Yes gunmakers do let factory seconds out the door. Now days they admit it and market them as such instead of shipping them along with huge orders to discount retailers and hoping nobody noticed, which of course most people don't. The best example I can think of offhand is a very high end weapon, the Armalite AR-10's and 15's, Which have been marketed forseveral years now as Eagle Arms. If the receivers or anything else have a flaw, they are built and stamped as Eagle Arms and sold cheaper. They are built to the same standards as Armalite Rifles on the same machines and assembly lineand shoot just as well but may have a cosmetic flaw and are not guaranteed the same. The thing is, they freely admit it and tell you upfront why you are paying 1/3rd less. I heard this first from an Armalitefactory rep at an NRA convention and Eagle Arms Stamped rifles came on the market a year or two later. This is easily confirmed by checking the Armalite/Eagle Arms website, and or calling them. Many other manufacturers probably all of them have sold firearms for less money under different names, and available only at certain hardware or discount stores willing to accept and sell them under their own name. They are not always bad guns, just not perfect guns and don't bear the Big Brand name. An Armalite second is never sold as an Armalite. Technically the substandard parts are sold to EagleArms and become their top of the line first quality guns, but theyARE Armalite seconds. Parts that don't meetEagles standards either, may be sold unmarked to any other manufacturer who wants them andwill become something else. Seconds, thirds and so on do make it out the door and onto the market.