Bruce Owens, the former production manager at Purdeys wrote an article in Shooting Sportsman back in 2012 if I recall right. His revelations about the use of CNC machinery and the economic benefits resulting from this move are interesting. The move decreased dependence on hand work. So let us stop using that "hand work is expensive" excuse.
Modern technology also reduced inventories and the related costs. The writer poses the question whether any of these economies is reflected in the final retail price and comments that this is a question for the marketing people.
Perazzi and their barrel batch testing comes to mind as a case for comparison. They waste one in every 60 barrel sets in pressure testing. They are constantly evolving their product, yet you can still buy an MX8 for ten thousand Euros. How much more overhead than the Perazzi factory do the British gunmakers bear to justify their astronomical prices!
Last time I checked Perazzi were still located in the relatively expensive industrial area of northern Italy, not in North Korea.
Brand name exploitation and ruthless marketing is at work in some cases. And not just in guns. Any mundane item, ie oil bottles, scarves, knives etc bearing a famous maker's name is marked up to the hilt. Not much R&D or hand work goes into a thermos bottle to quadruple its price, a name stamp it all it takes.
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