Anyone try the FAMAE SG542-1, 308 Win/7.62 NATO

Pricing is set on what the supplier/retailer believes the threshold is of the purchaser.
The more points they can make the better. All you have to do is look at the Colt Canada nonsense and see that is the way it goes with every other firearm that is sold in Canada.
There are two questions they ask themselves:
What is our bottom line? And What will people pay?
That number seams to be around $3000 for Gucci 'tac' rifles.
Hell, if you make it conform to our asinine laws and make it non-restricted, you can market some utter crap for top dollar too (enter Keltec and Robarms...)

The importer may sell less units overall, but there are advantages to that like less of a warranty/support system needed, and maximum return on each unit sold. It is the same with accessories. Does anyone believe the Famae mags are worth +$130 each?
As long as people are willing to fork it over, the retailers and suppliers are willing to inflate the pricing.
 
beltfed said:
Pricing is set on what the supplier/retailer believes the threshold is of the purchaser.
The more points they can make the better. All you have to do is look at the Colt Canada nonsense and see that is the way it goes with every other firearm that is sold in Canada.
There are two questions they ask themselves:
What is our bottom line? And What will people pay?
That number seams to be around $3000 for Gucci 'tac' rifles.
Hell, if you make it conform to our asinine laws and make it non-restricted, you can market some utter crap for top dollar too (enter Keltec and Robarms...)

The importer may sell less units overall, but there are advantages to that like less of a warranty/support system needed, and maximum return on each unit sold. It is the same with accessories. Does anyone believe the Famae mags are worth +$130 each?
As long as people are willing to fork it over, the retailers and suppliers are willing to inflate the pricing.
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Yup, we're all suckers with too much money and desperate for anything cool and non restricted.
Since 95% of my shooting is done at the range anyway since it's a 2 hour drive to suitable private or crown land my AR-10 will continue to do just fine and will probably outshoot any of the non restricted options.

No those mags are not worth half that, same as the FAL mags that are $15 US but shipping them here and putting a rivet in them suddenly makes them worth $50.
 
beltfed said:
Does anyone believe the Famae mags are worth +$130 each?
As long as people are willing to fork it over, the retailers and suppliers are willing to inflate the pricing.
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Speaking only of the retail side I can assure you that the FAMAE 542 mags are nearly a loss leader item. No retailer is getting rich off of the mags nor are they inflating the pricing to even a level that pays for the real estate they take up in a display.
 
It's been a while since I read a Famae thread, but is there any chance you can get 10Rd. mag.'s for those Famae 540 series rifles. I'm guessing no because there are no handgun counterparts to get the mag,'s from, IIRC that was one of the reasons I passed on these rifles in the first place (well along with the lack of anyone posting up decent groups).
 
Zeroed-In said:
It's been a while since I read a Famae thread, but is there any chance you can get 10Rd. mag.'s for those Famae 540 series rifles. I'm guessing no because there are no handgun counterparts to get the mag,'s from, IIRC that was one of the reasons I passed on these rifles in the first place (well along with the lack of anyone posting up decent groups).
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That's part of the issue, yes. The other thing of course is that they're magazines are proprietary.

It would be interesting if you could get an alternate lower like NEA did for the Classic Green that accepted AR pattern magazines and stocks.
 
TV-PressPass said:
That's part of the issue, yes. The other thing of course is that they're magazines are proprietary.

It would be interesting if you could get an alternate lower like NEA did for the Classic Green that accepted AR pattern magazines and stocks.
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Good idea but the problem I have with that is that you are taking an overpriced rifle costing $3000 and spending another $500+ on a new lower. Same idea as wasting $400 on the FTU on a T97. An overpriced disposable rifle with no warranty and putting more money into it.
I don't know what the warranty or parts support is like on the 542 but I've heard mags are pretty hard to find. Maybe they should ship them with 4 instead of 2 and include a field repair kit.

When the used prices come down a little more I'll probably give one of these a try but not for the current retail price.
 
greentips said:
RE: SAPR

To make a 7.62 gun, it needs a new set of dies to make the receivers as the 7.62 is different from the 5.56. This means a lot of new fixtures are needed to create the line.

And the sale volume of 7.62 is lower in unit, this means unit price goes up.

Kinda like the reason why the F35 becomes so expensive.
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The only problem I have with that logic is this is a 40 year old design. It's been used by the Chilean armed forces for a while now. So there is no retooling and you would think they made their investment on the new equipment a long time ago. The 308 I thought was their standard arm.

