sale of smokepoles per year

[mattybock]

I'm wondering about something.
I read that about 14 million modern back stuffer guns are sold each year in the United States, but according to an industry standards thread on another forum (asking a few manufacturers leads to nothing) only 275,000 muzzleloaders are sold each year.

I find that kind of hard to believe. Seeing as how low cost and such muzzleloaders are, would the sale of them be much higher? So here's what I'd like to know, if anyone is sure of it -

- what is the annual sale of muzzloader kits, sidelocks and inlines per year in the US?

- and for our makers, how many of your guns do you sell in one year's time, on average?

 

[Rifleman1776]

low cost and such muzzleloaders are

Low cost? One can purchase modern rifle or shotgun for a few hundred dollars. Even factory made ml's are that much. Semi and custom made ml's are much more costly.
Price isn't the factor. ML shooting is a niche avocation. We are a small and unique bunch of folks.
That is the reason. Modern guns are here to stay. We are trying to preserve something from the past.
However, that figure for the number of mls sold each year could be highly questionable since they are not numbered or recorded. Methinks nobody knows.

 

[Coot]

Likely impossible to say as there is no record of private transactions of used guns. I have seen estimates of 4-4.5 million new guns sold in the US each year & that number might have more to back it up than guesses at private sales. Re BP guns, Rifleman has it right that we are a very small subset of the shooting world. Of six local shops, three have no muzzleloaders at all & the others are mostly xx-lines with a couple of CW era guns for CW re-enactors. Can't recall the last time I saw a flintlock locally. Thats why this Forum is so popular with those of us here. :wink:

 

[Drago]

When I was at Mc Brides the other day trading a Traditions rifle for a TC Renegade, Mr Mc Bride said they may do 20 million in sales a year with barely any being black powder.

 

[Dphar]

Likely impossible to say as there is no record of private transactions of used guns. I have seen estimates of 4-4.5 million new guns sold in the US each year & that number might have more to back it up than guesses at private sales. Re BP guns, Rifleman has it right that we are a very small subset of the shooting world. Of six local shops, three have no muzzleloaders at all & the others are mostly xx-lines with a couple of CW era guns for CW re-enactors. Can't recall the last time I saw a flintlock locally. Thats why this Forum is so popular with those of us here. :wink:

If you want to see Flintlocks look for CLA shows.
http: //www.longrifle.ws /events/

There are two every year in VA from what I see on the web site.
You will not see one in a gunshop. Sometimes in Pawn shops, sometimes good customs. But not often.
Dan

 

[Coot]

I frequently have a table at the Southern Longrifles show in Williamsburg & can easily find more originals & nice contemporary guns than I can find cash. :wink: What I was trying to get across is that you can walk into any number of shops and find thousands of modern breechloaders but precious few BP guns. BP guns & gear are certainly available but represent a very small fraction of the overall gun market. :surrender:

 

[Paul R]

Here in Canada, flintlocks were not included when the long gun registry was in effect. Anyone, whether or not they had a gun acqisition certificate could buy one with no questions asked. I recently met a gentleman who had a specific, occasional need for a rifle but didn't feel the need and hassle of becoming a registered gun owner, so he chose to acquire and learn to use a flintlock.
Long storey short, even during the time of Canada's strict gun registration law, there were no official records kept for flintlock sales or ownership.
As for myself, when I decided to build a ML rifle acouple years ago, it couldn't be percussion because that would have had to be registered & I didn't have the right paperwork for another registered gun. So, flint it was.
Paul

 

[mattybock]

what... does McBride do 20 m. sales or does T/C do the 20 million? :shocked2:
I was under the impression that the amount of sold new guns per year was about 13 million.

 

[Coot]

I am pretty certain that the 20 million is total sales in dollars, not guns.

 

[Drago]

I believe he meant total sales, and he was just throwing a number out as a example to show how little black powder guns and accessories they sell.

 

[Rifleman1776]

New guns sold (maybe just manufactured) is reported by the AFT each year. I see articles in magazines and such on this. The numbers might be available on the AFT website.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Only took a few seconds to find this:
http://www.atf.gov/statistics/

Of course, muzzle loaders are not included. Those numbers are anyones guess.

 

[LeMat1856]

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0810 - aug 5 2012
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mattybock,

i too have wondered about this for a long time but haven't seen a single dollar or volume figure from any source.. your question got me thinking about it again and i have an idea - import data.

since most of the volume is in italian revolvers, there must be a publically available figure for how many enter this country.. extend that to include flinters and caplocks from pietta or pedersoli and there might be a loose baseline to work with.

i'll rummage through as many economic and dept of commerce sources as i can find and see if there is something under GNP/ imports/ recreation/ shooting sports/etc, etc., and post it if i do.

just looking at cabela, i noticed that items i got only 4 years ago have increased in price by almost 50% (was $725, now $949) which tells me that there is increasing demand even for high priced items.. others i've had for shorter periods of time have also increased in price (but not nearly as much).

i never thought buying a BP firearm would be considered an "investment" but it is...!

~d~

 

[izzyjoe]

i'm not sure about the numbers, but the gunshops/pawnshops in my area will not take in BP rifles on pawn, cause they don't sell very good. some places will take in the new plastic rifles, but not the traditional sidelock's. and i hardly ever see anyone at the range with a sidelock, mostly the new kid's on the block, with those "Magnum" front stuffers. gunsale are at an alltime high, just not sure how many are BP guns.

 

[matt denison]

"just looking at cabela, i noticed that items i got only 4 years ago have increased in price by almost 50% (was $725, now $949) which tells me that there is increasing demand ....."

Demand is not the cause of higher prices for imported guns. The exchange rate between the US dollar and Euro has caused it. Same with flints.

As a manufacturer I can tell you that you will never find the figures you are looking for. :surrender: