Sorry to interrupt jOe's Belgian love fest smile , and I've been searching without success for confirmation of this quotation from James Purdey II some time in the 1880s: " ... weight for weight (Whitworth) steel is stronger than iron and shoots harder, though not of so handsome an appearance as damascus barrels..." He preferred Belgian damascus "...not that when thorough sound English damascus can be obtained they are not superior, but because Belgian workmen are more careful than English, and there is thus less risk of slag and rubbish getting into the welds."

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