Would jeweler's brass make an effective shield boss?

[Dan D'Silva]

Hello,

I once again beg for your technical advice.  I've found a relatively cheap source of jeweler's brass, which I understand to be the same thing as red brass and jeweler's bronze, an 85:15 percent mix of copper and zinc.  It's supposed to look more like typical high-tin bronze than common yellow brass does.  So I was thinking of using it for one of those flat violin shield bosses and a domed boss for a center-gripped shield.  Is 14-gauge red brass likely to hold up to any degree of reenactment fighting, or is it too soft and/or thin?

Also, for anyone who's forged their own bosses, is it likely to lose a significant amount of diameter when shaped?  Is 6 inches too small to fit over a 5-inch hole?  If it makes any difference, I'm planning to affix them with a large number of escutcheon pins instead of a small number of rivets.