rburg your correct in that the cylinder and forcing cone that takes the brunt of the pressures. what I was saying is that I believed that the scandium mixture allowed the gun to be chambered in the more powerful magnum cartridge. I do feel like these gun are more durable than their aluminum alloy siblings. I do love my 340PD I think it an awesome gun with a definite cool factor as well. I've referred to it as "a miracle of modern creation" as it is truly a cutting edge product made from space age exotic alloys.