Just guessing, but there are probably 50,000 + old Damascus barreled SxS's still out there in "shootable? condition." All are at least a century old.

The fact that we hear of a few blowing out each year shouldn't be a big statistical surprise.

I was at a Sporting Clay range clubhouse this week, and the guys were passing around a recent stainless Taurus .357 revolver that had blown the cylinder and top strap due to a handloading error. STUFF HAPPENS!

gold40