I just checked and found that the March 1999 issue of the LACA newsletter also had an article from Buck Hamlin on the progressive attempts at blowing up a heavily pitted L. C. Smith Damascus barrel.
As with the Sherman Bells tests, one or two barrels that survive excessive loads does not prove that they all would pass. As nhcrowshooter points out, we are not getting any reports here of people blowing up their Damacscus doubles. Does this mean they are holding out because of embarrassment, or that they have blown off their fingers and cannot type?
Probably the greatest threat, and one we do commonly see and read about is having guns go off face, or having 100 year old wood getting damaged from loads that produce higher pressures than they were designed to handle even when brand new.
