Because nobody else has answered your question on custom barrels I'll take a shot at it. The real question is not are they worth the cost, but are they worth it to the person buying them. I don't mean that as a smart a$$, so don't take it that way. Over the years I have bought used barrels really cheap that shot with the most expensive barrels. I have also bought custom barrels from several of the custom makers, and I make my own sometimes, usually in wildcats. Would I have a custom barrel made again? Yes in a heart beat if it was something I wanted. Custom barrels are like cars, motorcycles, and anything else you can have custom work done on. It is a personal thing you do for your own personal reasons. Wildcats, and custom guns are the same way, why spend thousands for a custom when you can get a plain Jane factory number for a fraction of the cost. Because that is what you want, and the good thing about living in this country is that is all the reason you need. On cutting a barrel and velocity loss, Bullberry usually post results from different barrels he shoots and cuts 1" at a time down to handgun length. Some times the results don't follow a set rule of thumb. May not be the answers you were looking for, but hope it helps. Good luck with whatever your looking for, maybe someone else will give you a better answer.
