Prices of AK's 1987 vs 2012

[mpnv]

This morning I came across an old owners manual to a Hungarian SA85M Underfolder that I bought in '87. The original sales receipt was in the book.
I paid $429.00 for it. Looking on an inflation calculator, that amount of money is equal to $875.00 today. Except for the fact these prebans are not available today, I guess the good old days weren't as good as I thought!

[wkendwarrior2003]

Originally Posted by mpnv

This morning I came across an old owners manual to a Hungarian SA85M Underfolder that I bought in '87. The original sales receipt was in the book.
I paid $429.00 for it. Looking on an inflation calculator, that amount of money is equal to $875.00 today. Except for the fact these prebans are not available today, I guess the good old days weren't as good as I thought!

I've started to think about this also, but at least back then we could get complete 100% imported guns delivered to the States, not like today where if we want almost anything cool we gotta play the stupid 922r dance. I would love to have been old enough back then to get a Valmet M62s or even a Polytech Legend NIB. It just isn't quite the same building up guns on U.S. made receivers with a mix of surplus and U.S. made parts.

[mpnv]

$427.00 in '87 was about a week and a half pay(at least it was for me). I wanted a Valmet as well, but they were almost as expensive as FALS. Polytechs, as much as they're coveted now where concidered garbage back then. I really thought that the prices on AKs these days where outrageous. But after this morning I guess its not as bad as I thought. Some are still way overpriced. Comparing the Arsenal Legion to the SA85M (which was concidered the best of the best back then), I guess Arsenal really isn't that out of line with what their asking.

[xtremerange]

Originally Posted by mpnv

I guess the good old days weren't as good as I thought!

Almost all good old days were never as good as people remember them.

[Insider]

I remember going to gun shows and seeing all those Chinese "junk" guns sitting on dealers tables, if I only knew better!

[torquemada055]

$427.00 in '87 was about a week and a half pay

Was for me too, I had to work lots of overtime to buy my first AK. Then after the Stockton Schoolyard shooting and Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989 I sold that underfolder .223 up at the Reno gunshow so I wouldnt have to register it.....

I bought my little kids Christmas presents that year with the money.

[Dan44]

I too purchased that rifle in 87. You made me look. Nice rifle but I hated the folding stock, and traded it for a Polytech Legend full stock that I still have. (and the owners manual)

[TideWater 41009]

IIRC, in the early 1980's an Egyptian Maadi AK was $1,100.

There is nothing special to making AK parts or in assembling rifles. If Third World countries can do it, certainly we can do it too. The problem is in guys wanting the absolute cheapest crap parts available and then assembling them with Dremmels and WECSOG (i.e. careless and sloppy) workmanship. Some of the shit work and shortcuts I see see talked about here make me cringe, and when I have spoken up I get piled upon. It has taught me to be very careful when considering buying any used gun, so that is a benefit.

Take some pride in your work. And throw away the Dremmel if you won't work within its limitations.

[kev]

The 'good old days' weren't all that long ago for AKs. I don't really care about Legends and Hungarians,..............pre-ban or otherwise. I think the 'good old days' were when you could lay in Yugo kits for $100 apiece and either fold your own stamped receiver or reweld a torched milled gun for about $20 more. If I had the 'nice' AKs(what a concept!?!), I'd sell them off as quickly as possible and replace them all with 10x as many homebuilds,...............which is exactly what I have done.

[gunplumber]

I was making $766 per month base pay as an E-3 in 1987

[gaijinsamurai]

Same here, Gunplumber. (Lance Corporal in USMC)

[Nomad, 2nd]

Meh, what were class 3 prices in 1987?!?

[gunplumber]

In 85, they were about $200 more than the semi. As anyone could make them and people just wanted to recover the making tax. With the ban in 86, prices started to creep up.

