Modern carbon steels have been purified to the point that they are worlds ahead of what was used in the average historical sword.
However, as historical swords were produced in an age when they were a necessity, as opposed to modern swords made out of tradition or curiosity, blade design and craftsmanship is much better executed historically.
Mass-produced swords are infamous for their low quality. Stainless steel at any length above 12 inches becomes excessively brittle, due to the chromium content. The only way to make a decent sword blade out of stainless steel is with a proper heat treatment, but as stainless steel requires a much higher temperature for heat treatment than regular carbon steels, only a few talented smiths have been able to work with it.
Mass produced swords also succumb to "shortcuts" in their production that lower their prices, but significantly decrease quality and usability. It is not unusual to find a modern katana with a plastic tsuba (guard) shoe-string ito (handle wrap) and a rat-tail tang, which will snap upon any heavy use. But there are so many issues (poor steel, poor balance, poor cross-section, ect.) that it would be impossible to list them all here.
But as for modern sword smithing using traditional methods, things are a bit more complicated, and hopefully I'll be able to touch on it later.
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