James, a glance at ANY reloading manual will prove your second sentence incorrect. The same final velocity may be acheived with several powders, with a wide range of peak pressures. Again, to claim that any final velocity is acheived with the same 'barrel pressure' all else being equal is wrong, dangerous, a misinterpretation of Bell, and just plain absurd.

A simple example: Alliant publishes a 1090fps 12 ga load with 1 1/8oz shot using Red Dot. A mild, low recoil, target load. It shows 10,300 psi. Now, is that the same pressure as a 2.5 dram BP load? Gonna shoot that in your damascus barrel?

Last edited by Shotgunjones; 12/27/06 09:58 PM.
"The price of good shotgunnery is constant practice" - Fred Kimble