Gunmakers made what would sell within a target profit margin and by 1897 prices for a pair of Belgian steel (Decarbonized, Siemens, or Mild Steel not specified) rough forged tubes were much cheaper than pattern welded.
1897 Consular Report: Commerce, Manufactures, Etc., Volume 54, United States Bureau of Foreign Commerce
http://books.google.com/books?id=SF1IAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA526&lpg Steel.....................$0.58.(3 francs)
Twist....................$1.16.(6 francs)
Boston 2 Stripe....$1.93.(10 francs)
Oxford 3 Stripe....$2.90.(15 francs)
4 Stripe Crolle....$4.825(25 francs)
Re: strength issue. The average tensile strength in my (yet to be published) study for crolle Damascus was 54,500 psi. The sample size was small and pattern variety limited, but I would be surprised if there was a significant difference between the various patterns.
