Price Jump on Parts

[Pittsburghunter]

I can go to any range and get pounds of brass for free so I don't know where they are coming from. The cost of material for the parts can't be more than a couple of cents more than they were a few years ago. Also the price of ammo for cartridge guns hasn't gone up and they are made of what? That's right brass.

A very hollow claim that the war is causing the parts price to rise or that world trade is causing it.

Plain and simple supply and demand and you folks need it, and they got it.

Unless the world is upside down where you live you can buy boxes of high power military brass loaded for between 3-$5 a box.

There ain't no shortage of brass in NH. No shortage of steel either.

 

[spitfire]

I talked to Tim at RE Davis Co. and Jim Chambers several months ago and they told me this price increase was coming down the pipe. It has nothing to do with less brass part being sold. The foundry's price of brass ingots doubled, and they just passed the price onto Chambers and all the other parts retailers who in turn pass the price on to the folks who build guns , who in turn will pass the price onto those that buy guns.
Why brass ingots doubled in price, I wouldn't know, but some of you may have figured it out.

Very interesting :hmm: !

 

[Zonie]

This is just a observation I am making from the sidelines.

Folks like to think that the material prices are the big drivers in the total part cost.
This happens in both major industry and small industry.
I can't begin to count the number of times the costs of my designs were reviewed and the first thing most folks said was "can't we choose a less expensive material?"
With jet engine parts, the answer was usually no for functional reasons but when all was said and done, the cost of the material was a very small part of the total cost.

I haven't checked the prices of brass today but just for talking, lets say that 4 years ago it was selling for 80 cents a pound. Let us say brass is selling for $2.25 a pound today (a 281% increase).

For a real part, I just measured the weight of a English Serpent sideplate casting. It weighed 2 ounces.
As 2 ounces is 1/8 of a pound, with the above prices 4 years ago, the material would have cost 1/8 of 80 cents, or 10 cents. Today, it would cost 1/8 of $2.25 or .28 cents, a total increase of only 18 cents.

This sideplate casting is listed as costing $9.50 in one companys catalog.

I refuse to believe a price increase of 18 cents is going to have any effect on the profit margin on a part that sells for 338 percent more than the material cost.

As was mentioned before, it is a matter of supply and demand with the dealer charging what he can.

If we were going to blame anything perhaps we should look at ourselves.
I strongly suspect that with the aid of Web sites like ours, the number of folks ordering parts has risen dramatically in the past couple of years.

Something to think about.

zonie

 

[Birddog6]

Well, it is a known fact that the American consumer will pay any price for something they want......

If you are selling peas & some idiot want to pay you 4 times the price just becuse he really really really wants them, what ya gonna do ?

That's right... you tell him "Hell No, I absolutely will not take $8. a bushel for them, I insist on $2 a bushel" !! Right ? :rotf: :rotf: :hmm:


What it all boils down to is, the American consumer is it's own worst enemy......... :shake:

 

[Mike Brooks]

I can go to any range and get pounds of brass for free so I don't know where they are coming from. The cost of material for the parts can't be more than a couple of cents more than they were a few years ago. Also the price of ammo for cartridge guns hasn't gone up and they are made of what? That's right brass.

A very hollow claim that the war is causing the parts price to rise or that world trade is causing it.

Plain and simple supply and demand and you folks need it, and they got it.

Unless the world is upside down where you live you can buy boxes of high power military brass loaded for between 3-$5 a box.

There ain't no shortage of brass in NH. No shortage of steel either.

