ORIGINAL: Pglasgow
Oh and one other thing. I would consider it "VERY UNLIKELY" that either the blued barrel of the APEX or the blue barrel of the OMEGA have greater tensile strength metal than the STAINLESS APEX. If a person is at all concerned with Spanish Steel, it would be almost impossible for them to produce a stainless alloy weaker than most any typical blackpowder rifle's with a blued barrel. For me, takes the worry completely away.
Just because it is "stainless" does not guarantee that it is stronger than standard american rifle barrel steel. There are possibliities for voids in any steel and stainless is just as prone to that as chrome moly steel (possibly a little more prone). I'm sure your stainless Apex is just fine and didn't mean to start another long argument but stainless is not a "magic" term.