A great thread on shooting damascus barrels with nitro powders

[Paul Harm]

Well, let's see - the British have shot damascus guns forever. They still proof them. If they were unsafe they would have quit a long time ago. They rust from within ? ? Thought rust needed oxygen - so they're not going to rust from within, but on the surface. So no, they won't get weaker over time unless you can see the surface rust going down in enough to make the barrels unsafe. I blew one up, but it was because I made a mistake - had some PB left in the bottle and thought it was Pyrodex. Only took about 4 shots with 94grs of PB. Anyway, I still shoot damascus barrel guns, have 11 of them, and shoot clay birds 3 times a week - all with nitro powders - although not quite as much. Think about it - if pressures are kept around BP pressures, how could damascus barrels be unsafe ? A heavy BP shotgun load would be 7, maybe 8000psi. There are many nitro loads for handloaders in that range. Sorry for the rant - just my opnion. Paul