# Have AR-15 prices gotten any more sane since the last election? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 13, 2017, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-ar-15-prices-gotten-any-more-sane-since-the-last-election/784375 "2017-04-13T13:23:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-ar-15-prices-gotten-any-more-sane-since-the-last-election/784375/21 "2017-04-14T17:54:47Z")
> [@Mdcastle](#): > > Gun and ammo prices in general? What’s the going rate for a decent quality bot no frills AR-15 or clone nowadays? Direct quote from one of the guys at the nearest gun shop: > [@](#): > > “…sales are off 15% from last year…” Another piece advice from another friend there: > [@](#): > > “Don’t put your AR up for consignement here - we can’t move them.” Bottom line prices can be as low as US$500, for a polymer framed AR. $600 is more common, unless you build your own - careful sourcing of parts and you can build your own for under $500. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-ar-15-prices-gotten-any-more-sane-since-the-last-election/784375/22 "2017-04-14T17:59:34Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I am an authorized dealer of Olympic Arms and their demise is a huge blow to the industry. If a company that good can go under who is next? I’ve been fielding phone calls almost every other day from Olympic owners about this. Olympic has provided little detail. Colt, or Remington. Both are in trouble. I’d say Colt is in worse, but they’ve got Colt Canada proping them up with the C7 contract. but then, Remington has the Trigger Recall ([www.remingtonfirearmsclassactionsettlement.com](http://www.remingtonfirearmsclassactionsettlement.com))… So - Toss a coin. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-ar-15-prices-gotten-any-more-sane-since-the-last-election/784375/23 "2017-04-14T18:05:43Z")
What’s the general consensus on Radical Firearms’ AR-15 lineup? ---
**Author:** ![DudeManBro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@DudeManBro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudeManBro)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-ar-15-prices-gotten-any-more-sane-since-the-last-election/784375/24 "2017-04-14T18:35:42Z")
I haven’t heard much about them since they are relatively new. I think one broke a cam pin after a little over 4k rounds in this vid: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/kfCUjjA2F4U/maxresdefault.jpg "Radical Firearms AR-15, 4310rds LATER - Another one bites the dust!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfCUjjA2F4U) ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-ar-15-prices-gotten-any-more-sane-since-the-last-election/784375/25 "2017-04-22T17:43:30Z")
> [@Tranquilis](#): > > Colt, or Remington. Both are in trouble. But that has nothing to do with the glut of AR’s on the market. Colt has been Mismanaged for over 30 years. Their failure to produce a decent police side arm and lightweight civilian ccw pistols is tentimount to their stupid business plan. Remington acquired companies without assuring their tooling was up to snuff. They used old Para Ordnance dies to manufacture the R51 and you probably know how shitty that turned out. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-ar-15-prices-gotten-any-more-sane-since-the-last-election/784375/26 "2017-04-22T17:53:20Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Colt [failed] to produce a decent police side arm and lightweight civilian ccw pistols… Single-stack .45 ACPs are coming back, man! _They’re coming back!_ ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-ar-15-prices-gotten-any-more-sane-since-the-last-election/784375/27 "2017-04-23T14:39:01Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > **Moderator Note** > > Let’s keep political commentary out of GQ. No warning issued. > > **Moderator Instructions** The entire thread actually is a political question. Since he said asked if the price is _sane_ he was asking about the politics of the price, not merely about the numeric price. This isn’t an argument or criticism. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-ar-15-prices-gotten-any-more-sane-since-the-last-election/784375/28 "2017-04-24T14:02:45Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > But that has nothing to do with the glut of AR’s on the market. > > Colt has been Mismanaged for over 30 years. Their failure to produce a decent police side arm and lightweight civilian ccw pistols is tentimount to their stupid business plan. Actually, Colt re-released their semi-auto A1 M16 at this year’s SHOT Show - Priced US$1000 above their next competitor for teh same rifle. If that’s isn’t contributory, it’s at least related. > [@](#): > > ]Remington acquired companies without assuring their tooling was up to snuff. They used old Para Ordnance dies to manufacture the R51 and you probably know how shitty that turned out. More to the point, the financiers whom run the Liberty Group have pushed this agenda - Though the Para-Ordnance connection is less important than you might think. I own a couple Para-Ordnance pieces, and they’re competent, not terribly inspired, work - Nothing like the POS that the R-51 was\*. I handled a first-gen R-51, and it was: 1) a design screwup - Including a bore axis _SO_ low that slide-bite was almost inevitable, and 2) had so many rough/sharp edges that you were pretty much going to find yourself bleeding, even if you avoided slide-bite, and 3) Of poor fit-and-finish, far worse than any of my Para-Ordnance pieces. \*Disclaimer: I haven’t handled the re-issue R-51. Frankly, no one I’ve met has, not even the gun shop folks - The first version thoroughly poisoned the well, there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-ar-15-prices-gotten-any-more-sane-since-the-last-election/784375.md?page=1)