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Originally Posted by BLUEBELLYYANKEE
I see the continuing theme here is still "cost". If so, how do we explain that gun dealers cant keep Kimber's in stock and they are 6 to 8 months in backorder? I don't think they have a gun under $1000. Or how about that my local gun dealer can't keep the metal frame Sig Sauer's in stock but the polymer frame guns sit on his shelf for months. I have been trying to buy a S&W "E" series for a year now but they continue to sell the same day they hit the shelves. Try to find a Hi-Power for sale. How do we explain the S&W model 41 .22 semi auto? This thing is $1200 and is supposed to be sold out and on backorder. This has been going on long before the crazy "gun run" that we just experienced in the last 4 months.
It is also being brought up that you can't justify re-tooling for very small production runs. Maybe true, but over the years S&W has always offered their "Performance Center" guns that were what I would call a "very small production run" and those guns definitely required re-tooling to produce their slides and frames.
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There's more to it then just re tooling.
Sure we agree S&W could build another run of third generation pistols.The trouble is who would they sell them to?Police? Public Agencies care about equipment cost,not quality of hardware.
Us civilians? Nein.The average gun shopper wants a polymer frame.More mag capacity,lighter frame,and can be altered in the stock so that the female of the house can shoot it.
The only reason metal frame Sigs,1911s, and Berettas are still around is because of Uncle Sam.The 92FS would have been dropped long ago if it wasn't the sidearm of the DoD.Likewise Sig P229s and others are still popular choices among Federal and State LE agencies with bigger budgets like the US Secret Service,Air Force OSI,and so forth.The 1911 has an 80 year heritage as being Americas signature pistol thanks to its service in the military.
Once current Federal contracts end for those firearms,they'll be discontinued just like the 3rd Gen Smith's were.