Pete, I dug up my notes my friend gave me.
Bill Wise spoke with R S and R said he only knows of three gun with names in barrels one was a Purdy probably the Prince of Albert. RS said these guns with the name in them were 'absolutly the holy grail' of barrel's and 'rarity is esquisite'.
The barrel maker worked for Pieper-head man and was the last maker of Damascus barrels when he retired in 1930.
Barrel maker - Jean Delacour
Leige, Belgium
OK, Bill knew about "Remington", "Pieper" and "Prince Albert". There was also "Washington" and "Zenobe Gramme".
Tim, the patterns were copyrighted. The billets were not produced by the barrel makers, but by the rolling mills. The mills paid a royalty to the copyright holder and sold the billets to any maker who would pay the going rate. At least, this much I have been able to document.
The barrel maker must know the twist rate to properly produce the pattern.
We know all the copyrights that Pieper held. No where is there any trace of Pieper holding a patent for damascus fabrication.
Drew is using a image I posted from Qui est Qui. No where does it say that Delcour-Dupont held a patent for damascus fabrication. Jean-Baptiste died in 1931. We presume he was "one of the last" houses producing damascus only because of the documentation that was commissioned by the Belgian government. The market for damascus was disappearing. Greener notes that the English stopped producing it in 1903.
Pete
