Shotguns cost too much!

I think there are guns at both extremese these days ....

I'm not a big Remington 870 fan / although I think the 870 Wingmaster is a decent gun / I favor the Browning BPS Hunter model - for a do everything pump gun. At around $ 525 these days, the Browning BPS is a great gun for the money...in my opinion.

I think the first BPS's came out in the late 1970's ( and I don't recall / but I'm guessing they were around $ 150 )...so in 35 yrs or so, they've gone up $ 375 or so or about 250%

The higher end of "Target Shotguns" are certainly expensive ( Perazzi, Blaser, Kolar, Krieghoff ) at $ 8,000 - $ 25,000 these days ... but the value in O/U's is still in Beretta and Browning. Anybody that reads my posts knows I like the Brownings / but the biggest reason I like them is they fit me ( and not all models by the way ) ...and they hold up to long term use. For me, the Browning Citori XS Skeet, Citori XT Trap are great guns for the money at around $ 3,000 these days and they aren't that pretty / but they've been proven over the test of time that they will stand up to 25,000 - 50,000 shells without any major problems. In view of that, I think they're a great value - if you pick the models that fit you. A $3,000 shotgun represents a much smaller percentage of most of our annual incomes / than did $ 250 to my father's or grandfathers annual wages ....in 1940 or 1950 ...

I happen to think the Perazzi's, Blasers, Kolars, Krieghoffs are great guns as well - are they worth the extra money - maybe, maybe not / but I don't know that they are much more expensive than the "Parker doubles" of the 1950's ...in terms of a percentage of our income ....but I think there are more high end guns around today than there was in the 1940's or 1950's ....

I think these days there are a lot of lower priced guns being imported from Brazil, Turkey, China, Russia, etc ....but the problem, on this forum and others, is to find the 3 out of 10 that will give you a trouble free performance. The price is attractive ...but the quality is suspect - at best.... and we see it in handguns and shotguns both.

So no, in general, I don't think good solid shotguns that will perform for 250,000 shells are overpriced these days.
 
Gun prices then and now...
Based on hours worked:
I recall one of the famous old time gun writers commenting that a decent gun will cost about a week's wages. If you're above the 2010 poverty guide lines then you're earning at least $560/week. There are many guns available these days that go for $560 or less.
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Using minimum wage scales:
I got my first new O/U, a Winchester Model-101 (made in Japan) in 1968 for $350 (with a dealer installed recoil pad), when the minimum wage was $1.25/hr. So, a 1968 M-101 represented 280 hours at min wage. Now the min wage (in CA) is $8.00/hr, and 280 hours represents $2,240. The present M-101's (made in Belgium) have a MSRP of $1,679 to $2,179. The Pigeon Grade Sporting is listed at $2,619, but it's a higher grade gun than the 1968 M-101.​
Super-Dave, don't you think shotguns are relatively cheaper today?
 
Sure, stuff was cheap way back when. I got a job at McDonalds in 1966 carrying burlap bags of spuds up out of the basement and turning them into fries. It paid $1.15 an hour, which looked like a lot at first to a 16 year old. A new VW bug cost about $1600.

My father still says the only reason they hired me was because I was the only one big enough and dumb enough to take the job. :)

Tree service work paid me $2.35 an hour the next summer plus 20 to 30 hours of week of time-and-a-half overtime. And I was outside, driving a dump truck and playing with big chainsaws, chippers and stump grinders.
 
Guns are cheaper now in 2010 than they have been in my adult lifetime compared to wages.

I'm talking about the fair market value and advertised prices, not the price gougers.

In 1999 I bought a Glock from a gun store and the going price was about $550. They are cheaper today, some 13 years later.

In 2001 I bought a Bushmaster AR15 for $900 (which I haggled the dealer down from $1100). Today that same gun (and others like it) are commonly for sale at $700-ish.

My Remy 870 Express was $225 in 1999. Shotguns have come up some in price, but for a long time were UNDERPRICED for what you get. I still regularly see sub $300 shotguns (Remy, Mossy, etc).

At todays prices guns are an incredible value for what you get, especially since wages have increased in the last decade while gun prices have fallen or stayed steady.

2009 was a rough year for gun prices because they skyrocketed and crashed. And the economy has tanked for most industries. And ammuntion prices have stayed high. But if you've got a good paying job and some cash, guns are a great buy now.
 
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I would probably agree with an earlier post that stated it is mainly the high-end expensive stuff that has gone up more dramatically. This year I bought a Mossberg 500 12ga combo that included two barrels for only $289. As far as I'm concerned, that is a great deal for a decent quality new shotgun, and I couldn't be happier with my choice and what I paid to get it.
 
I bought a digital SLR camera a couple years ago for $400...looking for an upgrade.

The computers we are typing on, even though they have gone down in price, will last how long?

When you put it in perspective, shotguns(guns) are pretty cheap for how long they last.
 
Internet is an amazing tool ...

Median family Incomes:
1947 $ 3,031
1960 $ 5,620
1970 $ 9,867
1980 $ 21,203
1990 $ 35,353
2000 $ 50,732
2006 $ 58,407
2007 - 2010 its probably been relatively flat so call it $ 58,000

So a months wages in 1947 were $ 253 ...
A months wages in 2007 were $ 4,833

Compare what it cost you to buy your first gun / what it would cost you today ( and how you did vs the median ) - and I think you'll find guns are cheaper these days ..
 
"What cost $144.9 in 1963 would cost $1004.47 in 2009."

I have done a number of price comparisons over time. The guns "now" always turn out to be cheaper than "then". The low and mid range guns most dramatically. The more expensive ones less and I would guess the custom level guns are more expensive, so as artisan labor has not decreased nearly as dramatically as mass production costs adjusted for inflation.
 
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BigJimP: I favor the Browning BPS Hunter model - for a do everything pump gun. At around $ 525 these days, the Browning BPS is a great gun for the money...in my opinion.

agreed I have a pristine :confused: field or was it hunter? anyway, the
28" BPS version :)
 
BigJimP:I knew there were at least 2 of us that like the BPS !! ....in this big 870 mob ...:rolleyes:

870s a great gun....but the BPS is silky smooth :)
 
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