The odds are heavily in favor of our shooting our old doubles without major failure. I figure tens of thousands of old doulbles get used every year. A burst like this one is so rare it is news we talk about for a couple weeks or more. We have a great interest in the failures and probably mention the majority of them on boards like this one. If failures were common they would not hold our attention so long.
Caution and common sense precautions reduce the risk to a minimum but every time a gun is fired there is an infinitesimal risk of failure. A few years back there was a string of K80 trap gun failures. Multiple burst, over a year or so. Final cause never clearly determined but more than a few decided it was either a metal problem or the new AA two peice hull separation that caused a barrel obstruction. Neither view was conclusively proven but I know many K80 shooters who refuse to use AA ammo as a precaution.
Some suggested reloads were the true cause. The one gun I saw personally, was owned by a friend who has never reloaded a shell in his life. He was shooting AA factory ammo at the time. Every failure is unique and must be evaluated on its own facts. What we learn is caution and precautions are very important when shooting these old doubles.
