....what makes an unfinished blank excitingly special? Is barrel quality in the bore and rifling, not the chambering, action fit or contour ?
As it sits on the bench, I would think the bore, rifling and contour. When the thread started, the picture did not appear for me, so I assumed a blank meant cylinder. Others will probably know better, but this barrel maker has a long history of top quality in a rifling method that has since taken over the accuracy game. He is likely associated with training most of the current desireable barrel makers, and his barrels don't seem to become available with any predictability?
Since the contouring was done by this same maker, it was likely done well with high concentricity and without induced stresses. Once it left the barrel maker's shop, how it is used is likely a different issue and may not be related related to an either or barrel characteristic?
