Swiss SIG 553 pistols have hit the US market

[tenchu74]

There were 51 551h(pistols) to come in. JDI had no plans of bringing more in as an effort to keep those 51 colectible. As Josh said, there are “builds” you can do to get what you want.

This is the stupidest thing I’ve heard. If you have a love of of a platform don’t you want it grow? And JDI, as a company don’t you want to make money which means bringing in and selling a product that people are asking for. Keeping the number low so a few can have 551’s and feel special is super lame.

[Bret]

If you have a love of of a platform don’t you want it grow?

At $3000+ per rifle the platform isn't going to grow. The value proposition isn't there. In fact, you could make the argument that the platform is going to see its demise at some point. The market for these firearms is very thin. I think Dave is smart enough to realize that once the demand is met at the price he can get them for, further imports will result in market saturation which would drive down prices on the secondary market. Likely, he doesn't want his imports to be seen as a bad investment which would not be good for future business, whatever that might be.

[tenchu74]

I think Dave is smart enough to realize that once the demand is met at the price he can get them for, further imports will result in market saturation which would drive down prices on the secondary market. Likely, he doesn't want his imports to be seen as a bad investment which would not be good for future business, whatever that might be.

Go buy some Bitcoin if you want an investment. Guns are tools to be used. Fk the secondary market! People have been wanting Swiss Sigs for years and the price is in the same league as a SCAR and people buy those. That’s a sad business philosophy.

[Bret]

Point taken on the investment thing. However, I like to maximize my gun budget, so I try to buy when prices are at their lowest. Generally, my efforts have paid off and most of my guns are worth more now than when I purchased them. Oddly though, I tend to remember the purchases where I overpaid more than the ones where I timed the purchase pretty well. I guess that I just feel better about collectibles when I think that I got a good deal on them. I'm not alone. Perhaps my perspective would be different if I was using them in my line of work. FWIW, I don't own a SCAR even though I can afford one. They just seem overpriced to me. I was able to purchase an ACR and a Bren recently at very good prices.

[PGT]

Got a 553R on order, just got my 550 in two weeks back.

[ralfabco]

Go buy some Bitcoin if you want an investment. Guns are tools to be used. Fk the secondary market! People have been wanting Swiss Sigs for years and the price is in the same league as a SCAR and people buy those. That’s a sad business philosophy.

If you want bang for your buck the LE6920 is it. Even better buy a generic AR kit build. JDI is doing a great job by limiting imports.

[RetroRevolver77]

If you want bang for your buck the LE6920 is it. Even better buy a generic AR kit build. JDI is doing a great job by limiting imports.

You have to have at least enough in circulation to make them a viable alternative. Otherwise support dies for the weapons over time and then replacement parts dry up.

[SteyrAUG]

As a 550 series enthusiast, I personally would like to see the market flooded with SAN rifles so that they would go on sale for $1,200 each to compete with other designs, even though it would mean my pre89 SIGs would tank in terms of value.

We all remember when DOC HK94s suddenly appeared and temporarily dropped the bottom out of the preban HK94 market. And when $500 HK P7 PSPs showed up, prices of M8s dropped for a long time. But when supplies were cleaned up PSPs started selling for what M8s sell for and HK94s of any pedigree are just expensive.

But as a business owner I completely understand what the importer is doing, might not agree with it, but I understand it. It's his business and he knows what he has to make to stay in business. People who go looking for a SAN 550 series know what they are looking for and they understand the prices involved. Everyone else is just going to buy something else for half as much or less.

At the end of the day, I'm just happy for more SIG options. There were very few in the country and prices peaked over $10,000 not very long ago. 551-2 rifles were unicorns and something absurd like 50 of them were imported in total before the 89 ban.

[Waylander]

As a 550 series enthusiast, I personally would like to see the market flooded with SAN rifles so that they would go on sale for $1,200 each to compete with other designs, even though it would mean my pre89 SIGs would tank in terms of value.

We all remember when DOC HK94s suddenly appeared and temporarily dropped the bottom out of the preban HK94 market. And when $500 HK P7 PSPs showed up, prices of M8s dropped for a long time. But when supplies were cleaned up PSPs started selling for what M8s sell for and HK94s of any pedigree are just expensive.

But as a business owner I completely understand what the importer is doing, might not agree with it, but I understand it. It's his business and he knows what he has to make to stay in business. People who go looking for a SAN 550 series know what they are looking for and they understand the prices involved. Everyone else is just going to buy something else for half as much or less.

At the end of the day, I'm just happy for more SIG options. There were very few in the country and prices peaked over $10,000 not very long ago. 551-2 rifles were unicorns and something absurd like 50 of them were imported in total before the 89 ban.

I'm getting the impression that the one importer being discussed is one of the few if not the only one.

Why aren't more competitors popping up and lowering the price some?

[Bret]

Why aren't more competitors popping up and lowering the price some?

Exclusive importing agreement, just like Arsenal, NV has with Arsenal in Bulgaria. Very few will take the risk of fronting a bunch of money on a thin market item if they have to worry about someone else being able to offer the same product at possibly a lower price. Back in the day the Chinese didn't operate this way. Seems they'd sell to anyone, which is why there were so many importers of Chinese firearms at low prices.