Doc, not to mention the combined knowledge of the forum members, along with hundreds of years of cannon building (and blowing up!) to arrive at the safe limits we are willing to adher to. To us, it's all about safety, and not wanting to see anybody's name in the paper following an unfortunate accident.
Josiah712, don't think anyone is trying to personally attack you, but why not instead of saying "Show me your "proof", or I'll go on and do it my way", ask for some of the many examples of cannon failures which have been featured here for quite some time. Read some of the back posts regarding this issue, and try to see why we stress overbuilding and safety so much. Some of these guys have experienced cannon failures first hand, and those were made of stronger stuff than yours...
BoomLover