Have made many barrels out of 12L14. Starting from bar stock,boring,reaming and rifling.The flats were milled on or filed on. It's not the steel thats bad. It's the way this leaded steel was used in making these barrels. A few years back, I made a barrel for a match lock with 12L14.It had a deep swamp.It was put on the proof sled with 3 times the powder charge and two balls,shot 6 times.