i can answer it for you now. he use mordern damascus steel that has as high a strenght as any comercial steel you can find.

regarding damascus steel and barrels, they are every bit as safe as the fluid counterparts and often much stronger. i understand that in some cases low end guns the barrels have blown due to bad welds between layers.

we did a project in denmark where we x-rayed a sample of 10 damascus and 10 fluid steel barrels to see if we could find any airholes or bad velding in there. these were better guns but we found no air in any barrels of english decent. mordern steels velded together into damascus steel will give you all the pro's of the steel and no con's IF ti were made by a good company.

best regards

peter