Doc:
It could well be that John uncovered hard evidence of that fact in the research for his book and I'm just stupid and overlooked the obvious when doing my own research (I do believe 1895 could be the correct date for Nitro Steel, only that I could never prove that assumption conclusively); but keep this one fact in mind on some of the things you read therein. John is an attorney, and attorneys don't make a living on hard fact; their living is made on creating "reasonable doubt" and reaching "logical conclusions". I consider John a dear friend, and love ole John like a brother, and any remarks made here are certainly not intended to criticize his work, or give the appearance that I am in some way more knowlegeable; but rather to simply state that John sometimes reaches conclusions on certain topics on which I do not agree. As FYI, on page 386 is a sentence that states "The early catalogs also noted that Krupp barrels were available on lightweights as early as 1895"; without double checking my DGJ article, my own reserach found that Krupp barrels were never an option prior to 1900 and were eliminated from the catalog entirely after 1905. Consider that for whatever you may think it is worth.
