Has the AR industry slowed down. Have we hit the Laffer curve or plateaued with regards to new accessories etc. In the last few years I have seen all kinds of things developed for the AR platform that I wish I had during my time in the Navy. Don’t get me wrong we had great stuff too back in the late 90’s.
But it was after that when I saw it really take off. Things like Magpul products, Daniel Defense Omega X rails, VLTOR A5 systems, SOPMOD style stocks not to mention even the Magpul CRT stock which is a great stock in its own right, Polymer mags (i.e. Lancer, Magpul, Troy, etc), side mounted T-1 RDS for 40MM launchers and MK11 rifles, Battle Comp and the likes, B.A.D.-A.S.S, etc.
I’ve stopped spending money on things as I have all the parts I “NEED” to operate at the level I did in the .mil. However, just like Steve Jobs did for society, sometimes a product comes along you didn’t know you needed until you see it.
For me an example would be the B.A.D. I know many people hate it for various reasons. Two most popular reasons are problems with the bolt catch and then other reason is usually based on those who are what I like to call fundamentalist/purists who follow the manual of arms to a T and do not believe in deviating (the don’t fix it if it aint broke crowd). This is all fine. Not everything is for everyone. I love the BAD. However, I run one of my rifles without it so I can practice the traditional approach to weapons manipulation.
I just haven’t seen any really innovative new products. I have seen plenty of people coming up with products in an effort to sell some kind of attachment thingy in order to make a quick buck or two, but nothing really innovative.
Does anyone see this? Is it just me? Worse still, am I missing out things? If I am, please point me to them.
SHOT is the root of all evil in the gun realm. So much bad stuff comes from the need to have something new each year for that circus. Gen 4 Glock for example.
People ask me if I’m going every year. You couldn’t pay me to go to SHOT. Like Stickman said… there’s just way too many non industry people getting into SHOT.
That is my point. Too many people create new products for the sake of creating a new product. Not wether or not it adds true value to the platform. It just has to be tacticool to qualify.
But let’s look at last year’s SHOT. Not much new and innovative for the AR came out. In fact SHOT last year was pretty lame in my opinion. I wasn’t impressed personally, but that is me. Others may have had their socks blown.
I don’t think you’re likely to see truly innovative game-changers introduced every single year.
After all, rifles are a pretty mature technology, and even some of the things mentioned in this thread aren’t indespensible. After all, are things like the BAD lever, QD scope mounts or quad stack magazines truly revolutionary?
In the big scheme of things, not really. But improvement is almost always going to be incremental, and there are always going to be evolutionary dead end products released.
That doesn’t necessarily mean change isn’t happening. After all, there are significant differences between an AR from 1964 and today, or one from even five years ago.
On top of that, what one guy may consider to be useless gear put on the market as a shameless cash grab, another may consider to be indespensible.
Manufacturers don’t make things because people need them, they make things to satisfy consumer desire to buy things. Very few of new product offerings each year are worth the paper and ink used to publicize them. If they can’t figure out a way to offer a new gun, they’ll come up with a new cartridge and chamber the old gun in it.
A manufacturer that truly makes “the last (widget) you’ll ever need” will put itself out of business.
Some truly contemplate what folks will benefit from, and may truly innovate, but they are the exception and not the rule.
It has for me. My top products are the TA33, Geisselle SD3G, Sprinco Blue spring in my 16" Carbine, BAD, PMAGs, and the Miad fits my hand better than anything.
There isn’t really much left to improve upon imo except for better ammo, optics, tactics and more practice.
Like a 1-8 with great glass, Acog ruggedness and fiber optics, Aimpoint battery life with a AAA, in a TA33 package in a Larue mount :o
Oh and the FDA being legally bitchslapped for their regulations on ir lasers.
Oh we know You may not find all of the new products exciting, what I can say about them is that, like our selector, they may be evolutionary in design, only much better executed and thought out. For an example of what I’m referring to, you need only look at our selectors
BTW, there’s a new lever coming out, it could be right up your alley :laugh: We should have those levers ready by Christmas.
As a small company, we put out precious few new products a year. The ones that don’t make the cut are many, for these reasons:
They add too many more parts to something that should be simple
They don’t bring enough benefits to the table, relative to their cost
They can be considered solutions in search of a problem, often that’s just the case
They are too expensive to produce. We will only make them in the US.
We want to bring new products to the market, but only if they are of use. We have to balance this with the risk of looking stagnant, but we’d rather be slow in introducing new products than bringing something to market that’s of dubious usefulness.
I agree with most of what you say but I will add this… Some items are over looked by some and loved by others. For example… The BAD lever is a love hate item. I love them and that is what I use. Some people never even give it a thought. The BAD A.S.S. safty, It is my opinion that the ST 45 degree safety should be OEM equipment on every rifle. Some people have never even thought of upgrading a safety.
So what the industry has to do is throw out a ton of products, attempt to get them recognized and hope that some users will bite. Some will be game changers and some will flop.
No.I thought I’d add that while I was dreaming about my perfect scope above it.
I never tried one but I can see it’s usefullness, especially on a patrol rifle, since I’m not a leo, it won’t help me shoot any better or use my rilfe that much better to justify the cost. I’ve pared down to the items I have listed above after trying a bunch of things like many others do.
The last 5 years have seen just HUGE leaps in the AR there isn’t all that much new to come out with besides small evolutions in design like going from fully railed FF handguards to slick rails with bolt on rail sections. Theres been a few trinkets to come out here and there but I don’t see a lot of room to break free from all the shit thats out there.
The last 5 years has been a golden era of gun ownership much like the early 80’s with cheap foreign imports of HK’s, FAL’s, ect. The 90’s & early 2000’s had cheap ammunition.
Speaking of which that is what Id like more than anything right now. Its not that I think the guns available now are lacking its too fuckin expensive to feed them. When I first got into AR’s in 2005 prices were still in low 200’s per 1k, and handgun ammunition was about half what it is now. I simply can’t afford to piss away $500 a month in half way decent ammunition to shoot like I want.
I can’t speak for covering all your needs, but I have heard that USO is going to be coming out with a true 1-8 scope here in the near future, possibly with the dual focal plane reticle that I (along with at least one other individual) expressed interest to them to design.
I’m actually surprised no one else has come out with something like it (that I know of) a first focal plane traditional or BDC reticle that allows the shooter to range and make shots at any distance, regardless of the magnification setting. While at the dame time having a center dot and ring (roughly the width of a mans chest at 100 meters) on the second focal plane which allows fast and accurate shots at short ranges and offers the same sight picture regardless of magnification setting.
Oh yeah, almost forgot, looking forward to the future offerings of Battle Arms, I love my BAD ASS ambi, keep up the great work Duffy and crew, I may just get a NFA one for my issued M4 down the road, just because I can
I didn’t see anywhere in those charts that people are buying Quality AR15s. Must be why some manufacturers seem to hang on when said manufacturers should be gone.
People do not support a new law against ARs yes, does that mean those same people are actually buying? Maybe those people have wisened up figured out that its all a big political play with these stupid laws banning ARs and such. Maybe they will see the light on QUALITY products.
