Before the latest shooting in California, I saw many entry level AR's available for around $500, some even a tad lower. Made me wonder what these rifles were going for in the 80s and 90s. I have absolutely no idea and would like to know if the prices have risen, dropped or stayed the same?

In 1975 a Colt AR15 brand new was $199 at Poffs Sporting in Terre Haute IN. It had no forward assist and a 3 prong flash hider.

In 1985 I bought a Colt SP1 (no forward assist, triangular handguard, A1 sights) for $440.....

With Colts going for around $800 a few months ago, that's very close to inflation prices from 1975. Probably a better quality rifle back in 1975 though.

In the '70's and the '80's I thought AR's were EXPENSIVE. Hardly anyone had one. They just weren't popular with most shooters. They were kinda looked down on, mostly due to the perception that they weren't very accurate. And in that era the motto was "only accurate rifles are interesting." Shotguns were the preferred home defense long gun.

The cheap Chinese imports of SKS's and AK's in the '90's sparked general interest in black rifles. Price came down on AR's as smaller mail-order-type manufactures entered the market. Things took off to the moon when Clinton signed the Import Ban and then the Assault Weapon's Ban. Then everyone HAD to have an AR, and it's been non-stop ever since.

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

I started out collecting old western style guns. In the early 80's I got interested in military guns and soon decided I needed a 223 semi auto. Really wanted the Colt AR but, with a family to feed, the budget was tight so I bought a Mini 14 (military style at least) because it was quite a bit cheaper. If my memory is right I paid @ $300 for the Mini, the Colt AR's were closer to $500.

A few years later I bought a Bushmaster for @ $400, then got into building AR's in the 90's. Prices and demand soared with the passage of the so called "assault weapon" bans. Early guns and hi cap magazines were suddenly worth a whole lot more than they had been. Prices settled down a bit on "ban period" guns that lacked the "evil" features and then got even better after the federal ban "sun set" and went away. Of course recent events have caused some insane price spikes since then.

I did eventually get my early style Colt (sort of). During the ban I picked up a Colt SP1 upper but couldn't find a pre-ban lower for it. After the ban expired I bought a Colt H-Bar lower, added the old style buttstock and grip and have a fairly close simulation of the old style rifle I wanted way back then.

Colt did a voluntary ban on ARs to the general public back in the late 1980s and I remember you could buy a SP-O1 rifle for $375 at a gun show before that ban. After that the prices went immediately up to 8-9 hundred and when the prices started to come down I sold mine and spent the money on a vacation to Cancun.

Right after Sandy Hook, one could name his price for anything AR related. It was quite a thing to behold.

I'll admit that I got caught up in it. I paid $925 for a new Bushmaster Quadrail Patrolman Carbine. I didn't have an AR, and bought into the hype that they were going away.

It's proven to be a very good rifle, but I definitely overpaid by quite a margin.

I was out of the loop during the first assault weapons ban, so I never noticed the price trend.

Right after Sandy Hook the AR-15 magazines were crazy expensive. A relative who was in the military had given me a grocery sack full of worn out GI magazines many years ago and I sold them for 20 bucks a piece. Ammo was also very high and I went up in the attic and found many old boxes of .45 Long Colt and other caliber that were quite old. With the cash I collected I picked up a nice old 4" M66.

Poff Sports. Haven't heard that store name from Terre Haute in 20 years.

Spent 320. on a STAG lower to complete a build during the s.hook mess. Sold that AR to a friend for 2200. I could have made good on my other AR but the panic made me hoard it.

Circa 1992, a Colt AR15, semi gimped as was the Colt custom, was around $750. I remember them, as a kid in the 80s, being "around" 500. Prices probably varied in different areas.

Poffs had more crammed into that store than imagineable I understand they closed five years or so ago. That Colt would have cost better than a weeks pay close to two. The DPMS I bought last month less than a days so in some terms they are much cheaper.

In the late-90s/early-2000s during the Clinton ban, some Colt ARs (pre-89 and 94 guns) were regularly bringing $2000+ with 6520 Gov't Carbines in the $2500-3k range. Also, folks would scoop up "pre-ban" AR lowers for $600+ so they could slap an upper with a flashider/bayo lug on it (particularly 6920 uppers).

The last two Colts I bought this year were about $800 each. Last one was heavily reduced to $799 with two free mags. I've seen prices jump since the last bout of craziness. Felt like prices a few months ago were very low in comparison to history.

Stock pic of the one that was $799.

