Has the AR market in Canada totally collapsed or what?

I disagree with many here...

Most shooters do there shooting at ranges, if you have or can acquire access to vast property like TVpresspass then it makes sense to own non-restricted firearms...that being said 99% of my shooting and really MIL/LEo are in the same boat. It's all at ranges...That being said I think the reason for the downturn is because of ...


Increase of availability..
Current AR/pistol owners are moving into Non-restricted because they already own everything they could ever want..
Vacation time is now, last days of summer.
No money left to spend(My self included)
Economy of scale...People coming into the sport have less cash to burn these days so spending a $1000 to $1500(whole rifle with accessories) is where there at...if not less..
Why by a KAC, Noveske, or HK when you can get a Tavor/FAMAE/Swiss/ACR for around the same price and take it anywhere...Even the CSA looks like a great buy for most shooters taking a plinker out in the bush..
Priorities

The main reason if even 99% of your shooting is at a range there is that 1% chance of you going out hunting or plinking in the woods it makes sense to have more options and buy a Tavor over say a KAC rifle...
 
Not to mention the reduced headaches of a NR gun. Forget to put a trigger lock on your AR on the way to the range and you could get in serious trouble. Forget to put a trigger lock on your NR gun on the way to the range and it's probably not going to get you more than a warning.

At this point I'm not even sure if I'll finish building my current AR any time soon. Though I did see that my old DD lower is back on the EE ;). I think I'll just end up saving the money and putting it towards an SG542 because that will cover multiple bases. Non-restricted, semiauto, new production, hunting legal, competition capable. I was going to buy a pair of M305s, or an XCR-M, but I might as well just save the money until next year and buy something that's new production and likely to have increased availability and service in the future.
 
And yet SFRC put 70 NEA stripped lowers on sale a couple of weeks ago and they sold out in about 12 hours. I was happy to snag one of them. I think, as has been noted that there are different market niches and the one for second hand custom built "babies" is probably low (at this time) given the alternatives. You might want to consider dropping the price if it's not moving.
 
As someone new back to shooting; I don't think I will ever own an AR unless they become unrestricted one day( not holding breath). I may buy a handgun,which I think would be worth the extra work, but there are a lot of great NR rifles out there.
 
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Supply and demand, factories in the States ramped up production into overdrive after Newtown as consumers maxed out their credit cards on AR15's.
 
Tom_Swift said:
Supply and demand, factories in the States ramped up production into overdrive after Newtown as consumers maxed out their credit cards on AR15's.
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How does that affect us? Prices in Canada for a new AR have stayed the same throughout this.
It's not like you can go across the border and buy an AR
 
AK said:
I think everyone is just finally getting sick of them. Every man and their dog is making an AR copy, being restricted doesn't help, and plenty of suitable replacements in NR are readily available. I got out of ARs years ago.
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Would have to agree. Particularly on all the NR options out there.
 
There is nothing wrong with the AR market, people that is into AR's will continue to buy them restricted or not, they will continue to pay for them at the price they are comfortable with, in the last 6 months it has been very interesting with so many previously unobtainable name AR brands starting to creep into Canada, like LWRC, Troy and BCM, while the mid end market are getting steady supply of Core, DD, Stag and DPMS.

I had a look at your EE post, the problem I see is something I have always been telling people, when you assemble your own AR from a collection of parts from different name brands, it will always carry that the stigma of being a Franken AR, nobody will ever appreciate the value like you do, perhaps you might have a part or two they are looking for on it, but the rest is just premium they rather not pay. you will probably getting better price not to mention faster response taking it apart and parting it out piece meal.
 
What's wrong with the AR market ?

That's an easy equation.

RPAL + FRT + ATT + Reg Cert + High River - no property rights - no compensation - no repeal of C68 = 2015 is just around the corner and Justin "Shiny Pony" , Elizabeth Bray and Thomas Mulcommie are already putting out tenders to buy the chop-saws and build the smelters....

Owning an eeeeeevil Mini-14 is a safer bet right now (but not by much).
 
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IMO the reasons are...

