Lemoyne stated "and even though they are not in the same strength range as the knight or TC barrels".

What is the strength range of the TC barrels? I would be interested in how this conclusion is reached. I have both a "Spanish" barrel and a TC encore barrel andonly the Spanish barrel has a proof mark.

Regards.

In his write up Randy taks about the soft metal used in Spain. Well I may be wrong but most any steel is stonger than the cast iron used in original 1800's and oldermuzzleloaders, many of which could handle more than 100gr of powder. In most metals the higher the strength the more brittle the metal is and when it reaches it's limit, it shatters as opposed to just bulging. The Spainish have been making guns for many hundreds of years and they have some of the most up to date manufacturing facilities in the world. Steel being a world wide commodity it would seem they could use whatever they or their customerswant in the manufacturing of the barrels. While any manufacturer can produce a flawed barrel from time to time I have not seen where the Spainish have any more than anyone else, percentage wise. If someone has that data please share. Only the companies know how much there barrels are truely able to handle before losing integrity and they are not going to tell anyone due to legal concerns. If the company uses a 200% or 300% or higher margin of safety will you know the difference? Probably not. The bottom line is, use the product in the way the company says it's safe and your odds of having an issue are statistically nil. If you do something wrong like short start a projectile then all bets are off, no matter what gun it is. Even the savage, tested to 140,000psi, has had a barrel blow so strength is only part of the equation. Be safe and follow the safety recomendations and proper loading techniques.

Not to mention they made and still makesome of the finest swords a person could get in Europe. They know how to work steel.

Another thing to consider is the sue happy times we live in. No manufacturer is going to recommend a dangerous load for the guns they make or, as soon as someone got hurt,lawyers would be all over it like a June bug in a chicken coop.

Don't exceed the max recommended powder load/bullet weight.

It is very important to not exceed the max loads for the gun....end of story!