For every old Damascus or Twist barrel you here about "Blowing Up" you'll here a thousand stories similar to this one. Plus most of those which did blow was through some act of carelessness or pure stupidity. Examples are a double charge of fast powder or more apt to be an obstruction such as mud or snow in the barrel.
I have a lovely old 16-16-8x58 Sauer Drilling (1907) which was blown by Snow in the bore, at least that's what the gentleman who brought it back from WWII thought. He was rabbit hunting in the snow & it does have all the appearances of an obstructional burst.
It has Krupp Steel barrels so mat'l is not the major factor in those cases.
