On the other hand, if they are doing whatever they have to do to prevent their own extinction, then more power to them. I just can't help.
That can actually backfire and lead to that extinction. If for example Rolex began offering secondary lines of plastic watches and ones half built in China, a lot of people would stop buying their top tier watches because the "cachet" of the entire brand is gone.
Why would anyone pay 25,000 GBP ($35,000) for this new free-floating gun when they can buy a similarly accurate J.P. Sauer for $4,000 or a Sako 85 for even less? These historical names are now virtually transforming from "best" makers into manufacturers who offer top grade and lower grade lines, just like Beretta or Browning. As these best makers continue to kill whatever mystique and romance associated with the perceivable exclusivity of the brand, there will be no reasons left not to choose a Beretta or a Browning instead.
I think this is what happens when a company is owned by a luxury goods conglomerate whose board knows nothing about gunmaking
