If you don’t believe me, read the interview with Eugene Stoner (one of the designers behind the M16) and he will tell you the same thing I did.
Stoner is only one man that was part of a design team 40 years ago, with his own opinion, there are many, many designs in the US that never see the light of day. Get a tour of KAC’s technical library someday or if you are lucky enough to visit a SOCOM weapons library.
Facts are for $2000.00 year get a type 10 and make anything you want and blast away. What most people in the consumer gun world don’t understand, it is about money. Some entity or person has to “pay” for the invention, then get it to the market and that begs the question, what is the market?
In the US it is dominated by walmart thinking gun owners. Government purchases on the local and State level are very much the same as proven by glock’s dominance for a while, cheap cheap and cheaper. Innovative gun designs go no where in the us or in the EU unless private money pays for it or a Government end user. H&K survived for years on German federal duechmarks and did MAN making the MG-3, SIG Sauer leached on the swiss government for years as loss leader for the parent Swiss Industrial Group, FN even worse when you dig into that history, Steyr, the same. In the US not so much, hence companies die off or merge.
Look at SIG now that it is privately owned, off the Swiss dole, develop new handguns and rifles or die, same for H&K, develop or die. FN is under going the same, develop or die. Ruger continues to develop. When caseless ammunition comes about or new barrel technology hits the market soon, many changes will occur on how a weapon will look and function.
I understand what Mr. Stoner is stating, but I do believe the firearms industry has much more capacity and design intiative than 20 years ago. That is my story and I am sticking too it.