- The people who want them have them
- People may want something unrestricted or do not have a local range/restricted license so they buy a Tavor, Swiss, ACR, ect.
- Cannot afford the high price tags and buy used or a Norcino
- Tired of getting ass raped with Canadian firearm prices and import (legally) from the USA.
 
I'm not sure what some of these people are saying here...I have never seen so many ar's for sale at local shops including WSS. Every time I go to the range I see a few shooters with AR's and most gun owners I talk to want one or already have one. I would say this is the best it has ever been for AR owners.
 
4b1t said:
What's wrong with the AR market ?

That's an easy equation.

RPAL + FRT + ATT + Reg Cert + High River - no property rights - no compensation - no repeal of C68 = 2015 is just around the corner and Justin "Shiny Pony" , Elizabeth Bray and Thomas Mulcommie are already putting out tenders to buy the chop-saws and build the smelters....
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Fair.

BUT

Hiding it and not doing it only helps their case...we need MORE shooters, more RPAL holders, MORE GUNS...makes it harder from them to take them and makes other relize there is NOTHING to fear about gun/gun owners.

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In the USA when they are worried about a ban or new laws everyone and their dog goes and buys guns and ammo...in Canada we are all scared and start selling and getting ride of stuff "just in case". Kinda sad.

(lack) of property rights do have something to do with it but still, we have the wrong mindset.

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Market's limited due to the AR being restricted in the first place. Then add in the time of year. Summer is a lousy time to be selling anything on-line.
 
jeffcarr88 said:
Fair.

BUT

Hiding it and not doing it only helps their case...we need MORE shooters, more RPAL holders, MORE GUNS...makes it harder from them to take them and makes other relize there is NOTHING to fear about gun/gun owners.

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In the USA when they are worried about a ban or new laws everyone and their dog goes and buys guns and ammo...in Canada we are all scared and start selling and getting ride of stuff "just in case". Kinda sad.

(lack) of property rights do have something to do with it but still, we have the wrong mindset.

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Totally agree... But I am only one person and can only afford one AR.....time for the 6 million other firearms owners to step up....I watched the registry being born back in the early 90s....let's just say I've been thrown under the bus by my fellow "law abiding firearms owners/Quisling appeasers" before.

Only time will tell.
 
Mr. Spectacular said:
I've tried selling two used AR's recently for what I think are very reasonable prices and nothing is moving. Now that's fine, I'm not hard-up for the money or anything, and if I need to keep them I will; but it just seems really odd to me that guns that would have sold in a minute or two a year ago now sit for weeks on the EE.

I check the EE regularly, and there are a ton of used, reasonably priced AR's for sale that just aren't selling.

This is just my observation. Maybe people are still hungover from the great panic binge/buying spree of early 2013.
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I had a quick look at your ad, and as an AR semi newb i wasn't excited. For a lot of people it seems ARs are like dress up dolls. Buy accessories and make your own. Of the nowadays 100s of choices for component parts, you perhaps selected yours with care and chose what you have to achieve a specific 'feel' or 'function'. If your aesthetic doesn't jibe with that of the potential buyer you're not going to get the sale - then it just comes down to price. I might prefer a different forward rail, but i'll buy yours because it's cheaper, kind of thing.

The proliferation of new rifle brands, new parts available up here means that if you build a parts gun it's only going to sell to me if it's the way i would have built it, but cheaper; or if it's too cheap to pass up. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

Personally i'd rather buy a complete than something someone like me potentially 'slapped together in his living room with a pair of vice grips'.
 
Mr. Spectacular said:
I've tried selling two used AR's recently for what I think are very reasonable prices and nothing is moving. Now that's fine, I'm not hard-up for the money or anything, and if I need to keep them I will; but it just seems really odd to me that guns that would have sold in a minute or two a year ago now sit for weeks on the EE.

I check the EE regularly, and there are a ton of used, reasonably priced AR's for sale that just aren't selling.

This is just my observation. Maybe people are still hungover from the great panic binge/buying spree of early 2013.
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Personally If I was new to the AR market and depending on budget your gun would be fine, mind you I would not want many of things on it and have it setup very differently....Perhaps just sell the parts out and get more money for them that way...
 
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