doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Damascus explained

Here are the barrels on my Daly

Barrels on my Miller and Val Greiss O/U combo hammer gun 16ga/9.3x72r

Barrels on my S Sutherland (GH Ferris pat)

Pape 16ga

Revdoc, there may be a similar look, but consider that the British Laminated was one of , if not THE best, of that period. I believe it was best in the tests often reported , was it by Greener ? Now, when we think of Belgian Laminated, we take a step back, as it is usually the lowest grade offered and on the lowest grade guns. I think you will find a different quality in the British Laminated Steel. I also see laminated steel on P. Mullin guns of the same period. His guns sold for up to $300, when that would almost buy a house with servants. Of course, his guns originated in Birmingham and he finished them to the very highest level, but with no engraving.

You are correct Daryl: From Dr Gaddy- "The top barrels in the famous Birmingham Proof House destructive tests in 1891 were three-iron British Laminated Steel barrels. Laminated Steel barrels were made the same way as Damascus barrels but had higher (usually 70% ) high quality steel in the composite." Unfortunately, his damascus barrel board did not include an example of 'British Laminated.' I already added that pic to the PictureTrail and will correct the caption and thanks!

Revdoc, we see lots of Damascus samples, laminated samples, twist samples, then take these and multiply them by the number of various sources. It all gets confusing, but to my , admittedly engineering trained mind, it would be wonderful to have an article that showed all these barrels, from all the sources, side by side. Maybe you could do an article for DGJ or similar ? Now, I don't know if writing is your interest, but maybe someone could pick up this gauntlet and do a broadranging article with good photos from each era and source.

It's also clear that 'reading' the damascus pattern requires knowledge of the grade of the gun.
Thanks for the encouragement Daryl, but a. I'm not that smart yet and b. almost all the pics on the PictureTrail were 'borrowed' from internet auction sites, pics from threads on gun forums (PGCA, LCSCA, here, etc.), and pics sent to me. I have not scanned nor posted any pics from books, but probably do have some legal exposure nevertheless. I'm comfortable putting the pics up, in that I have no commercial interest in the PictureTrail, they came from the 'Public Domain,' and civil action against me would cost more than it would accomplish (I hope!)
Anyway-my intent with the PictureTrail was to provide a resource, and thanks to Dave Miles and others, I'm most thankful the some of Dr Gaddy's contributions were not lost. Hopefully, Dave will add some of these threads to the FAQ section (and we've e-mailed about that.)

Revdoc - The Patrick and Blissett barrels have both been refinished. I did the work, myself, following Dr. Gaddy's procedures in the DGJ.

Bill

Another example of Star Damascus, this time on a Daly. Not sure where I found this image...


Pete