Re: Commercial or Mil-Spec Diameter Buttstock?
Extruding is a form of cold-working, just as forging is.
They both promote the development of a crystalline grain adding hardness to the metal.
If it's extruded it'll likely be annealed 6061-0, tempered to T-6 hardness after extrusion.
If its forged it'll likely be 7075-0, tempered to T-6 after forging.
The cheapest forged tube I've ever seen (They seem rare to me) was $75.
7075T6 is stronger for the same cross-section.
6061T6 is tougher (and there will be more cross-sectional area and a higher "I" value in the commercial tube).
Forging generally adds a more distinct grain that can flow with the changing shape of the part (like a tree's grain flows along branches and curves).
Extruding needs additional steps to match a forging's grain development, and it'll only be unidirectional.
I can hot-link some mechanical specs for the engineering inclined.
Any-who..............
The moral of the story is:
It really doesn't matter at all.
The only way you could mess this up is if you were to buy some Chinese crap.
Just pick one, and stay with it so when it comes time to buy another, you can swap stocks between them.
Also:
Very important!!!
I'm practicing my writing for the day, and you all are suckers for reading this.
HaHaHa