When permission was given to shoot, merchantability and fitness for purpose were implied.

This is interesting considering all the wise advice given in the various forums and knowledge base about actually shooting damascus barrels.

I find it remarkable that; 1. a dealer would state a damascus gun is 'safe to shoot'. 2. a person would accept that declaration without any further investigation.

Drew has it right. Barrels were stretched beyond elastic limits by pressures excessive for THAT gun.

A gun in that condition should never be offered for sale as a shooter. Dealer is treading in deep water doing that.

Conversely, nobody has any business borrowing a damascus gun to shoot - potential customer or not.

This was fairly close to a catastrophic accident.

All parties involved share blame.

YES we can learn from this.

"The price of good shotgunnery is constant practice" - Fred Kimble