$500 price tag

[s2harry]

I would like to see Smith and Wesson charge $500 for these guns they've been making for 50+ years. With as much experience and machinery that Smith has why do they charge over $1000 for a model 17? Over a thousand for a six shot .22? They are made on computer controlled machines. The jigs hold what, 6 parts at a time. So thats one sixth the cost of making them one at a time. All automated except for loading the parts in the jig and assembly. Maybe their electricity costs more......

 

[mod34]

I'm all for coming off of their prices some. One of the biggest reasons (IL not withstanding) that I haven't bought any new SW's is that I can buy an older, used one that is of arguably better quality, more nicely finished, no IL and still cost less than a new one.

 

[kscardsfan]

I'm all for coming off of their prices some. One of the biggest reasons (IL not withstanding) that I haven't bought any new SW's is that I can buy an older, used one that is of arguably better quality, more nicely finished, no IL and still cost less than a new one.

I know I'm not a hardcore enough fan, but the IL doesn't matter to me one way or the other truthfully, but the fact I can buy the actual original gun for less than the remake is what burns me about the classics line. Seems wasteful to me to buy the reproduction if I can get the real deal for the same price or less in most cases.

 

[srgvaz]

Do you really think they are going to lower the price if the demand is going up??? On one of my postings last month I asked how long it would take them to make a plastic gun unfortunately it has happened. I figure S&W will not watch Ruger's plastic gun to be profitable for too long. Just look at how 'good' of a job they've done with Walther for that matter look at the quality of the M&P 15-22. We will need to wait and see if the new guns are any better than the 15-22 as for the Lifetime Warranty how much does it cost them to manufacture a new gun? & How much profit do they make on one gun? At the rate it's going you never know when they will decide to start making their guns outside the USA it could be one of the reasons they bought Walther. S&W's cost cutting is really starting to show it's greed just read the news on Mr. Gonco.

 

[ENGINE18]

What is really curious, if more people are buying the new ones for bigger $$$, why wouldn't they buy used/better ones? Guess that leaves more for us!

Whenever I lament about maybe paying too much for something like a M65 3" or a M19/66 any-inch, or the price on other I want, I think about things like that and feel better, especially knowing that the models I like are no longer made.

 

[dannybot]

What about the model 10, they have been making it for over 100 years, and sold over 6,000,000. Yet they still want $758!

 

[kscardsfan]

What about the model 10, they have been making it for over 100 years, and sold over 6,000,000. Yet they still want $758!

Yeah, that one is truly unbelievable, especially when a used one can be had for under 250 most days.

 

[RightWinger]

Here is another way to look at this:

S&W sells most of their new non PC revolvers between 700-900 dollars. Yes, you can find used police trade ins for around 200-300 dollars, but they are used. These guns were originally bought as NEW guns from S&W, and even though the price they were purchased at years ago was still lower than the new price today, it was still significantly higher than their used price during that time era. The cost of production, materials, advertising, legal liability, health benifits for employees, higher taxes, hazmat fees.....etc, has driven the prices up tremendously. If you want to have a fair comparison you need to compare the older guns that are NIB, with some new models that are NIB....when you do this the prices are not that far off. Try buying a pre-lock 686 snubby NIB and see how much they differ in price from a IL version NIB......probably not as much of a difference as one might think. Trust me, I would love to have prices at 500 bucks however to do that I am usually restricted to finding a USED revolver in good shape.....