The pattern outlined on the blank pictured shows the grain in the head running about forty degrees off perpendicular. This is far from perfect and I think one could do much better for $550.00. This is what I've often seen from this seller in his Ebay auctions, but some are laid out much better. Anyone who has ever taken blanks out of slabs of walnut knows that mother nature isn't necessarily thinking about gunstocks, and most is better suited to other uses ranging from furniture to firewood.
I can't speak for anyone else, but I would be very interested in finding out more about how one arrives at the conclusions you state (though I certainly agree with your last sentence). I'm not being a wiseass, rather, I'm looking to get educated on this. Grain flow and layout for gunstocks has long mystified me.
