Buzz,
Re sleeving and monobloc. An engineer specialist in CAD and CNC applications told me that it takes less machine time to configure two chopper barrels than a single monobloc. I found that fascinating given the widespread use of CNC machines by all the top names today.
As to cost being a guide to quality:
In 1920 a London best cost about 100 guines, one fourth the annual salary of a Royal Navy Admiral. Today the same product, manufactured with much fewer expensive man hours due to CNC input, costs TWICE THE ANNUAL salary of a British admiral.
Something drove and kept the price to these levels and personally I do not think it is manufacturing costs.
Browning use demibloc in the B25, yet their prices start at about the same level as a Perazzi MX8 here in Europe, perhaps because they both chase the same client group.
Perazzi insist that they carry out destruction testing on one out of every 60 barrel sets they make.I wonder if any London best makers have an equally strict quality control procedure.
Salopian had some interesting comments from his visit to a top London factory not long ago. It provides a sharp contrast to my experiences in Italian factories, including Perazzi, where worker focus is the norm and no one talks on their cell phone during work.
