RE: Safety with Spanish and American Barrels in general
UC
And that goes exactly to the root of the problem.... the nut operating the gun. If you read and choose not to follow the directions, is it the guns fault, Spanish barrel or not? I have a CVA Firebolt that I bought several years ago, becuase it looked good, felt good and was a give away at Wal-Mart. I for years fired 100/110 grains of T7-2f pushing a 300 grain sabot. It handled this load without a problem, and most know I shoot a lot.I have made other mistakes with it shooting some large .458 Hornady saboted bullets. Again the rifle has shown no ill effects of this abuse. I also did spend a lot of time taking care of the gun. But none-the-less if something had gone wrong it would not be the guns manufactures fault, it would have been my own block head mistakes...
Actually the only gun I have not heard of a blow-up or out has been a an Austin & Halleck - which does have a Spanish barrel. It seems everybody elsehas had a least one. Both of my A&H's have the same proofing mark from the same proofing house as do the CVA and the Traditions.
I would and will agree with whomever provided this quote " if you buy a Yugo don't expect a Cadillac" If you choose to purchase a Spanish made barrel follow the directions it will serve you for years- heck that isn't exactly true either - if you shoot a weapon made by anyone follow the the directions...
Back in the day when I reloaded ammo for myself and many other people, I did follow directions, because i was afraid of the results if I chose to boost the charge beyond the suggested weight - why would anyone assume that BP or it's substitutes would be any different - follow the plan - and if you do not - do not blame the gun.