Hey fellas, I'm just passing on the info I got from two major suppliers. I don't think Tim and Jim got together to create some " expensive brass ingot conspiracy " so they could gouge us over the prices of parts cast from brass. You'll all notice that the steel parts didn't rise as much..... :hmm:
The solution for the future would be to use steel mounts which are nearly 100% inccorect in many cases, or make your own brass parts out of sheet brass. :winking:

 

[Dave K]

Pittsburghunter, I should let this drop, but I did just reread your post, now go back and reread mine. I didn't bring the name China or even politics into this thread.(ahh, reread your post and mine) So if this upsets why you come here, don't start it and then close the door. Birddog is right though also. Some people will pay to get what they want,regardless of price. Some companies will charge what they want with out regard to profit margin. This is obvious at the pumps right now. Gas has dropped .60 in the past 3 weeks because the summer is over! I do know many tourist areas have suffered severly from this and it will or has effected their local economy. Oh, do go buy more modern c-fire ammo or componets. It has gone up dramatically in my corner of the world and also in areas that I order from several states away. Surplus ammo is not really cutting edge ammo. It is plinking stuff that many times is not hunting quality.JMHO Also in the building trade, copper wire has increased nearly 400% in the past 14mos. why is that?

 

[Vaino]

If a lot of commodities are more expensive, just raise the prices on the guns. After all, this is a capitalistic economy in which a person tries to make as much money as possible. $$$$....this is what makes the world go 'round! :winking:

 

[Pittsburghunter]

Hi Dave I never mentioned anything you said but just commented in general the direction the thread was going :v

Mike, I believe your friends are not being completely honest with you as pointed out by Zonie even a doubling of the price of raw materials would not justify the increase. It is supply and demand plain and simple.

Very few people make the parts you seek and they, well, like the rest of use need to make more money each year to get by.

I bet they had a long overdue price increase and had to blame it on something. When I increase my rates I always blame the cost of gas :winking:

 

[Mike Brooks]

Well, we'll see. I'm going to the foundry this week, I'll report any price increase.
Chambers increased his lock prices from $95 to $125 last year. His reason? :hmm: ..... he hadn't increased his prices for locks in over ten years and he figured it was about time. I can't see why he should need to start lieing about a price increas on his brass parts.

 

[Pittsburghunter]

Look at it this way. his entire cost of everything has been going up and you just confirmed something for me telling us he raised his lock prices for the first time in 10 years. He can call it the cost of brass, gas or a#%&. His cost of doing business just as your's has gone up. He needs the increase to stay in business.

 

[Mike Brooks]

You sure know alot about Jim Chamber's business! :haha:
The price increase has very little impact on the end price of a $2500 gun, no big deal really....

 

[Pittsburghunter]

Cept for you :grin: Good luck just add the extra costs onto the rifles. You deserve it.

 

[rabjr]

Someday when I hit the lottery, I'm gonna have you build me a gun Mike. :v

 

[Birddog6]

I'll tell ya one thing, now that I know it is ALL Jim's fault, I am sure gonna raise H with him Saturday !! :grin: :rotf:

 

[rabjr]

I just got off the phone with JimChambers Flintlocks Ltd and I must say, It's always a pleasure calling and ordering from them.

 

[flintlockmdj]

I have a dealership with TOTW and recently got there latest catalog. The catalog is about out of date but the dealer price list is current. Dealer prices are suposed to be lower than regulae customer pricing right? With all the price hikes everything in the dealer price list is higherthan is listed in the main catalog. Go figure.

 

[talon]

You folks don't realize that the EPA has hit foundries very hard with new regulations. With thounsands spent on upgrades for these new federal rules, they are passing the cost on to the consumer. Some are just going out of business instead. Others are choosing to do more profitable work than casting muzzleloading parts. I realize that most muzzleloading folks are out to get the cheapest price possible but, if suppliers can't make any money, then the supply will dry up.

 

[wolfers]

I can just see two trappers sitting around the evening fire in 1820 talking about how expensive it is to buy new steel traps. How the blacksmiths in St Louis are raking in the copper selling them due to the high price of soft iron and steel due to the cost of getting it down the river from iron foundries in Pittsburg. One says yep it is because the darn Spanairds are buying it all up due to their civil war in Spain. The other says it's because there are too darn many new trappers and the demand for trappin stuff is really up.

It is an age old debate. The bottom line is that things will always go up in price as long as someone in the supply chain feels they can get people to pay more for someting.

 

[talon]

I noticed that folks can pick up spent brass at the local shooting. If you check out an outfit called Lindsay Publications,[url] www.lindsaybks.com[/url], there are several books on building a backyard foundry available. Folks can always think about making there own parts.