Viewpoint - British Army Contract for L96A1 Sniper Rifle (by Gil Boyd B.E.M)

[Lee Enfield]

I'm curious about that part, it just doesn't really make sense insofar as, is it really the production facility that won over the AI, because design wise, there's nothing special between the two that would preclude them from either 'traditional gun making methods' or CNC production.

Nothing to do with the production facility - the difference was 1 single new part:
From what I've read here, and everything I know about the AI, and other guns, the reason AI won was the locking collar that the bolt locks into which controls head spacing.

Basically by controlling 3 dimensions, you guarantee consistent repeatable headspacing.

By keeping the collar a consistent known value, and controlling the chamber and bolt geometry you guarantee as nearly as possible interchangeable parts.

ie, any AI barrel & bolt are interchangeable with any other.

pull an AI 308 barrel out of any existing rifle, or new off the shelf and once the torque value is the same, the headspace "Should be" exact.

basically they created a situation, where (as nearly as possible) the receiver is just another replaceable part. The AI AT and the AI AXMC have taken this to ne next logical step by formalizing the process.

Think of an AR15 barrel extension where the barrel extension is simply sandwiched between the receiver and the barrel.
ie. no short chambering, action truing, bolt lapping ect. necessary.