[MillCreek]

This is a repost of a message on TFL. I would be curious to know if anyone here knows the answer to my question:

One thing I have always wondered about Taurus or for that matter, any firearms manufacturer is do they manufacture all models continously or in batches? For example, do they make all 50,000 Taurus 605s for the year during a 6 week period at the factory, or do they make them continously, at low levels, throughout the entire year? If they do the batch process, depending on inventory turnover, I can see how you could buy a new pistol today that was manufactured back in 2003.

I suppose this has to do with how difficult it is to switch out the tooling or assembly lines or whatnot. Is there anyone here with experience in firearms or other light manufacturing who can comment?

[Preacherman]

AFAIK, all handguns are made via the "batch" process. The manufacturer will produce as many as possible of the "common" components (e.g. small parts like firing pins, etc.) and store them. Then, they'll do a run of model-specific or range-specific parts (e.g. S&W might do a run of N-size frames, or Glock might do a run of Model 22 slides), and store them. They'll make up a large number for stock, and keep parts in storage to make up another batch whenever they need them.