Bell reported tests of two guns, both were Parker G grades, one Damascus & one Steel. Both guns were burst at pressures of around 30K PSI. The Boltiong had nothing to do with the failure of either, the chambers were burst in the wall between the chamber & the hole for the extractor leg.
Buck Hamlin tested a Lefever & an L C Smith, both Damascus, by re-chambering them to 3˝" & started with the heaviest load using Blue Dot powder in the loading manuals. He went up from there. He stopped short of destruction o the Smith when he couldn't keep the gun Closed because that "BROWN ROTARY BOLT" kept un-bolting itself. The Lefever bolt performed admirably & he did continue loading it up to destruction. He did not actually measure the pressure as I recall, just used extremely heavy charges, well beyond proof charges. Neither the bolting nor the Breeching failed on the Lefever, also burst the chamber walls when the pressure went beyond the limits of the metal used.
So much for the great superiority of the rotary bolt. Its a good system, but it is not Head & Shoulders above any other good system.
