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Originally Posted by Will M
I am not aware that age alone degrades metals.
When the elastic limit is not exceeded and barrels have not corroded they retain their properties.
If age alone degrades steel I'd like to see the references for this.
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https://www.metalsupermarkets.co.uk/...s-metal-aging/
https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar...=1&oi=scholart
And some interesting info on the effects of fatigue (mechanical fatigue resulted from the repeated mechanical forces/pressure, and thermal fatigue, resulted from the repeated cycles of heating and cooling) on gun barrels, that is even more important in the case of antique firearms where one doesn't know:
1. the material of the barrel,
2. the heat treatment of the barrel,
3. how was it manufactured (solid block drilled, spiral welded, multi-layered sleeved, etc.),
4. the conditions in which it was used (what type of propellant, what loads, etc.),
5. how long was it used/how many times was it fired,
6. how well was maintained.
Not knowing the answers to these questions but proclaiming it is safe to shoot an antique gun doesn't sound wise to me.