1909 Ithaca with Twist barrels and the "NITRO POWDER PROVED" mark
Still offering these time bombs in the 1918 E.C. Simmons catalog
Then in 1942 Lou Smith claims these same barrels fail with a
single proof load?!?
Jack O'Connor
Outdoor Life 1942
A good many people resent being told that their much loved old guns were no longer safe. Just for the fun of it, Lou Smith (President of Ithaca Gun Co.) proofed (using 17,500 psi Proof Loads in 1942) a dozen or so damascus and twist beauties which were lying around the plant. Here's the dope: Most of the old timers busted loose with the first proof shell. The rest did with the second. Guns tried were cheap, medium priced and expensive: but all of them went. So if anyone wants to go ahead using modern smokeless stuff in a gun built for black powder, he can; but he can include me out.
The Parker GH Damascus barrel studied by Sherman Bell took
29,620 psi before the chamber blew.
Just trying to be helpful
http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=432872