Mr. T*O*F, I am that "expert" who personally did failure analyses on a number of the dozen or so failures (I disremember exactly how many) I posted here.
I recall that the 12L14 barrel pieces sent me with the first one I did were smeared with a reddish-brown organic matter of some sort. You might say it impressed me.
So far as concern about my reputation, well yes, I am pleased when people in the industry recognize me as knowing something about high temperature alloys. That is, stuff used as fixturing in steel heat treat and other "thermal processing" industries, from around 1400F up to 2200F. Retired ten years, I still make a contribution there now & again.
Challenge me on high temperature alloys and we could have a vigorous discussion.
I was a paid expert witness in one T/C gun failure, I think the barrel might have been 1117, and the one that finally convinced a major West Virginia barrel maker to discontinue their muzzle loading series of barrels. I shook hands, sort of, with what was left of the shooter's right hand (left hand shooter). With respect to this last failure, a metallurgy professor from Illinois was also involved. Years later I put a lawyer in touch with him, at the time retired in Arizona, to take care of a serious problem with modern shotguns. It would have been a conflict of interest for me to be involved, and that professor did a better job anyway. The shotgun maker eventually put notices in gun magazines, maybe 1991, saying in effect there was no problem, nothing was wrong, they'd just like to send you a new barrel for your Model XXX pump.
With respect to my reputation in muzzle loading barrels I'm not so concerned, I do this from moral obligation. I know something about metals, and a little about how industry in general handles materials for lethal service. I have received no payment for my barrel efforts since the mid - 1980's. While I have a fairly healthy ego, I also expect neither agreement nor understanding from very many people in this field.
