One more gun manufacturer enters the Market

[Pratipalsinh Jadeja]

Its just been days since I had posted regarding the ASTR, Webley .32 pistol, etc.

I recently came across an "AMAR Hi-Tech Stallion Classic Compact .32 Revolver".

Now I think there will be a huge problem of sustainability and survival of arms manufacturing companies, because in country like ours where gun laws are very rigid and strict, and where only selected few gets arms license survival of companies is difficult because there is less demand and more supply. And even if companies claim they cater to government/army/state police weapon demands that too remains limited which is very difficult for companies to thrive and achieve greater margins as economies of scale will never be achieved, for higher margins the companies should be producing weapons in mass quantity.

On the contrary, I saw the video of the AMAR Hi-Tech revolver which is doing rounds on the internet.

[timmy]

Your analysis sounds correct to me:

1. The restrictive legal environment serves to keep the civilian firearms market small.
2. Economies of scale are less applicable in this environment.
3. Few companies are likely to remain successful in this environment.

You hint at supposed military and police sales, but here we may observe that these potential buyers will look for a different product than would be available for the civilian market, chiefly because of the 9mm limitation. Very little of the tooling for military and police weapons would be applicable to civilian market products. This doesn't correspond, after all, to the Tsarist and Soviet regimes using the same "large 30" (or 7.62mm) bore for long guns and handguns.

Another issue has to do with the cost of production. IOF derived firms will have old tooling comprising "sunk costs" compared to a newer, more innovative product requiring new tooling and technologies, like polymer and sintered parts. Such parts do have the possibility of lowering labor costs, but require expensive tooling and expertise in manufacturing procedures for newer materials, as well as understanding the operation of new tooling. Can the existing market support such investment? It is correct to question whether it can.

Neither internal or external investment is likely to risk capital when the expectation for profit rests on such a small market base.

It could be hoped that India could be like Turkey, and support a vibrant industry for export. Technical, financial, and intellectual resources would not be limiting in India's case, compared to Turkey. Governments, however, don't seem to be interested in an export based economic model, and coupled with an aversion to a robust firearms industry even for domestic needs, it would appear that civilian firearms are at the end of a long list of negatives within the current regulatory environment.

It may be possible for quality niche market products commanding a high price to survive, such as recent 45 Auto offerings. This, I think, is a positive development, as even the unfulfilled demand here could exert some amount of pressure for change -- if some vigilant "do-gooder" fails to limit even this minuscule development.