Smokeshot, your first question has no answer.
Many can be shot, many can't be.....it all depends on the current condition and the use of proper loads of appropriate shot type and amount along with maintaining peak pressure at safe levels, those levels being equivalent for what the firearm was originally designed for.
Given that many of us here have guns that we shoot with some regularity that are still in excellent condition and are 120 - 150 years old, your second question again really depends on the quality of care and maintanence along with future availability of appropriate ammo.
As far as inevitability of pitting and rust......Care and maintenence is the key. I don't shoot BP although I know it's more corrosive and harder to clean. Maybe a metallurgist will step in but it seems to me that if the tubes get properly cleaned every time, the bores will stay pit and rust free for the foreseeable future.
Last edited by canvasback; 09/04/16 06:50 AM.
