Comments by "SlavicCelery" (@SlavicCelery) on "Heckler u0026 Koch G11 - Disassembly u0026 How It Works!" video.

@zoiders Stamping can be cheaper than milling and forging, yes. But each individual component adds additional cost and equipment to be manufactured. Many components, even if relatively "easy" to manufacturer add additional costs. The G11 is a large collection of components that will have to be manufactured to an exacting spec. You throw a rats nest of stamped components together and it's surprisingly not that cheap. Looking at you, HK trigger packs. In order for those components to be cheap they're going to have be manufactured at an incredibly large scale. They're incredibly expensive until they are cheap. The only way the firearm is anything less than expensive is absolute widescale adoption by the entirety of NATO. There really is nothing cheaper about that action than anything else. Couple that with caseless ammo problems, and it's not surprising to see why the program was cancelled.
3
@zoiders Yes, and with a AR style platform you can drop in a new bolt carrier or upper.... it's still not cheap. You're talking about typically the 1st or 2nd most expensive component of a firearm, outside of consumables. I mean the military does do that, but saying that fixing a tank is not expensive because you can swap the powerpack when there is damage...is the same thing. It isn't cheap. It's a fast repair.
1
Ultimately developments in CNC machining have really made milling a quite cost competitive option.
1