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I never hear stories or see pictures of shotguns that were destroyed by an incorrect powder charge. Does this happen?
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It sure does, I've witnessed two such incidents. The first was an overcharged 20-ga Browning O/U back in 1968. It made a very loud boom, kicked like a mule and them it wouldn't open. The second, in the early 1990s, was a fellow who thought the warnings about not mixing powders didn't apply to him. He was shooting an 1100. As the gun fired, another loud boom, the locking lug failed, the bolt was driven back back deep into the action and the operating handle (normally just snapped in the bolt) was found in the adjacent trap field. In neither case was there a spectacular banana-peeled barrel nor anything else overly dramatic. Yet, both guns suffered ruptured/deformed actions. Thankfully there were no injuries except to the reloader's pride.