The relative strengths of Damascus and steel shotgun barrels has been a controversial issue since steel barrels were first used on shotguns!
In an effort to compare the relevant strength and cost of a variety of Damascus and steel barrels; in 1888 the Birmingham Proof House compared the relative strength of 39 different kinds of barrels.
The results are very informative .In the barrel bulging test English machine forged laminated steel was the best beating out Whitworth fluid compressed steel! On the other end of the scale Foreign Damascus in three rods was the worst, resisting only 7% of the pressure required to bulge the best laminated steel barrels.
Full details of these tests is recorded in the book, Experts on Guns and Shooting, pages 538-542.
With this degree of variance in barrel strengths we must rely on barrel proof test marks an actual barrel dimension if accidents are to be avoided.
