I would guess that more good guns, rifles and pistols have been blown up during the proof process than most other reasons. Some of the well known brokers have posted here that they have submitted guns fairly regularly that fail the proof load. In those situations, there is no guessing about bubba gunsmithng or obstructions. Guns in proper documented specification go in on one end and come out the other end blown up. There's a romanticism about reading these markings, but if all guns go the way of grandpa, aren't they all just expected to fail sooner or later?