I have to admit I want one of the SG542 rifles. I'd like one of the 540's as well. But I just can't bring myself to pay those prices. I do have a Swiss Black target that was hard to justify the price at the time. But.. it was Swiss made etc etc. Bit of a hard sell to pay 3K for a Chile made version. By all accounts the rifle is built decently but not up to the Swiss Arms (SIG) version.
 
cr5 said:
As nice as it looks that's just too much for a semi auto 308 just because it's non restricted.
I understand it's going to be light years ahead of the Famme but that one is overpriced as well in my opinion.
I would gladly pay $2500 for the base ATRS rifle and $3000 or maybe a little more for one with a fancy barrel but for $4000 I can think of better places to spend my money.

For the money at the sacrifice of some accuracy and used 542 or XCR-M seem like money better spent leaving a lot of cash left over for ammo and mags.
Personally I'll just stick to my AR-10 for semi auto 308 and use something else for non restricted play time.
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agreed. I priced one out for hunting, and to get it in it's lightest configuration (as quoted by ATRS) with the parts offered (still just a light profile stainless barrel) it was already pushing 4k.
 
I love the looks of the FAMAE, and I am certain that there would be no accuracy issue with them for hunting, but I couldn't justify one when I already use my XCR-M. I think they are lighter than the XCR, but so is my Dodge truck ... Plenty accurate for hunting. We are talking minute of deer/moose/elk out to a couple hundred yards - easy. From what I have read, the FAMAE is certainly capable of that.
 
Hoplite Tactical Supplies said:
Ahem... mags ;).
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Not blaming you and the prices on other things on your site seem fair but $130 for a stamped steel magazine? How can that be justified? These are stamped crap mags, that's more than I was paying for polymer mags for my Swiss Arms. The only mags more expensive have HK stamped on the side and I doubt these are remotely close to the same quality. Swiss and HK may be expensive but at least you know you are getting some of the best built most reliable mags available.

No thanks.
 
R
Epoxy7 said:
The only problem I have with that logic is this is a 40 year old design. It's been used by the Chilean armed forces for a while now. So there is no retooling and you would think they made their investment on the new equipment a long time ago. The 308 I thought was their standard arm.

I have to admit I want one of the SG542 rifles. I'd like one of the 540's as well. But I just can't bring myself to pay those prices. I do have a Swiss Black target that was hard to justify the price at the time. But.. it was Swiss made etc etc. Bit of a hard sell to pay 3K for a Chile made version. By all accounts the rifle is built decently but not up to the Swiss Arms (SIG) version.
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Big +2.
I'd go for both with a bunch of mags for each if I thought I wasn't getting raped on the prices.
 
cr5 said:
As nice as it looks that's just too much for a semi auto 308 just because it's non restricted.
I understand it's going to be light years ahead of the Famme but that one is overpriced as well in my opinion.
I would gladly pay $2500 for the base ATRS rifle and $3000 or maybe a little more for one with a fancy barrel but for $4000 I can think of better places to spend my money.

For the money at the sacrifice of some accuracy and used 542 or XCR-M seem like money better spent leaving a lot of cash left over for ammo and mags.
Personally I'll just stick to my AR-10 for semi auto 308 and use something else for non restricted play time.
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I think you're missing that the modern hunter comes standard with a match grade stainless steel barrel, as the base model.
Essentially same kind of idea as you have on your non-res ACR that you put a match quality barrel in when making it non restricted.
I think buying an ACR, and then getting the barrel conversion done puts you right in that kind of ballpark.
I had messaged you months back about it as that was the Non-Res route I was planning to go, but can't remember exact numbers.
It's not gouging, or taking advantage of the limited available options. Even with the "base model" we're using high quality parts on it, not cutting any corners and the margins are not nearly as bountiful as you're implying.

Base model modern hunter, in my opinion, trumps all the other non restricted 'black rifles' hands down for a cost vs. quality comparison.
(That opinion was formed before I started with ATRS, but having seen in great detail everything going into these rifles, I'm even more impressed.)
I believe we're in week 3 or 4, of the 8 week deadline the RCMP gave us for final inspection. It should be interesting to see how it all plays out once this production run is complete and there's a hundred and some people out shooting the first batch and providing unbiased reviews.

For me personally, the swiss was never really on my radar to the extent of some others options because of the lack of customization and standard mags. Now with them being Chilean, I just don't see the cost vs quality... I'd love an accurate 223 non res. but I'm hung up on the ACR's polymer lower without the option of alternative grips. I gotta have me an Ergo grip...
I shoot on a farm about 15 mins from the city so non-res is critical to me.
I tried the XCR-L, and it was fun, but terribly balanced (old version heavy barrel, quad rail), and slightly worse than minute of gopher for accuracy.
 
