Chuck;
First off I think you misread my post if you concluded I was overly concerned about "Seams". That they occured is well documented. This was in fact what Whitworth was trying to avoid with his "Fluid Compressed Steel". I know you have a metal working background. I have no idea how long you actually spent "Cutting Iron", but if very long you no doubt cut into a flaw in a modern piece of steel. Various testing of mat'l has eliminated a lot of problems, but even so they are not absolute guarantees against all problems. I was though, primarily speaking of steel bbls built during the same to slightly later era than an average damascus bbl. During this era a steel ingot was drawn/rolled out into a long bar, from which bbls were drilled/turned to form them. A small bubble formed in the ingot on cooling would be elongated into what was referred to as a seam. "Most" showed up in work, but occasionally one could fall totally inside the wall of a bbl & go un-detected. My main point though was simply "We Have no Guarantee" regardles of what we shoot, new, old, steel, damascus or whatever. One could just simply stay in bed, but then the ceiling might fall. All guns require careful consideration for their safe use & the older they are the more consideration becomes necessary, but Blanket statements such as made by a few here are generally quite worthless. Fortunately flaws are seldom encountered in either steel or damascus bbls & either should be capable of being enjoyed with proper loading & care.

Miller/TN
I Didn't Say Everything I Said, Yogi Berra