It probably costs them less than $80 to make that $1,000 rifle.
I know. I own a Colt. It is OK but not worth what I paid for it. Colt was about the only company I knew of that was making them for civilian use when I bought it. It has the stupid, non standard lower they were using at the time. I basically paid a Daniels Defense price for a very plain Jane rifle. I have bought many since for less and every one of them works at least as well, even the $350 budget build I assembled. If Colt dropped their price to a reasonable level, I think they could compete. Whoever prices their stuff is nuts.