You can take this for what it is worth. You can either heed it or you can forget you ever saw it. Either way, it doesn't bother me.
A few years ago I read something that stated that the future social plan by the Gov't will be against the "Three Evil Sisters".... Tobacco, Firearms and Alcohol. We all know about what happened so far with Tobacco. They will eventually Tax it out of existence. There is a rumbling occuring in some Liberal circles concerning the cost of local gov't picking up the costs of gunshot wounds, so I suppose it won''t be long before the assault on gun prices and ammo start to appear.
Anyway, after I read the article, I started buying extra ammo and picking up every brass casing I found at the range. I also bought reloading components. Not because I needed it, but because I don't want to pay any extra surcharges in the future.
If you start adding in the higher transportation and HAZMAT fees, you can see that prices on just about everything, including firearms, are up to stay. Transportation costs may go down a little, but not much, and you won't see any savings being passed on to you.
As it may take a while before the Gov't moves on Firearms and Ammo with such surcharges, it is not impossible that shooting may eventually cost you $1.50 or $2.00 a shot or more. Even for the common calibers, much more for the exotic (ultra-doodad) stuff.
I hate giving advice on this sort of thing, but if you want to heed this warning, then I would be buying an extra box of factory ammo, or a package of reloading components, or powder everytime you get the chance, even if you don't need it.
As far as a $1000 price tag on a new rifle, I have long expected that to happen, and I don't think it will be long before $1000 is considered 'cheap'. Anything that would be worthwhile having will soon be in that price catagory. Even if the price doesn't exactly hit $1000, it will not be very far from it. And if Inflation raises its head, as it supposed to, $1000 will be a distant memory. It would almost be like me saying I paid $69 for my first new Marlin, when I started my collection with something I could afford.
I may be in the market for a new Featherweight, but I would be particular as to what caliber it is. I have always considered the Featherweight to be the 'prettiest' rifle on the market. I already own one and I will not buy any another rifle before I sell a rifle from the cabinet. And of course, a caliber I am already stocked up for.