During the 1970's I used to pass on Colt AR15's at $200 all the time. Too much money. Too little gun.

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Dr. B

In the late 80's I bought a Pre ban, naturally, HBAR. Paid about $300. About 1/2 of what they were going for. Some yo-yo had taken a ******* file to the trigger and disconnector. Got scared and traded it into the LGS that I repaired guns for. Some idiots amaze me, what did he think no one would notice? Why not pull the butchered parts and buy new ones?

I was there when a local bought the AR, and had it back in less than an hour. He was mad. He was an ex-Marine who did Nam. He knew the gun was not legal, demanded and got his money back. The owner told me to take the gun and handed me a few boxes of ammo to test it. Yep, pull the trigger once and it didn't stop till the mag was empty. There was a deep lake next to where I was shooting. Threw the offending parts in the lake. He ended up offering me the gun for what he had given a fella for trade in. I ordered new parts and all was OK. Sold it in the early 90's for around 1K.

The prices have gone up and down every 4 years or so, depending on who might be pres. Or lately honest citizens have decided help is not really a phone call away and they may have to defend themselves.

It is sort of like the stock market, buy one, the price will go higher or lower but will pass your original purchase price once in a while, unless you paid 2K for a less popular Brand or model. Then again it is like the stock market, if you bought too high you have to absorb the loss and move on.

I've put together several good quality ARs lately for around $500 a pop. You can do it for about a hundred cheaper, but there's a pretty good drop in parts quality in my opinion.

This is a good time to buy or build an AR, or to stock up on ammo and magazines.

In 1976 I bought a Colt SP-1 (birdcage flash hider, no forward assist and try-angle hand guards) for $210.00. It came with 2 20rd mags and a cleaning kit.

20 rds of .223 cost $2.40. (55gr FMJ)

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James L. "Jim" Rhiner

I bought a Colt 6600 in '89 when the first AWB hit. It had all the "evil features except the bayonet lug. Paid $600. Sold it during the second AWB that hit in '94 and ran 10 years. Bought my first 6920 in 2004 right after the sunset, paid $1150. Bought another after the Newtown panic for $1250. The last one I bought was $815 delivered back in May. AR pricing has more to do with politics than anything else. Get a few now, I got a feeling Spring might have a nasty surprise. Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

August, 1985, bought a NIB Colt Sporter, which was their then-current common AR, $486.85, which included a 6% sales tax. I think it was full retail. Birdcage, bayo lug, no forward assist.

I bought a thousand round case of Winchester 55 grain FMJ for less than the marked price of $2.99/box of 20.

The Mini-14 was always quite a bit less money, listing for around $300 but selling for less than list.

To be harsh, but period correct, in the '60s, '70s, and early '80s, AR-15s were more hated than loved. They were less firearms than expensive collectable Militaria. They typical AR-15 fan then was the same demographic that had a collection of entrenching tool production variations. The widely held opinions were they were not nearly powerful enough to hunt deer, while not vaguely accurate enough to shoot varmits, leaving a niche of expensive plinker. In pure $ numbers , SP-1's used to be $350, and Mini-14's $250 all day long, plus/ minus depending on specific condition. Sounds cheap now, but in the same era Win 94/ Marlin 336 were +/- $150, and REm700/ Win M70 were low to mid 200's.

With the A2 improvements, AR-15's started to recieve respect as actual firearms. The A2 improvements recieved widespread notice, not just in the firearms press, but in mainstream outlets with only periferial interest in firearms, such as Popular Science and Popular Mechanics.

Back during the runup to the '94 AWB , the going price of AR-15's went up $100 per day !, until literally nothing was available for any price. I paid $1200 for a Colt Sporter Target, because I actually found one on a dealer shelf, and that ended up settling into the going rate for the next 10years or so. (As an aside, the large pin Colts are looked down upon, but they are high quality , very accurate rifles, mine does 1 moa with handloads.)

Since the expiration of the Clinton AWB in '04, the production costs of AR's are lower than ever, with entry level AR being comparable to midrange Bolt Actions. Retail pricing swings widely depending upon national political climate, and pending legislation in specific states.

I paid $599 for a police trade in Colt AR-15A2 "Sporter" in 2005.
It was a nuclear power plant security weapon and is a little dinged up but shoots like a dream. Still have it and is my only "evil black rifle".

I've lived in Terre Haute since 1965. Bought many guns from Poffs and McMillan's Sporting Goods. Poff's had just about everything you could want for the shooting sports.