Jumping the Shark!!

[Bvhawk]

Today was the first time I have stopped in at Cabeas since they officially merged with Bass Pro Shops. Now I didn’t shop at BPS because I felt like ANYTHING firearm related was overpriced. Low and behold, checking out the used rifle racks affirmed my greatest fears, BPS pricking is now in effect at Cabelas (not that they were that far off to begins with).

They had a good variety of rifles which hasn’t always been the case. But then it happened, I found about 10 Mosin Nagant’s, the cheapest being $350!! I know that the $99 dollar rifles are a thing of the past, but really, the stocks weren’t even decent much less the bore’s. At least they weren’t still covered in cosmoline.

After my heart restarted, I went and checked out the used handguns not really expecting much. And of coarse I found it, a mama rob chambered in 9x18 for close to $400’s. Yes, I do have a thing right now for russian firearms.

Cabelas and BPS will be the last place on this big blue marble I will be purchasing ANYTHING that goes bang.

 

[nitesite]

I hope they choke on overpriced firearms.

 

[meanstreak]

They think Hillary won...

 

[MikeD]

Wish I had filled up a warehouse of Mosins, SKS's, WASR's etc. Years ago when they couldnt give them away at the gun shows.

Its interesting that you can buy a complete AR for less than a beat up Mosin.

 

[John A.]

^ And that's what happens when the marketplace becomes so saturated and the competition so thick everyone has to undercut prices so much to compete that there's only a nibble left on the bone.

I have a good friend who is the sales manager at Olympic Arms and he was warning everyone this would happen 10 years ago if nothing changes.

Well, Colt has declared bankruptcy.

Remington has declared bankruptcy. In their mad dash to keep their door open, Remington Co. shut down Marlin, and NEF.

Speaking of Remington, how often do you see new Bushmaster or DPMS these days?

The owners of Savage are considering closing.

Winchester exists in name only now and are mostly made overseas.

Even Olympic has been in the process of changing ownership for over a year now. And if that doesn't go through, they're probably going to close.

Since 2000 when we declared war on terror, the firearm market boomed with new things in the rush for the war effort.

After '04 when the AWB rightfully perished, anyone with an extra five thousand dollars in their pocket could file the paperwork and suddenly become a "manufacturer".

This is the result of that.

For all the younger folks that haven't been around as long as some of us here, this post is what happened to the firearm market in a nutshell and some of the history behind it. I would like to add one other small bit of historical reference that you have probably never heard. As Paul Harvey used to say, "And now you know; the rest of the story.

 

[meanstreak]

John, I haven't heard that Paul Harvey line in years. Thanks for the info about the manufacturers.

 

[John A.]

Meanstreak, I had my FFL's for a long time. And I got to speak with a lot of folks that are pretty high up in some of those companies. Sometimes a lot more candidly and personally than some would expect.

This hasn't came to a big surprise to any of them really. They have seen this coming for a couple of years now and have taken a few steps to help pad the fall. One major way they have tried to save their companies is nearly all but ceasing any sort of R&D of new products. Mainly because it's so expensive and takes so long to get patents and have molds and programming costs that sometimes takes years to see the first dime for it.

I think most of us have noticed that there have been very few new innovative products in the last few years. That isn't by coincidence. Most of them are just trying to make it through the slump. It's not that there aren't any good gun ideas floating around, it's just that now is probably the worst time to take the risk of trying to put out a new product. I think Ruger and CZ have been about the only ones who have released anything new with the scorpion and the ruger 9mm carbine in the last year or two.

While I don't really blame folks for trying to be frugal and spending their money wisely, spending a whole weekend online to find a part that is $4.73 cents cheaper shipped than another is hurting the industry more than anything. We're our own worst enemies. The consumer is the one driving the companies in the ground because there are so many competing to sell you that part.