Basically you're asking for the impossible. To begin with, each damascus tube is unique. No two ever made were identical. Just the nature of their manufacture would lead me to think there was a tremendous variation piece to piece. Then, they were assembled into working guns differently. The dovetailing and brazing of the lug onto the barrel tended to weaken the structure somewhat. And that was all done by hand--again a huge variance. And heaven only knows what the guns have had to endure over the past 100 years plus. No data base will ever be assembled that has any statistical reliability. So, where does that leave us? Simply to examine each piece and judge for ourselves its servicability. I know that flies in the face of the current generation that demands firm, quantifiable answers but it just ain't gonna happen. In the meantime, I'm choosing to take life and limb in hand and go shoot another round of skeet with my questionable damascus.