ShaunM said:
I was just browsing, I didn't bring it up and wouldn't have, but there was some info that I didn't agree with.
But nice to meet you Epoxy7

And to put it back on original topic, I noticed TVPP has a vid on youtube about the FAMAE 542 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3lUIR9w7Vg
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Yup! I tinkered with one when the FRT was first assigned, very early on. Sadly I can't say I've fired more than 20 rounds through it.

 
ShaunM said:
I think you're missing that the modern hunter comes standard with a match grade stainless steel barrel, as the base model.
Essentially same kind of idea as you have on your non-res ACR that you put a match quality barrel in when making it non restricted.
I think buying an ACR, and then getting the barrel conversion done puts you right in that kind of ballpark.
I had messaged you months back about it as that was the Non-Res route I was planning to go, but can't remember exact numbers.
It's not gouging, or taking advantage of the limited available options. Even with the "base model" we're using high quality parts on it, not cutting any corners and the margins are not nearly as bountiful as you're implying.

Base model modern hunter, in my opinion, trumps all the other non restricted 'black rifles' hands down for a cost vs. quality comparison.
(That opinion was formed before I started with ATRS, but having seen in great detail everything going into these rifles, I'm even more impressed.)
I believe we're in week 3 or 4, of the 8 week deadline the RCMP gave us for final inspection. It should be interesting to see how it all plays out once this production run is complete and there's a hundred and some people out shooting the first batch and providing unbiased reviews.

For me personally, the swiss was never really on my radar to the extent of some others options because of the lack of customization and standard mags. Now with them being Chilean, I just don't see the cost vs quality... I'd love an accurate 223 non res. but I'm hung up on the ACR's polymer lower without the option of alternative grips. I gotta have me an Ergo grip...
I shoot on a farm about 15 mins from the city so non-res is critical to me.
I tried the XCR-L, and it was fun, but terribly balanced (old version heavy barrel, quad rail), and slightly worse than minute of gopher for accuracy.
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I'm sure the quality of the MH will be top notch and will trump all other non restricted options available but considering the price I can live without one. I'm sure there is a lot of cash tied up in the development but considering it's a tweaked AR-10 for the most part and they can be produced for around $3000 for a top tier rifle not an Armalite or DPMS entry level rifle, to me it seems like ATRS is trying to get all their money back out of the first batch produced. A buddy of mine ordered a MH and told me his is just over $4000. I'm looking forward to seeing it and shooting it but the price is too high.
It honestly isn't the amount of money they cost keeping me from one since my Desert Tech SRS 338 cost way more than the MH, it's more that it's a rifle that for the most part is exactly the same as a rifle I already own except it's non restricted and over $1000 more.

Honestly, how is this really any different than the cost to produce your billet AR-15? All the same time was needed to build the files for the CNC machine and time was needed to develop and incorporate the design improvements that went into it making it more ambidextrous.
My AR-10 was built with matched billet upper/lower, $500 match barrel, all the best parts like Geissele trigger, JP NiB bolt, Apex forend, Slash buffer, LMT buffer tube, etc, and it was pretty much $3000, I'm sure every company that made parts that went into that build made money. To me it looks like a non restricted FRT is worth $1000.

As for my ACR, after making it non restricted and with a Geissele super ACR trigger I was into it for $2500ish, about $3000 with my stainless 300BLK barrel I had custom built for me. Now I did start with a used ACR which helped keep the cost down but I only got it for $300 less than the price of new and it came with the Geissele trigger and a custom 12 inch barrel which I sold to help counter the cost of the NR barrel.
You would get used to the grip. I prefer either MOE+ or ERGO on my AR's but I don't notice it when shooting the ACR.

So you haven't submitted a finished product to the RCMP? So the non restricted FRT isn't actually a sure thing yet?

I really appreciate what ATRS has done and that they are offering a superior product to anything else available to us but it's unfortunate the cost is so high. Considering the prices of an XCR-M, RFB or 542 which are your closest competition and knowing how much better the Modern Hunter will be I could justify paying around $3500 for one with a high end barrel but at $4000 I just don't need one that bad.
Obviously others feel differently since your first batch is sold out but I have plenty of non restricted toys that didn't require me to work a bunch of overtime to pay for.
I really hope all the kinks are worked out and it's as accurate as people expect or you're going to have a lot of disappointed people out there and batch #2 may be a hard sell.

Just out of curiosity how much is the base model MH and how much for the carbon wrapped top end model? Other than the barrel is there any difference?
Are these compatible with other barrels such as DPMS or Armalite pattern barrels?
 
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I. Am giving up on the time finding a reasonably priced 308. So am using a 1976 bar and going after market tactical cool and cutting the barrel. As far as a zombie shoot out, its buck shot all the way
 
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