My sample of one Parker damascus gun was silver soldered. I could see it clearly when I re-layed the ribs.
As for how much strength the dollshead adds, my opinion is that it's nearly nothing. If you look at the necked area it's about 1/4" wide. That might be small, but still add some strength. But then when you flip the barrels over and look at how shallow the piece actually is, then see that it's slotted to guide the extractors, it's pretty clear that it's a cosmetic feature, probably put in the design as a result of the marketing pressures of the time.
Last edited by Chuck H; 09/13/12 05:45 AM.
