[billyboy15]

I suspect the high cost of firearms is mostly caused by the insurance the manufacturer is forced to carry to protect them from the blood sucking lawyers.

It is the same in the aircraft industry. A small single engine aircraft such as a Piper Cherokee without any fancy upgrades will cost about $145,000. It’s true value is in the neighborhood of about $50,000 imo with the need for very high levels of ins coverage making up the rest.

There have been cases of crashes in which the pilot has been shown to be at fault and yet a lawsuit against the mfr of the aircraft were successfully sued by survivors for one reason or another.

[marktwain]

The Marlin 99 .22 semi-auto in 1961 was $49.95. The ratio of constant dollars from 1961 to 2018 is 8.4. That would be $420 today. Today, you can pick up a Model 60 (basically the same gun) for $178.99 at Sportsman's Guide. Using that metric, the .22 semi-automatic rifle is only 43% as expensive as it was in 1961!

[It Matters]

The base price for a Piper Archer is $389,000. I couldn’t see where they are even selling warriors now. I agree that $50,000 is what they should cost.