Dewey Vicknair asked that it be clarified that he did not say that the braze joint failed but "that it was never a proper braze joint because of overheating. It started out as a failed joint."
Very well could be Doc Drew. I think a pretty common appearance of blow ups is the look of grainy steel, or what DV may have referred to as the burned steel at the breech end of the barrel. The not so straight forward part of it in my opinion is that high carbon steel may be more likely damaged by over heating. And, the steel would likely be glowing at temps well above where any braze would even appear to have taken.
Of course, I think you've regularly shown that barrels are likely low carbon steels. I wonder if the grainy appearing areas might have come from the mill that way due to some production inconsistency. I wonder if a lab would find some analysis differences in the steel that appears grainy and 'burned' by the breech, and the brighter steel that yeilded towards the forcing cone once the process started. I think the 'good' steel tried to hold together, as the defect looks to have blown upwards, but apparently pieces struck to the right. The grainy stuff has the look like it let go in a relatively brittle way. Then again, pitting in a suseptible area may create a similar situation over time. It may be a less than ideal joint, but why was it good enough for somewhere around a hundred years. I think fun and interesting stuff.
