I don't no about no serious gun collector not considering them, MANY serious gun collectors SPECIALIZE in collecting them.
Well, yeah, NOW they are. They weren't a few years ago. These rifles have been available for a long time, going back to the M16s. Because they've been so widely available, they were hardly considered a collector's item by collectors. In the 80s when government orders for guns slowed down after the Vietnam War, they started making the guns for consumers. The look and the gas-powered mechanisms of the new black rifles offended most of the serious gun enthusiasts, who viewed them as mere high-powered toys. Even magazines like Guns & Ammo had to acknowledge the initial wariness of some readers for the guns. Hunters viewed this new generation of hunters invading their domain with the black and gray rifles as nothing more than people fantasizing "war games" and playing soldier.
When certain rifles and features were banned under federal law from 1994 to 2004, gun makers tweaked their manufacturing specifications, and introduced more AR-15-style rifles than ever.
That's when they became collectible to serious collectors.
But it was also in no small part to a watershed article written in Guns & Ammo that started the assault weapon craze.
The gun media found ways to appeal to readers. In a 1981 article on the Colt AR-15 and similar firearms (an article commissioned by Colt, incidentally, which is another name for advertising), Guns & Ammo invoked the rifles' military pedigree, "spawned in the crucible of war." It spoke of their military-level durability, speed and accuracy. In a 1983 cover article on "Bushmaster assault systems," it was noted that in tests on a human-size silhouette target 10 yards away, a Bushmaster with a full 30-round magazine could be "rapidly emptied into the lethal zone."
In the same Bushmaster article, however, it was written that the guns seemed "a mite too powerful and penetrating" for home defense. The Bushmaster was recommended for police SWAT teams "in close-quarter encounters with evildoers."
The new rifles used ammunition - .223 caliber - which was considered too small for big-game hunting in most states. Before long, consumers were buying the guns for small game - "varmint hunting" - as well as recreational shooting called "plinking."
The prices are already starting to come done and I have even seen a few on store shelves for longer than 2 minutes. There are STILL massive back up's.
I just read an article yesterday about how the average retail price is now $2200, for a gun that normally retails for between $900 and $1200. The gun shops at home can't keep them in stock. All of the ones hanging in the stores have "sold" tags on them.
There was NEVER a big marketing campaign, just Obama's threats that he was going to outlaw them.
You must have missed it, then. The marketing campaign from gun manufacturers is famous in advertising circles for their effectiveness. "Tactical" is the new buzzword, whether it's for guns, knives or flashlights, even ear plugs. They advertize heavy the military connection to these items, catering to a new and eager audience that's googoogaga over anything "tactical," but especially guns and military-type gear. Maxpedition bags and ammo holders are all the overpriced rage. People want their keyrings and gate clips and keyring gadgets to be
titanium. Why buy a $40 anodized aircraft aluminum flashlight, when you can have a titanium one for twice the price? (Never mind the fact that shiny, pretty, reflective titanium isn't very "tactical." <snort>)
The marketing campaign took low single digit sales percentages of assault-type weapons to nearly half of the sales market.
They are accurate, reletivally inexpensive to shoot. Light on recoil and a good platform for hunting, since they come in several calibers. They are good varmint rifles in the 5.56/.223 and a good deer rifle in .308 or 6.8.
You read the article.
As to their angle, you may be right but I would not wiling to bet on it. This "special" just HAPPENED to come out just as the senate takes up "gun control" bills.
The special just happened to come out as assault weapons, the AR-15 in particular, is in the news every day all day. It's the reason for the special, it's the reason for the Senate taking up gun control bills, and it's the reason the gun is the Most Wanted Gun in America. Heck, even I want one, and I'm too cheap to pay for the ammo. Every time I fire a gun, I hear not the report of the gun, but the sound of a cash register. "Click Cha-ching!" Been that way ever since I bought my first box of shells. And they were real cheap back then.