William Greener tested some bars of various damascus metal by pulling them till they broke (Prior to wrapping into a bbl). The better grades showed tensile strengths of 60-76K psi. Some cheap bbls which contained no steel showed only 40K or less. This was 1834, no doubt these cheaper bbls fell by the way side & bbls were likely produced which had even higher strength than the Best of '34. By way of camparsion Wrought Iron has a strength of about 48K, Low Carbon open hearth steel about 56K while a piece of plain carbon 1035 steel will show from 83 to 96k depending upon its temper (1300°F to 800°F). More modern 4140 alloy steel (A common steel for gun bbls) starts at 110K at a temper of 1300°F up to 180K at 800°F. These are the tempertures to which the steel is tempered or drawn after heat treating. There is no question modern alloy steels used in todays guns exceed the strength of the vintage gun bbls whether steel or Damascus. Plain carbon steel having a carbon content greater than about 40-45 points was not really suitable for gun bbls so most early steel bbls are not really stronger than good damascus/twist bbls. By the time the breech loaders became commonplace most of the really poor damascus had been done away with. In speaking of a CA 1900 vintage Parker, Smith, Lefever, ETAL I think it really matters little which type bbl it has.
