We should have pooled our resources and hit all the Walmart clearance sales this year, you could have had a suite of CVA guns to test for under $300. Bobcats were going for $48, Buckhorns for $59, and I think Kodiaks for as little as $129 (though I never saw them cheaper than $159). Wolfs and Optimas were cheap in other stores also.

Within reason, I think all these guns are safe. As has been stated here many times, I think all of the manufacturers have done the public a disservice by advocating "magnum" 150 gr. pellet loads. By promoting these loads as an accepted norm, the margin for human error starts very thin from the get go. Shooter error is probably to blame for most of the reported failures (which I think is the reason why Pglasgow has proposed certain tests).

I'll tell you my personal story of near shooter error. The first day I went to shoot my Kodiak my father-in-law wanted to help out. I had measured out a couple of loads of 90 gr. 777 2f and was putting them into speed loaders. Somehow in the excitement of trying out a new gun and trying to be helpful, my f-i-l managed to pour two of the speedloaders together, 180 gr. of 777 2f!!! Luckily he soon realized his mistake. That would not have been a good way to start off my blackpowder career! That, had it resulted in gun failure would have been human error, not the guns fault as it exceeds the maximum recommended load.

Needless to say, no one touches my powder measure but me now...