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I guess the industry standard term is semi-custom, but IMHO that's just as meaningless as the term "match grade barrel." These days it seems every $300 1911 claims to have a "match grade" barrel, but there is no industry standard for "match grade" so the term is just marketing hype.
The same applies to "semi-custom." It's like "pregnant" -- either someone is pregnant, or she's not. If a firearm is custom, it's custom -- one of a kind.. If it's not custom, it's production. Car manufacturers try to discourage it (and dealers try even harder to discourage it), but you can still order American cars optioned out to your exact choice -- as long as you choose options listed in the catalog. But even if you special order your dream-mobile, with exactly the color and option packages you and only you want, so your car is unique among all other vehicles of that brand -- it's not "custom," and it's not even "semi-custom." It's still a Ford or a Chevy or a Chrysler that rolled off the same production line as all other vehicles of that make and model.
I'm not trying to "redefine" what they call themselves, but I suppose I am trying to better define what they actually are.
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