The manufacture of any product is based on the saleability of that product. Reduce the number of products bought, or reduce the number of buyers enough, and the product's future comes into question.
Law enforcement sales provide the major motivation for designing and manufacturing handguns for sale in this country and the world market. Sporting arms, while significant, don't even come close to what potential profitability of law enforcement sales represents.
As you are no doubt aware, the semiautomatic pistol has dominated law enforcement sales, to the point of almost completely replacing the revolver as sidearm of choice in a lot less than 20 or so years.
That leaves the sporting market as the only outlet for blued, nickled, and even many of the formerly popular stainless revolvers. Reduced demand, increased prices, and reduced market share are all factors.
While you and I and our fellow S&W enthusiasts bemoan the fact that fewer models of our beauties are made, the fact remains that revolvers are expensive to manufacture, and production facilities are used for the more profitable models.
