Suppressor costs, talk to me

[2tuna]

Allrighty, as a gap-tooth, slack-jawed recent convert to the esoteric arts of precision shooting, I have questions.

Why are suppressors so expensive?

I understand they're carefully machined, and sometimes made from titanium or other hard-to-work materials, but aren't they essentially static baffles?

I have a pretty good collection of high end big game fishing tackle: Stellas, Makairas, Penn Torques, etc - and these reels with their multitude of beautifully machined parts, abec bearings, sculpted forms, complicated mechanics, waterproof seals, and drags that will wear down 300 pound yellowfin are substantially cheaper.

They're more than my mid-tier scopes. Even some of my bows.

Is it just an economy of scale/prudiction issue? Has the hunting market for cans not yet settled in, with dominant mfrs came to the fore?

It's obvious I'm missing something. Please educate me.

Not that it matters. I live in Kali. Sigh...

 

[Choupique]

Why are suppressors so expensive?

Supply and command

There's not a lot of appetite for getting into a controversial market like suppressors when the whims of the man in the whitehouse can either make them impossible to sell or dirt cheap and easy to sell overnight.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

You can’t compare commoditized high volume items like fishing gear and scopes to suppressors. We are still a ways off from that unfortunately. They’ll charge what the market will bear until enough disruption happens to drive a pricing change.

 

[hibernation]

Specialty item and lots of regulatory red tape for the manufacturers, at least that's my understanding. There's a higher barrier to entry for new companies than with, say, fishing reels. So they're able to mark prices up more and there's not much competition fighting for market share to bring it down. This might change in the next 5 to 10 years depending on legislation.

 

[Ucsdryder]

I already own a couple suppressors so I’m in a different spot than someone wanting their first, but I’d hold off. With 3d printers, everyone with a few bucks and some credit seems to be coming out with a can. Competition is good and WILL put downward pressure on prices. That, coupled with lots of innovation in the suppressor game due to 3d printing, has me waiting to buy another can.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Why is a new truck 4 times more expensive then a 08 model was new?
Because of the $400 tablet in the dash?

Or because or because people pay it?

 

[Chris in TN]

They’ll charge what the market will bear until enough disruption happens to drive a pricing change.

It's that simple. I also think prices are absurd for what you get - in a more perfect world they'd be $49 in a blister pack at the checkout aisle at your local sporting goods store - but here we are. People charge what they can get for them, and in doing so make money, which is the whole reason that most of us get out of bed every morning anyway.

 

[Bluefish]

Imho, part of the issue is it’s a highly regulated product. That adds cost. I know one local dealer stopped selling them as margins were small at a dealer level and required a lot of hand holding, they figured it was a minimum of 1 hr per sale of salesman time. Often 3-6 x that.

If they ever become deregulated, prices should come down some. Factors still driving cost, they are metal and usually expensive metals, ie inconel, Ti. Just look at the costs of all metal guns. They are quite a bit higher now that even 10-15 years ago. The only reason pistols are still cheap is they can have injection molded parts that are cheap. Volume, the number of cans per year is about the same as the volume of guns per month. Again if regulations go away, volume will go up, costs should come down.

3d printing is cool and is really allowing unique designs. Downside is material costs. I expect the Ti powder is super expensive. I know when we used printers in production of medical plastics, the resin was $200/kg and the machines were software locked to only use the manufacturers resin. Same with replacement parts, we found a lamp which was $20, but the software locked ones were $80.

 

[Samson7x]

Agree with much of what's been said. With the tax going to $0 and everyone wanting to jump in the market, it should put some downward pressure on prices. For instance, cans in South Africa where it's an over the counter product, cans are $200-300. Granted they are not using 3D titanium printers, but I've seen/heard some very nice suppressors in SA.

For the record, I don't think any of them are worth $1000, although I've paid more than that for some which is part of the problem. People are willing to pay it...

 

[Tman24]

I already own a couple suppressors so I’m in a different spot than someone wanting their first, but I’d hold off. With 3d printers, everyone with a few bucks and some credit seems to be coming out with a can. Competition is good and WILL put downward pressure on prices. That, coupled with lots of innovation in the suppressor game due to 3d printing, has me waiting to buy another can.

Takes more than a few bucks. Most titanium 3D printers making suppressors are in the $500K-$1mil price range.

 

[svivian]

A decent titanium muzzle brake is about $200, i find a suppressor a decent value at $800-$1000 considering.

As mentioned above those 3d printed machines aint cheap and neither is the titanium filament

 

[Ucsdryder]

Takes more than a few bucks. Most titanium 3D printers making suppressors are in the $500K-$1mil price range.

Yes I’m aware and I stand by my statement. Suppressor prices will drop significantly as more and more 3d printed cans hit the market.