Guys, I hate to but in here, but it seems that no one here is aware of the articles in "The Double Gun Journal" by Sherman Bell named "Finding Out For Myself", subtitled, "The Slow Powder Myth". In this article, the author documents how he tested 30 different twist and Damascus barrels with modern Remington, High Pressure, Proof loads, producing 18,000 psi. of pressure, purposely trying to see if he could get any of them to fail. Now these tests were not done with any degree of selection with regards to condition, and in fact included some really pitted and worn barrels that would have been condemned to only "wall hangers", by any gunsmith worth his salt. Unbelievably, not one barrel failed, and after rechecking tolerances, all but one set of barrels were unchanged, and all would have easily passed the recertification proof test. The one set that failed, was badly rusted and the head-space increased by only .001", which was probably due to just compressing some of the rust.
What do ya'll think about those apples?
binko
