There was one failure of a damascus barrel on a fairly high grade Lefever or Smith as I remember reported on this forum some time ago. The barrel failed just in front of the chamber. On careful investigation it was determined that the cause of the failure was due to a gross overload most probably caused by a double powder drop on a reload. You may be able to find the thread in the archives.

Last edited by TwiceBarrel; 09/28/13 02:53 PM.