Pete, Thirteen minutes after you made a post emphatically stating that no major American maker used faux damascus, I asked if any ever did. The reason is that once again, you answered my question before I got the chance to ask it. I was in the process of typing it and got interrupted by the dogs' urgent need to go out. We took a walk, got some fresh air, and I then finished my last few words and clicked on "submit". Wish I had a more original excuse than blaming the dog, but that's it. I really do appreciate that you and the other Damascus experts here patiently share your knowledge with those of us who are still in Damascus Kindergarten. I could almost cry when I think of all the great deals I passed on over the years because the gun had those "unsafe to shoot barrels". It might interest (and sadden) you to know... the guy I bought the A. J. Aubrey from last week also sold me a Damascus Baker 12 ga. parts gun and a set of uncut 26" 16 Ga. Baker Damascus barrels. As I was digging through a couple hundred barrels, he remarked that knifemakers have been buying up a lot of his nicer Damascus barrels. He said they forge weld a thin layer of tool steel between 2 layers of Damascus barrel steel to make Damascus knives that have a hard core that will hold an edge. Apparently, some of those high dollar custom knives we see are recycled shotgun barrels.
