A part of the reason for the price difference between 2004 and 2008 is the devaluation of the dollar on the European market. (The dollar is coming back in value by the way but don't expect to see any big reductions in muzzleloaders from overseas.)
Dixie, for at least the past 30 years has always had high prices on their guns. Perhaps that is why they are still around while dozens of other muzzleloader importers have gone out of business.
I think the reason they don't bother to lower their prices to compete with the other places that sell muzzleloaders is because they are the best known company. Many of the people who buy from them aren't even aware that other places sell the same guns.
Then, as anyone who has gone thru a Dixie Gunworks Catalot knows, they have thousands of things besides guns that no one else carries.
In their book section alone they offer thousands of different books. Cooking pots? Call Dixie.
Clothing, buttons, tents, solvants, Civil War Medals, spurs, knives, screw drivers, haversacks, canteens, swords, gun stock blanks, locks, triggers, inlays...
Want an original hammer for your Green Carbine or an original extractor for your Peabody Rifle? How about a replacement ramrod for your Enfield Rifle? A new trigger for your 1858 Remington? A sear screw for your 1842 Springfield? Call Dixie.
The list goes on and on, which is why I recommend to everyone who is at all interested in Muzzleloading, "get a Dixie Gunworks Catalog".
Although I don't like their high prices they carry so many different things that if I need something like a Tompion (A wood and metal plug for the muzzle) for my Enfield I will often go thru the pages to pick out a few other specialty items that I didn't know I needed just to make the order worthwhile to them and to me.
I'm glad Dixie Gunworks exists and if they ever go under we will have lost a valuable source of supply for our hobby.
I do wish they would lower the prices on some of their guns though. They have a bunch of dandys.
