It’s sad really, it was something I could reasonably afford to do with a minimum wage job in high school.
In 1983 a Colt AR15 would cost you about $225.00, so if you made minimum wage (then $3.35 an hour) it would require you to work 67 hours to purchase one. And that $225.00 adjusted for inflation would be about $490.00 today.
In contrast, a Colt AR15 today will cost you about $900, so if you are earning minimum wage ($7.25 an hour) one would need to work about 124 hours to buy the same rifle. Damn near twice as much money, requiring twice as many hours.
So while the minimum wage generally matches inflation from 1983 to the present, the cost of an AR15 does not.
As for ammo. I can remember when 1,000 of military surplus 5.56 would run you about $80.00, so if you made minimum wage in 1983 that case of ammo would require you to work about 24 hours. Adjusted for inflation that same ammo would cost $175 today.I’d LOVE to find a place selling Lake City 55 gr. for $175.00
The best deal today on the same ammo is about $300 for 1,000 rounds and you’d have to work about 40 hours to pay for it.
And this has nothing to do with “ban prices” or unusual demand. During the Obama gun sale prices for AR15s and ammo were well above the current prices. It just requires the average person to work twice as many hours to do the same thing 30 years later.
If I didn’t reload 9mm and .45 there’s no way I could train with my handguns to the extent that I do. .223 I normally purchase in bulk. Hell even the Dillon machines I run cost more now than they did but not on the level you mention with the Colt.
I’ve got a friend that shot wolf for years while I cringed at him doing it. Several years and dollar signs later I’m buying it myself off and on.
All of this also surmounts to why I don’t have the FN SCAR H I want.
:rolleyes: Damn those business evil businesses trying to make a profit. Forget the increased energy costs, increased tax burden, increased regulations from agencies like the EPA , increased shipping, increased insurance and all of the other various cost increases.
don’t think you have to worry about that… It would be nice to see some cheap bullets made primarily of steel (one of the least expensive alloys) with maybe a thin copper jacket… I feel like no one is really trying to produce a truly economical bullet.
Compliance with government regulations costs a metric shit ton of money. Payroll related regulations, insurance costs, health insurance costs, etc, it’s just ridiculous. Take regulations back to 1983 levels and you’d see AR’s for half price again.
Per capita people are making about double what they did (inflation adjusted) in 1983 too. A Colt 6920 is a much better gun than the old sporters too. A .357 magnum revolver in 1935 would cost over $1,000 today. Good quality revolvers now cost half that. It goes both ways.
Sure a M1911 cost $250 in today’s dollars back in 1917, but the average guy was making an inflation adjusted 5k a year. Compare that with a $1,000 repro 1911 today while making 50k a year. Five percent of your income, or two percent of your income. So yeah, goods cost more, but wages got a lot better than the cost of goods.
Steel core is a COP KILLING “no no”, and as we have handguns in 5.56 and 7.62 it is a “cop killer” handgun round. If we could simply dispense with that damn nonsense would could really open up the ammo market.
I’m guessing brass cases and copper jackets are the big issues however, I don’t think those lead cores are costing us much.
Welcome to the declining purchasing power of the dollar vs. other currencies- Add to it increased foreign demand for the same materials, and you’re looking at a different situation than “back in the day.”
I’ll give you one worse than guns & ammo–college tuition!
Back when I attended Hofstra University on Long Island in NY State(It was a while ago–I won’t say when because I am not willing to accept that I am that old), tuition was about $2500-$3000 a semester and an Colt preban AR was about $800ish for the pre-M4 collapsable stock variant. I just checked their website and the tuition is now it is $16k a semester.
For $16k a semester it should include all the beer you can drink and hookers dressed up as coeds (having them dress up any other way would of course be extra).
And then after all of this the college calls me at my unlisted number which I did not provide them to solicit funds.
I was tempted to throw random mispellings and gramatical errors into this post to show just how good of an education they gave me. Maybe I should start an Occupy Hofstra movement.
Back to ammo prices: I can remember back in 2006 or so being able to buy xm193 for like $180-$200 for 1000 rounds and being able to buy 9mm Blazer for less than $4.00 a box.
College has actually become something of a scam with student loan costs becoming larger than the difference in average salary for the same person with and without the degree in many cases.
It is no longer the guaranteed job and salary expectation it once was.
