Seems to me that as long as someone, somewhere is producing a "knock off" or cheaper version or even a perfect clone, one can't say the design is a dead end.
I will exclude historical reproductions, simply because they are just that.
Personally, I put "dead end designs" into more than one group. Some designs that have died out were simply poor designs, others were complicated designs that had some commercial success, but failed because market interest and demands changed and the design could not be economically produced and, or , could not be updated or upgraded to continue as a viable product.
The "Luger" is a good example of one group. Hugo Borchardt designed and was making a somewhat successful semi auto pistol, Georg Luger redesigned and improved it, creating a pistol that enjoyed world wide sales, and equipped several nations militaries for about 40 years or so. Then things shifted and simpler, cheaper to produce designs eclipsed the Luger. The design had gone as far as it could, and expired as a commercial/military arm, replaces by newer designs, firing the same rounds.
A couple of times, the P08 design came back as a nostalgia item, but cost vs sales killed them off after a few years limited production.
I've had German P.08s and I currently have a lovely Luger, made of stainless steel, in Texas, under the Stoeger name. I keep it as I have a fondness for "oddities".
I will exclude historical reproductions, simply because they are just that.
Personally, I put "dead end designs" into more than one group. Some designs that have died out were simply poor designs, others were complicated designs that had some commercial success, but failed because market interest and demands changed and the design could not be economically produced and, or , could not be updated or upgraded to continue as a viable product.
The "Luger" is a good example of one group. Hugo Borchardt designed and was making a somewhat successful semi auto pistol, Georg Luger redesigned and improved it, creating a pistol that enjoyed world wide sales, and equipped several nations militaries for about 40 years or so. Then things shifted and simpler, cheaper to produce designs eclipsed the Luger. The design had gone as far as it could, and expired as a commercial/military arm, replaces by newer designs, firing the same rounds.
A couple of times, the P08 design came back as a nostalgia item, but cost vs sales killed them off after a few years limited production.
I've had German P.08s and I currently have a lovely Luger, made of stainless steel, in Texas, under the Stoeger name. I keep it as I have a fondness for "oddities".