[KBAR04]

Originally Posted by gunplumber

I was making $766 per month base pay as an E-3 in 1987

I was a first lieutenant in 1987 and was buying what I could. I remember AKs (Chinese) were selling for 299 and that was with 3 30 rd mags etc. They were practically giving away cases of 7.62x39. I was not much into AKs though. I already had an FN FAL and was buying HKs. I paid around 900 for a brand new HK94A3 with 3 mags. Strangely, the king of the heap as far as costs back then would have been the FAL...I did manage to pick up a Steyr AUG before we got "Bushed" in 1989....

[wolfsburgbob]

Originally Posted by kev

The 'good old days' weren't all that long ago for AKs. I don't really care about Legends and Hungarians,..............pre-ban or otherwise. I think the 'good old days' were when you could lay in Yugo kits for $100 apiece and either fold your own stamped receiver or reweld a torched milled gun for about $20 more. If I had the 'nice' AKs(what a concept!?!), I'd sell them off as quickly as possible and replace them all with 10x as many homebuilds,...............which is exactly what I have done.

+1

The good old days for me was about the fall of 2003 when I had someone ask me if I could help 'sell' a few thousand brand new demiled AK-74 and AKs-74 kits and a pile of about 40,000 brand new (with a very few lightly used ones mixed in) mil-surp magazines for the same. He had been trickling them out the door and he wanted to move them out. He needed/wanted a pimp.

I wanted at least $60 profit on each one so we sold the full stock Bulgarian 74s for $129, and the triangle side-folder 'S' models for $179 ... including CONUS UPS/FedEx shipping. The Bulgarian mags were 5 hand-picked new ones for $39 more if you bought a kit. Brand new Russian Plum mags were $12 ea.

Someone else asked me if I was interested in selling Romanian AIM (7.62x39) kits. I said they won't bring more than $99 and I won't pay $69.

Those, ... were the days my friends.



.

[C2A1]

Yep, bought a gun south 50.63 in early 89 for $749.95. Also bought a mitchell M-76 with all accessories for $850.00.

[wolfsburgbob]

Originally Posted by C2A1

Yep, bought a gun south 50.63 in early 89 for $749.95. Also bought a mitchell M-76 with all accessories for $850.00.

I have a factory Mitchell product/price guide that lists all of that stuff, the little one they included in the box with their rifles, ... somewhere around here.

Gotta find it.

[catmguy445]

Originally Posted by gunplumber

I was making $766 per month base pay as an E-3 in 1987

Mark, back that up 20 years to 1967 when I was an E-3 (over 2). My base pay was $179.70 a month, and before I went over 2, it was $128.70. Back that up another couple of years to when I was an E-2 fresh out of boot camp in 1965, my base pay was $72 a month. Before taxes.

However, in 1987, I was making fairly good money, and that Hungarian SA85M that mpnv spoke of would have cost me less than one paycheck. I was sharing a house with a couple of other guys then, and my rent was about $300 a month, so I was banking most of 3 paychecks out of 4 each month and had a LOT of disposabe income. A pretty fair chunk of that income was disposed of buying guns, ammo, and reloading gear.

So for me, at least in terms of firearms, those really WERE the good ol' days.

[FNfreak]

Purchased a HK91 NIB in 1980 for $525. It was 1/2 the price of the FAL at the time. Mini 14's were $235. 7.62 Hirtenberger cost me .08 cents a round.

Still have the receipt somewhere. Still have the HK also!! On the negtive side, HK mags were $32-$50 each, scope mounts $300-$400...Retracable stocks $300...accessories for the early HK were crazy! I bought a slim line forearm (they were virtually non exsistant) for $150 and was offered $250 for it multiple time! wish I'd of sold it!!

[FNfreak]

I should add....Chinese SKS's in crates stacked floor to ceiling at Franklin's in athens were selling for $69 with all accessories...buy a whole crate and they were $59 each. On the otherhand 7.62x 39 ammo was $.30-.40 cents a round IF YOU COULD FIND IT.

late 70's and early 80's Ak were few and far between. VERY EXPENSIVE and no one ever heard of 5.45!! I don't think 5.45 were even imported until the mid 90's and even then ammo was Nobel/Dynomite match garde stuff for the East german sniper rifles...it was .$25-.30 cents a round at first!!!

