Cost to manufacture WWII weapons

[Bob Womack]

Here's a really interesting article about the cost to manufacture various small arms during WWII.

ARTICLE

Bob

Information

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[Colonel Enfield]

Interesting read, but it's completely unsourced as far as I can see and only has two Commonwealth guns in it (the Sten and the Bren) and no Soviet or Japanese arms.

Also, it doesn't clarify whether those dollar figures are contemporary or modern - one assumes contemporary, since I can't imagine it ever being possible to make a Luger for the modern equivalent $13.

Since the figures appear to refer to contemporary amounts, A rough approximation of what those dollar figures are today would have been a huge help - for what it's worth, the Measuring Worth converter says the USD$180 it allegedly cost to make a Bren Gun in 1941 is equivalent to USD$2,890 today.

[Seaspriter]

only has two Commonwealth guns in it (the Sten and the Bren) and no Soviet or Japanese arms. Also, it doesn't clarify whether those dollar figures are contemporary or modern - one assumes contemporary

I had the same thoughts Col. Enfield.

Fascinating article but it left a lot of unanswered questions. I also was yearning to know that an M-1 Garand rifle cost $83 at the beginning of the war, but only $31 by 1945 whereas the M-1 Carbine cost $45 at the beginning of the war, but didn't have the cost by the end of the war.

Here's some research from Frank Iannamico on the Savage Enfields cost structure:
The first Savage-Stevens contract was negotiated by the British Purchasing Committee on March 4, 1941, for 300,000 No.4 MK I rifles at a cost of $57.00 per unit.

Only weeks after production began, the United States took over the contract under the U.S. Lend-Lease program. Contract number DA-W-478-ORD-70 was assigned and expanded to 450,000 rifles. The first rifle off the production line was test fired on July 25, 1941. Subsequent contracts were negotiated, and in a ceremony held May 18, 1944 the 1,000,000 rifle was presented to Brigadier General Guy H. Drewery of the Springfield Ordnance District. The rifle was presented to General Drewery by Mr. P.J. Hassett, President of the Federal Labor Union-A.F. of L. Savage-Stevens production continued until 30 June 1944, by the end of the contract the price had been reduced to $49.00.

Production ended after an estimated 1,090,223 rifles had been made by Savage. An additional 206,475 Enfield No.4 MK I* rifles were procured from the Long Branch, Canadian facility to supply United States’ Lend Lease program. 40,000 of the Enfields were Lend Leased to China and the rest went to Great Britain. After the Savage contract was terminated, surplus parts and raw materials from the contract were sold to Small Arms LTD. of Long Branch, Ontario, Canada.

[Note: actual production at Long Branch was closer to nearly 1,000,000 during the war]

[villiers]

Krieghof manufactured a limited edition of their Luftwaffe P08 (Luger Parabellum) using modern CAD machinery. It was NOT a success. Function was reported to be `unreliable´.... and the price was an eye wateringly 11 - 12.000€!! The lesson from this is to covet any original pre-1945 weapon, as it cannot be re-maunfactured at a reasonable price.

[Seaspriter]

The lesson from this is to covet any original pre-1945 weapon, as it cannot be re-maunfactured at a reasonable price.

It was reported on the M-1 Carbine threads two weeks ago that a company is now reproducing a 100% authentic M-1 carbine. The street price is ~ $1200 USD. A far cry from the WWII production costs.

[Beerhunter]

We are not allowed full-bore self-loading rifles on this side of the pond and so a small industry has emerged selling so-called straight-pull rifles made from a mixture of used and new parts. An M1 Carbine is 1400 GBP; a Garand, on the other hand, will set you back 1700GBP

[Vincent]

The lesson from this is to covet any original pre-1945 weapon, as it cannot be re-maunfactured at a reasonable price.

That's true most of the tome, but not always. There are still some good deals to be had. A Thompson SMG cost $209 to manufacture in 1939. Adjusted for inflation that’s $3,557.50 in today’s dollars. Today new semi-auto’s retail for around $1,100 at gun shows here. That's close to the 1942 $70 price when you adjust for inflation.

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I find it interesting that a Luger and a Glock 17 cost about the same to manufacture in today’s dollars (assuming the Luger was made in 1945). So much has changed in seventy years, but the cost to produce a pistol hasn’t.

[browningautorifle]

We are not allowed full-bore self-loading rifles on this side of the pond

So...that means a closed off gas port on any ex self loader? Welded shut, verify and re-assemble?

[Beerhunter]

So...that means a closed off gas port on any ex self loader? Welded shut, verify and re-assemble?

Nope. The Act (1988) makes it illegal to convert a "Prohibited Weapon" (Section 5) to lower a classification (Section 1). That is why the rifles have to be built from the ground up out of parts - although some of the parts may be used parts. In practice the only new part tends to be a barrel that has been manufactured with no gas port. (A barrel with a gas port is clearly "part of a prohibited Weapon" and therefore may not itself be owned in the normal course of events in the UK.)

[Aussie48]

Exact same rules down here Beerhunter for what it's worth.

Dick