Never even attempted it. It's just absolutely crazy to me and would ruin the experience of the game. For what? Bragging rights? It's pretty easy to do max damage with Steiner anyway and I doubt a more powerful weapon at the expense of less leveling would make him better.

The only speed run for reward thing I ever did was the Clive quest in Suikoden II and even though that makes you rush far more than I like, it's much more forgiving than Excalibur 2 and actually gives a plot reward instead of just a stupid weapon with a bad name.