I learned again today how difficult this hobby can be. A dear friend of mine asked me to look into making him a 1911 .45acp pistol fashioned after a Kimber model. I did the research and thought I had come close to a good number, but the more I researched, the more I realized that I had more work to do. So I researched some more!
I finally landed on what I though would be a solid build based on my research including customer reviews, other blogs, etc. A ran the numbers and BAM! There was my cost...$1,800! My jaw dropped. The most expensive version that Kimber sells was $1,524 (from their website from poking around different models). Granted this had a threaded barrel and other features, but there was no way I could justify an additional $275! On top of this, again as best as I can tell, Kimber doesn't sell 1911 frames and slides. They keep those for their own sales. I get that. To a large degree it protects their brand. Daniel Defense does something similar with their lower receivers (AR-15s) and I'm sure others do too.
Four pieces of the whole build made up 2/3 of the total cost! It's hard to compete with that, especially when only a few vendors make the parts you need to substitute for the frame and slide I couldn't get from Kimber. But I did the legwork and I learned a lot, so that is the plus from this situation.
I'm just a bit confused. I seem to remember that assembling things yourself used to be a way to save money. But the more I look, the more it seems like the odds are stacked against that. Maybe it's the saturation in the market that makes it easier for manufacturers to price the parts the same as or more than the whole. Let me know what your thoughts are. Any other builders out there having the same struggles?
Marching onward,
Ted
Bruno Custom Arms
No comments:
Post a Comment