I'm just a hobbyist.
There are plenty of pro's here about's.
The reason we let blanks age in our climate is so that they do all that moving before we put 200 hours into one. I stop at about 3-4 places during roughing and wait to see.
Can you integrate the bow into your cast measurements?
I find 8/4 rough sawn to be too thin for 12 gauge usually. Guns got fatter over the years it seems.
At the price of blanks these days, if I had a good one, dried for 25 years, I'd be hard pressed not to use it.
Just my 2 cents.
