Jim, I don't own any Damascus guns, never have. So I have no dog in this fight . . . other than to question some of the long-held beliefs about Damascus strengths and weaknesses. I'm glad to have modern proof house testing on my side in this discussion.

If you haven't seen a blown steel barrel--not just bulged--I'd say you haven't looked much. Our "training aid" is fluid steel (I think an old Stevens, or Savage Fox B, but don't recall for sure) and it's peeled open right around the chamber area. We use it to demonstrate what might happen in case of an obstruction, like a 20ga shell dropped down a 12ga barrel--although I don't know that was the cause of failure in this case.