S&W sales slump

[UncleEd]

The Firearms Blog has a report on a 32 percent
sales slump at S&W with a 25 percent reduction
in the work force.

I don't think it's unexpected since the presidential election.

Ruger sales also took a steep downturn earlier this year.

 

[zephyr]

Sucks but I guess I'm not surprised. I have certainly done my part to help them this last year buying M&P 2.0s. The prices on them have been low I can't imagine they make all that much on them though.

 

[chief38]

NO Business has sales that ONLY increase. It is a constant up & down and if they are smart they would have put a few bucks away for this "rainy day". If they didn't, then they will suffer consequences obviously.

 

[hittman77]

It's not only the gun industry experiencing problems.

When Harley announced discontinuing the Dyna and VRod models they closed the KC MO plant and laid off something like 260. Last fall they terminated almost 200 in a WI plant.

 

[UncleEd]

I remember talking with a dealer
in the early 1980s about how the
market must be glutted.

But he and I didn't forsee the sudden
surge in automatic pistol sales such as
the Beretta (military contract), then
the SIGs and Glocks and finally the
AR-15s.

At the time Smith exec said the company
never expected such an overnight clamor
for autos, leaving revolver sales in the dust.

Who knows but a midterm Democratic
sweep of the U.S. House might set off
another round of buying.

Still, any market is only so big even with
new customers and multiple sales to older
customers.

 

[dben002]

Once the Sig p365 gets all the Kinks worked out and it proves to be a reliable firearm it will eat everybody's lunch for at least a year.

I have a feeling that Smith & Wesson's parent company is going to have a large say so in the direction that Smith & Wesson takes and that direction may not be forward.

 

[rwsmith]

With the current climate...

AR 15s will probably continue to be in demand. And M&Ps, especially the Shield. My main concern is for revolvers.

 

[muddocktor]

AR 15s will probably continue to be in demand. And M&Ps, especially the Shield. My main concern is for revolvers.

Seeing all the furor over AR style weapons lately and the fact that S&W makes and sells them, I wouldn't be surprised to see that sales of the M&P 10's and 15's goes sharply up in the next few months at least. That should help the bottom line at least.

I would also like to see them offer an 8 shot 357 with a traditional barrel style instead of the rather ugly slab side models too, but I ain't holding my breath for one either.

 

[TripLeader]

...I don't think it's unexpected since the presidential election...

How does S&W's stats from 2017 compare to the years 2004-2008?

 

[Old Arkansawyer]

I do not own any AR type rifles, don't like plastic guns, so probably would not buy any brand AR unless I could resell it at a profit. What I would like S&W to make a sell would be a snub (3 in. or less) .44 special with fixed sights. I have been looking at the Ruger GP100 but it may be a bit to beefy and do not like the sights.

 

[BAM-BAM]

We saw panic buying after the 08 election , around the 12 election and after Sandyhook......... not so much , at least around here, after Valentines Day.

Guns just don't wear out ....... only so many the market can absorb......

 

[joe44va]

Our LGS has a S&W sale starting yesterday. They had 125 Sport 2s. Sold them all in one hour and 45 minutes. Js also selling very well.

 

[Drm50]

Para Military guns have been what's selling for several years. The
best gun salesman the industry ever, had lost his job. Thousands
of people who had never owned a firearm went out and bought
handguns. People who never thought about owning ARs went
out and bought them because they thought they would be taken
off the market. Resulting in a glutted market. You go into shows
and there are hundreds of plastic pistols, black rifles & shotguns.
That is what's selling. As much as we like them classic type guns
are going out of production. Some will be made by specialty COs
if there is a profit to be made. It's unbelievable how things have
ended up. Who would have thought Savage would be the leader
in CF rifles or Mossberg to be #1 in shotguns. It looks to me like
Ruger may end up top of handgun heap. A lot of the new stuff
has as much class as a baseball bat.

 

[Super Trucker]

I am heavily invested in the original M&P's so the 2.0's don't offer much to look at for me.

If they would listen and remove the key hole, that would make some people start looking at revolvers again. If they put out a 10mm M&P that would also make some people open their wallets.
Glock has 10's and they didn't go out of business, must mean they sell them.

They can continue to not listen to those that spend money and be in a slump until the next crisis or listen and open their market to additional buyers.

 

[Rastoff]

Considering the success of the Shield, they could only go down. This is life.

 

[Fishslayer]

I did my part & bought my very first new S&W last year.

 

[Whitwabit]

I'm hoping for a big sale later this Summer or late Fall ..

Would like to pick up a 686+ maybe a smaller 38 for my wife and daughter to use ..

 

[LostintheOzone]

I'm not a huge fan of the new S&W revolvers. I only have one, all the rest are at least 30 years old. I agree that Sig is about to eat everyone's lunch in the pistol market. I own 2 and might just buy another one but not a striker. I know, that's what everyone wants these days but I just can't wrap my head around all that plastic.

I would buy a 1911 before I bought one of those. I like horse pistols and revolvers.

 

[KalamazooKid]

Of the dozen or so guns I’ve purchased in the last year, only one was new (a deer hunting rifle). All of the rest were old Smith revolvers (35+ years old). And this has been a pattern for a few years now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mrmike7189]

I just bought a shield yesterday for $293.32 . I'm doing my part to keep S&W in business. I believe they've sold like 999 million *shields since 2012!
*(somebody here must know the actual sales numbers)