Sch 160

[joannaardway]

Joanna: I don't mean to be insulting, but firearms do not utilise detonations.

Usually starting a sentence with "I don't mean to be insulting" probably means you shouldn't be saying it.
But indeed, firearms do not use detonations, but that was not my point. My point was that steel has pretty good impact resistance, given that it can take a pounding of pressures in the region of tens of thousand psi, and in rapid succession. But obviously the particular steel in question is not of firearm standard.

Nonetheless, as you said, steel is not the ideal material for the job of taking DDT, but more ideal alternatives are usually rather scarce to the average joe.

After the concern of creating a cannon that can take the DDT lies the other problem - is it possible to reliably create DDT in a small chamber with practical conditions?
AFAIK, it's rather unreliable.

[DYI]

I don't intend to constantly create DDT, as it probably wouldn't help performance much, I only want a chamber that can survive it if it does happen. My design will not always cause detonations, but, due to the amount of oxygen I intend on using, they will likely be a common occurence.

Even if I was using a steel chamber as opposed to aluminum, I would still have to machine it out of rod stock, as normal steel pipe and fittings would not survive DDT. I would have to order the steel rod stock off of McMaster, or somewhere similar, so why not just use a more ideal material in the first place?