There was I believe well documented cases of Damascus barreled guns bursting at a point several inches down the barrel in the early days of Smokeless powder. Two wrong conclusions were drawn from thee bursts.
1st was that smokeless burned slower than black & thus stressed the barrel more at a distance from the chamber. Prior to the 1920's with the advent of progressive burning shotshell propellants all smokeless shotshell powders were faster burning than black.
2nd was the fact the Damascus was the cause. At that point the vast majority of guns in use were damascus so if a barrel burst it stood a very high likelihood it would be Damascus.
Another member here several years back posted a most plausible cause of these bursts. At that point shells, even factory ones, were being loaded with primers which had been developed using Black Powder. Smokeless is harder to ignite. I once read of a "Test" performed on a modern made .50 Cal Muzzle Loading rifle barrel. The barrel was filled half way with powder & the other half with balls & fired. It withstood this load with flying colors. A normal charge of powder was then dropped own the bore & a single ball pushed "Part Way" down the bore. Upon firing the barrel was blown apart at the obstruction.
It is highly likely something similar was occurring in these early "Damascus" bursts. Upon firing just enough ignition was occurring to drithe shot down he bore a bit & then complete combustion took place. This actually resulted in an Obstructional burst, but the barrel was known to be clear prior to firing the load. It was actually becoming its own obstruction.
Similar occurrences have taken place in high capacity magnum rifles which wold handle a full compressed load of a slow burning powder without a hitch. Some shooter then desiring a softer recoiling practise load would load a half charge of the same powder & Blow the gun to bits.
The possibility of this occurring with shotshells loaded to a very low pressure with slow powders along with the likelihood of squibbs as the temps fall is Why I "Quit" the practise.
