I've only read Hatcher's Notebook and haven't looked at anything by Ackley. The stuff that Hatcher did was more empirical rather than what would be classed as scientific today - he was largely trying things without have a predetermined, expected, calculated result to compare against, but I guess that's how most practical discoveries are made.

I'm sure firearm manufacturers engineer the appropriate safety margins in their design but they'll never divulge this information - I guess for legal reasons for not wanting to have blame their way if someone modifies based on their data.