For me, here in west central Ohio, no one even looks at what I shoot. The agricultural climate of the area has virtually everyone having grown up with pump shotguns. For these people, they look at a SxS with curiosity and hardly even notice the composite barrels. I have one pump shotgun and virtually the rest are all composite barrels and I shoot them most often, both at shooting games and hunting. No one really pays any attention, just that I am the "nut" who likes old guns. Though, just last week a gentleman probably near 70, told me of his Dad's Damascus SxS, that blew out the side of the left barrel. We will never know why it happened though. Obstruction? very poor condition? way over loaded loads? I always felt that composite barrels got their bad rap, by the change in powders when nitro powders replaced BP powders. You simply cannot replace the powders with drams and not forget about dram equivelent. Plus the barrel manufactures who finally were able to build fluid barrels cheaper that were finally actually equal or better than the composite barrels. Composite barrels are labor intensive, in comparison, fluid barrels are not. Yet, we can sell the gun for the same amount of money for an increase in profit. What would you push as a better gun tool? A chance to sell everyone new guns and replace the customers old guns and the new guns that are cheaper to make, but sell for the same price?
