Ringing like a bell is not a determinative test, its just one of the indicators. If they don't ring well, then its a flag to look more closely at everything in the barrel assembly. If they ring well and they look fine, they pass the integrity issue. You still need to look at wall thickness, deep pits, etc. Shiny bores are not critical to me but they are to some people. I don't like hearing rust scale sliding back and forth under the ribs, but it doesn't bother some people.
By the way, I've seen barrel cracks in both damascus and fluid steel welded successfully when they are in mid barrel or further down. The cracks seemed to me from a hard whack and the dent was raised and the crack was welded. If you have good wall thickness, there is a lot you can do to repair barrels.
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