[def90]

In 1987 I was still in high school and working at McDonalds part time. I bought a 1976 Olds Cutlass that I drove to the grave for $350.. Those were the days. lol.

(not my car.. just a representative sample)

[mikeuniform]

In 1991, full house AKs in cosmoline were $150 in Luxemburg. You could build a full house FAL for $250. No paperwork involved.

[CactusCapt]

1986 = FNC for $500 and an HK-94 for $350. 1988 = MAK-90 for $100, milled for $200. FALs were really expensive and HK-91 mags were $60, not $1 like a few years back...

[Dave1965]

I remember the first AK import ads I saw in the early 80's, the rifles were like 250 to 300 dollars. I still have one I bought way back then.

[riderboy]

Originally Posted by Insider

I remember going to gun shows and seeing all those Chinese "junk" guns sitting on dealers tables, if I only knew better!

Ugh, that's the truth. It wasn't until the AWB in '94 that I started buying military rifles. I remember the Indy gun shows in the 80's walking past tables of Galils, AKs, you name it. But you know, 20 years from now these are going to be the good old days. Buy baby buy!!

[brunop]

^

This.

[malpaismike]

Hello the camp! Hadda throw in my .02: before Clinton ban ['86?], was in Sportsman's [NOT Whse} in Mesa; AKs for, my recall, 175. I checked one out, said, "It rattles worse than my M1," and walked away [opleaseoplease a closetful of those oplease]. My M1 was 126.50 DCM, shpd to the house.
Yup, good old days, but three layoffs and a d-word put the kibosh on a fair 'accumulation'--never a 'collection'.
But, I'm back; two safes: one kaboy guns, the other black rifles and 'stuff'. I just hope this latest fiasco doesn't put me on a 'to watch' list [I want to ask the chief RSO if I can tell Dems they can't shoot on my range]. Oh, yeah, and now I want to build an AK, for no other reason than the bump-fire stock is cheaper. See ya round the campfire. mm

[Insider]

How about the good old days of the cheap Bocefus kits in mint condition?

[wolfsburgbob]

Originally Posted by Insider

How about the good old days of the cheap Bocefus kits in mint condition?

Yes Sir!

The Romanian parts sets he was getting by the pallet load from Shane at Centerfire (Century) were so cheap that most vendors like me wanted nothing to do with them. I was awash with Bulgarian 74s, Polish AKMSes and Tantals where the profit margin was more than double what was made on the Romys. I had all I could handle, and eventually more than I could handle. For awhile it appeared to me there were more AKs in Ohio than there were in Europe.

I'd sure like to have a few now!

[CactusCapt]

Oh,yeah. AMD kits in excellent condition (-65s and -63s) for $100 or less, Romy Gs $79, FAC FMP g3 kits for $199. Hell, even the Rooski return Thompson kit I bought for $600 is starting to look damned good. And they all came with barrels... Intact barrels. Ben might even be regretting selling me that mint milled Bulgy AK kit for $99 a few years back.

[bnz42]

In 1987, I was in Long Beach, with the US Navy. The local Hungarian SA85 special was $299 for either the fixed stock or under folder.

[bigsnoz]

1987? I was just getting my drivers license and buying my first car (1982 Mustang GT)

But here is some nostalgic for you all.

[Hot-fal]

Originally Posted by bigsnoz

1987? I was just getting my drivers license and buying my first car (1982 Mustang GT)

But here is some nostalgic for you all.

Oww, pretty, just love those foam boxes... the big clips..NICE..Unde
rfolder.

[Brian in MN]

Maaaaaan, remember when the governor only got 22 bucks when you bought a really cool gun?

