Mr. Wislon didn't mention bad blanks in the OP, so I intentionally left out the prospect of bad blanks being sent to the smith in my post and focused more on the manufacturing side of the issue where costs have to be cut somewhere in order for the "lower end" blank makers to discount their prices. Be it purchasing the cheapest bar stock, running their machinery faster, not spending the extra effort or $$$$ for material analysis and certifications, minimizing or skipping the lapping process, etc... And with D. Wilson posting a tight group pic above kind of drives home my point about if QC standards are being held by the blank maker, then there probably won't be an issue for most people assuming the smith is doing his part. But, higher volume production = higher chance of bad products leaving the door which has to be taken into consideration by the end customer. I 100% agree that in order for a smith to make a good barrel, then the blank has to be equally well made. So to answer
@unclemoak 's original post, who makes the blanks only matters so we, the customers, can get a general consensus on who's making good budget blanks and who's making crap. From there we can then sort out who the quality smiths are and who aren't to turn those blanks into barrels.
