Ah, this reminds me of the late John D. Baird, The Buckskin Report, and the glorious 70s. That was the era of the Italian invasion: black powder shooting was suddenly in vogue via Jeremiah Johnson and the like, and the Italians rushed in with low cost muzzle loaders along the Hawken style lines. Baird didn't like them, in particular didn't like the thin metal underneath where the barrel lugs were installed, and didn't like some of the steel being used (too brittle), I think it was Stressproof. Baird's standard was -- every muzzle loader should be able to withstand the firing of a short loaded round. How Baird would react to the modern Buck Rogers styled muzzle loaders is difficult to comprehend.
Safety isn't usually a topic brought up here Paul so you're somewhat unique. In general our repros are very sound, and the originals very very sound. Remember first, the BP pressure curve is very quick - the max during like the first three inches of ball travel. Pressure down by that thin part very low. The guns were built for combat and are very sound. A visit to one of the CW battlefield museums will provide examples of this soundness. In the chaos of combat many guns withstood multiple loads, short loaded loads, blocked loads etc. etc. About the only safety issue I've encountered with these guns was the cleanout screw in my Smith repro. The screw only had two functioning threads. That cleanout channel has since been sealed up.
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