Many years ago, an original Colt SP-1 could be purchased at Wal-Mart in my home town for $325 bucks. Problem is most everything else was at least 100 bucks less! Supply and demand do add to the price, also there are a whole bunch of parts in one of the darn things that help jack the price up. What amazes me is that no-name brands with lower resale value cost close to the same price as top tier rifles, Colts being the exception-they've always been higher priced.