doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Shooting Damascus guns?

I had an 1850's percussion sxs that was originally proofed 9/10 gauge but the barrels had been honed over the years so when I got it they measured 8.5/9 gauge. Old percussion guns often had slight differences in the gauges between barrels. I decided to shoot it with a standard 12 gauge load of 3 drams BP and 1-1/8 ounces of shot. However, knowing how easy it is in the field to accidentally put two loads of powder in one barrel, I loaded each barrel with 6 drams BP and the same 1-1/8 ounces of shot. I strapped the barrels to a sawhorse put a piece of cannon fuse down the percussion nipple on each barrel and one at a time I lit each fuse while I stood safely behind a tree. After an impressive amount of shock and awe I was delighted to find the barrels held together just fine, no worse for wear!


Here's picture of the gun with its first pheasant.

Ninety percent of my shooting is with damascus and a lot of that is in skeet. My favorite skeet gun is a plain Birmingham boxlock (A. Allen, Glasgow) and it gets thousands of rounds each year. I just never give it any thought. Of course I shoot reasonable pressure nitro stuff. Ever so often, when I'm feeling brave, I load her up with black powder and let loose more atmospheric pollution than a coal fired power plant. Find a good one and join us on the dark side.

That's the plan, Joe, that's the plan.

Tinker: you likely know Steve Culver www.culverart.com

In 2012 he fabricated a crolle pattern barrel



And last year a Bernard barrel



He has been a great help explaining methodology.

This Damascus barrelled gun has been in more or less continuous use for nearly one hundred and fifty years proofed initially for black powder then re proofed for nitro smokeless if it is unsafe it doesn�t know, so please keep your voice down I want to use it this week end.

Thought I'd add this here in case the thread came up in a future search.

By the mid 1890s U.S. makers advertised their pattern welded barrels as "Guaranteed For Nitro Powder"



Lots of information here regarding vintage shotshell pressures
https://docs.google.com/a/damascusknowle...fUOZEFU/preview

Black Powder Pressures:
3 dram / 82 grains 1 1/8 oz. (1200 fps) is about 5000 psi.
3 3/4 dram GOEX FFFg with 1 1/4 oz. (1240 fps) is about 6000 psi.
4 drams of FFF (about 108 gr) with 1 1/8 oz. (1420 fps) is about 7000 psi.

"1895 Smokeless Powders For Shotguns"
http://books.google.com/books?id=Wv0MAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA446&lpg
3 1/4 Dram/40 grains DuPont Bulk Smokeless 1 1/8 oz. = 7440 LUP
3 1/4 Dram/44 grains �E.C.� Bulk Smokeless 1 1/8 oz. = 7584 LUP
Note: Modern piezoelectric transducer measurements would be about 10% higher.

The 1963 George Herter "Reloaders Handbook" lists 23 grains (3 1/4 Dr. Eq.) of Infallible Dense Smokeless, now Unique, with 1 1/8 oz. shot in a paper case with paper wads (card & fiber) at 8,725 psi by LUP, or about 9,500 psi by modern transducers. (Courtesy of Mark Ouellette)

The 1933 edition of "Smokeless Shotgun Powders" by Wallace Coxe and E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. reported the LUP pressure for 1 1/4 oz. 3 Dram Eq. of DuPont Bulk smokeless at 9,600 psi.

Thanks for posting that, Drew. Thanks also to everyone that responded. It appears there is as much negative mythology about damascus barrels as there is positive mythology about pattern-welded 'damascus' blades!

I've been shooting them [ lost count - maybe 15 or 20 ] three times a week for about 15 years with reloads around 7000psi - in the cold [ 0 degrees ] around 8600psi with no problems. With my normal loads I get some bloopers in the cold - figger I'm loosing some pressure so I go up a bit.

how come I can just picture 100s of guys without fingers reading this jumping up and down saying don't do it!!!.....

Damascus is one of those choices you get to make as an adult. You do your homework and you come to a conclusion. You then live with it. I've been enjoying Damascus-barreled guns for over 20-years now. It's a shame that they aren't as cheap as they used to be. I know where an 0-framed Damascus Parker 16 is at the moment that is driving me crazy.