I think there are enough people to make up substantial share of the market that will not buy a rifle without open sights on it. The reason Knight dropped the elite was simple, it didn't sell well enough.
I never figured out why they didn't just put the open sights on that design. I have seen many people post that the barrel is too thin at the crown end to drill for open sights but that just not true.
My earliest Knight rifle is an mk-85 that was made before Knight moved their operations to Iowa. The barrel on that rifle is contoured just as much as my disc elite and it has a front sight. The outside diameter of the barrel is .800 at the end. The rifle I am referring to is the middle one in this picture. It has a lothar walther barrel and although it has a slightly slower twist, (1 in 32 inch),
it is a great shooter.
Art