Made in China? Seriously, I'm curious where is the country of origin for the parts. Turkey would be OK- Canik is an example of a good value. Regardless, more choices is usually a good thing.
Is PSA one of the companies that won't sell even a bumper sticker to a Mass resident? I'm losing track of the NES boycotts
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My guess - and that's all this is - is that PSA runs on super thin margins on something like this, assuming they'll make it up in volume. Since they own a hugely recognizable distribution system that is both virtual and physical locations, they can probably do the actual manufacturing, then can work on COGS time 2-3 instead of the more standard 4x. If they're clever, they have the mold tools made in PRC, then have a molder in e.g. AL. Since there's probably no license on the 3rd gen, and they can tout everything as compatible with every holster, light, etc. on the market, they actually get the second-mover benefit.
And every skinflint in America that's used to buying their rifles probably just got a semi at the idea they can order a complete Glock clone for about what a P80 build costs. Frankly, the mold tool probably costs less than $10K in China. I'd met it's paid off in fewer than 5K frames, and lasts close to 6x that. Even if they never use up the first tool, this is a no-lose bet for them.
And yes, they have a sign in their stores that if a customer has a MA ID, they're to refuse the sale.
ETA - they're listing the Taurus G2C (yes, I know) at $240 right now. Even when we consider Brazilian vs US manufacturing, this thing probably still has a pretty healthy margin. The more I think about it, they probably (under)paid an CAD jockey and an industrial designer to reverse out the critical dimensions on a G19. They could literally just buy parts that are already on the market for 90% of it. And they're sourcing known good PMAGs.
Assuming the chemistry is right in their glass-filled nylon, and the texture panels aren't awful, this whole design is basically a known quantity. I'm confident I could do the design work for this project in a couple months, and have tools through FAI in less than 6. Total development cost, including capital expenses, paying Boston rates for design work? Maybe $200K if we just throw cash at it; way less if we even pretend to care about Frugality. If it's moderately successful, they're printing money with this one.