Quote Originally Posted by def90 View Post
I agree it costs more to do it right but the prints and production specs are widely available so there shouldn't be any R&D costs. In the case of IO and Century they have to know their product is a heaping piece of shit and they just don't care.

Arsenals sell for over $1k.. these American companies keep trying to sell in the $600 range.. Plenty of room for them to charge more if they can make a quality product. People pay over $2k for Rifle Dynamics AKs so..
It's not about R&D - it's about capital outlay - millions of dollars for big honking machines and a factory dedicated to making AKs in the massive quantity necessary to get a quality product's price point down that low. Clearly the US market demand does not support the capital investment required to make quality AKs at a price point you deem appropriate.