[FUUN063]

In 1987, I was making $14.83 an hour in a factory welding away with some light machining thrown in the mix! I was saving up for my first house purchase in 1990. The total mortgage was $243.00 including taxes and insurance!! Full blown, super nice Izzy kits for under a hundred bucks! I still have it.


Leland

[GrrArgh]

I bought the exact same Norinco folder in '93 for $750. The Clinton ban was being pushed then.

[shooter56]

Oh the good ol days!

[LYCAN]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNVi...e_gdata_player

[SteveFAL]

I never wanted a military-style semi auto until 1994 when Bubba Clinton told me I couldn't have one. I paid the then-outrageous price of $579 for a Maadi ARM and my buddy got his MAK-90 for $399. Mags were a buck a round. Century FAL sporter (inch parts on "Canadian" receiver) was $800. Mint Russian SKS: $269, Chinese SKS $199
To put things in temporal perspective, in 1987 the minimum wage was $3.35/hr. In 1994 it was $4.25 and now it is $7.25.
It still does not pace with inflation. Think AKs got expensive? In 1987 my SUNY tuition, full-time, was $675 per semester. Yes, under 700 bucks. Now it is $3994.50. How does *anyone* afford to go to college anymore? (Other than selling a garage full of AKs they bought in the '80s)
No matter how you slice it, the AK is and always will be a $300 gun, no matter how much people are willing to pay for them. In fact even that's outrageous considering what real AKs cost on the foreign military market.
I still love 'em though...

[Walther Rathenau]

Very interesting post guys thanks for all the recollection.

[Rudolf]

My dad bought my Hungarian underfolder at B and B guns in North hollywood, he paid 339.99 with all the stuff with it. I was 14 yrs old in 1987 and I was right there in the B and B with him when he bought it.

I carried that rifle during the 92 riots and I still have it today.



I added some friends to him so he's not lonely.

Kinda addicting being half Hungarian myself. Sadly I had to let one of their friends go..a Hungarian made PKM but I got a Hungarian wife in return. I think it's a fair trade

[Timber Wolf]

Originally Posted by Rudolf

Sadly I had to let one of their friends go..a Hungarian made PKM but I got a Hungarian wife in return. I think it's a fair trade

Was that from a website of some sort? "Guns-for-wives.com".

[G3isMe]

Originally Posted by Timber Wolf

Was that from a website of some sort? "Guns-for-wives.com".

lol, I was thinking it was more of a good ole' fashioned Dowry. Not a bad idea. I'll have to remember that when some guy comes asking for my daughter's hand in marriage. "ahhh sure you can marry her, but first I need to see a new Barrett M82A1 sittin' on this here kitchen table..."


.


.

[Timber Wolf]

Originally Posted by G3isMe

lol, I was thinking it was more of a good ole' fashioned Dowry. Not a bad idea. I'll have to remember that when some guy comes asking for my daughter's hand in marriage. "ahhh sure you can marry her, but first I need to see a new Barrett M82A1 sittin' on this here kitchen table..." .

Unfourtuntely, the way a dowery works YOU would have to give HIM the Barrett. That being the case, it is not looking good for my daughter to get hitched any time soon, but she is only 9 so that is not a problem.

[partisan50]

Originally Posted by FNfreak

Purchased a HK91 NIB in 1980 for $525. It was 1/2 the price of the FAL at the time. Mini 14's were $235. 7.62 Hirtenberger cost me .08 cents a round.

Still have the receipt somewhere. Still have the HK also!! On the negative side, HK mags were $32-$50 each, scope mounts $300-$400...Retractable stocks $300...accessories for the early HK were crazy! I bought a slim line forearm (they were virtually non existent) for $150 and was offered $250 for it multiple time! wish I'd of sold it!!

I bought my H&K 91 NIB back in 1986 for $599, still have mine too! You are correct on the price of the scope mount and retractable stock.