought new 1980, $369

Desert Eagle 44 Magnum
bought new Feb 1990, $650

and now, just to complicate matters,
S&W M 29 .44Mag 6" nickel finish
1976, MSRP $283.50
price actually paid, $450

figure that one, :D
 
Browning BDA .45 .45ACP (Sig P220, what is today called the European model -heel type mag release)
Bought new 1980, $369

Desert Eagle 44 Magnum
bought new Feb 1990, $650

and now, just to complicate matters,
S&W M 29 .44Mag 6" nickel finish
1976, MSRP $283.50
price actually paid, $450
Click to expand...

Browning: '80 dollars now would be $1065
DE .44: $1182
M29: Retail $1187, your price $1880. You really wanted that gun.

So the trick now would be to tell me what any of those actually cost now, if still sold new.
 
thanks James...

Interesting, How does it work that 369 1980dollars and 650 1990 dollars are less than 120 dollars apart in 2014?

not doubting your answer, I just can't get my head around the calculation that gives that result. (no, please don't try to explain, head hurts enough already :D)

And the 29? It was a friend of mine. he could have gotten one for the MSRP, but the wait time was over two years! (Thank Clint Eastwood! ;))

The guy that had it knew what the market would pay well above retail to get it NOW. I saw that friend in 2003, he still had that M29!
 
Interesting, How does it work that 369 1980dollars and 650 1990 dollars are less than 120 dollars apart in 2014?
Click to expand...

Easy: no idea!!

Probably that the inflation rate was not linear and so the rate was higher prior to '90 meaning the value grew more in those years than it did after '90...

I just put the numbers in a field and click "calculate"!! :o
 
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