MS - I expect the guys you speak of did it just to prove they could; to themselves and the world. If they were becoming Masters, they have need of understanding the process all the way. The technology required to forge an action isn't all that difficult. The skill needed is considerable. The higher the forging skill, the less machining required make a working action.
Just a note, I recall that a 3# set of damascus barrels started life as 18# of steel and iron. That is a pretty serious amount of excess metal to be removed. Also, I recall the in Charles Lancaster's (the original guy of barrel making fame) day, barrel makers sat at a very large wet grinding wheel and ground down the exterior of the barrels by hand. They died young of silicosis, too.
