NOTE: Since this video was recorded, Brownells has changed their plans, and will not be restocking BRN-10 barrels or parts once the current inventory is depleted.
Today I’m sitting down with Paul Levy from Brownells to talk about the development process for the BRN-10, their Retro copy of the original Armalite AR-10. Brownells is one of a small cadre of companies who have actually been able to successfully execute a project like this, and I wanted to pick Paul’s brain a bit about some of the challenges and decisions involved. Thanks to RIA for hosting us!
Only a small number of BRN-10 rifles are still available. If you want one, you can find them here:
The black version has a closed flash hider and fluted barrel, while the brown version has a heavier barrel and open flash hider.
For any business, both products and services, one really wants to have a good sense early on about the “total market available” and how much of that market the business can reasonably expect to capture.
There’s some BRN 10 parts and magazines still available through Brownells, but the rifles are long gone.
It takes some business courage to decide how many to make and pay for- a thousand at $2500 each, or 5000 at $2000 each, or 10,000 at $1200? (Those are made up numbers.) Sounds like they got it about right, good market research.