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Looked at a 12 gauge hammer gun with engraving on the stock/forend and reciever. It also had etched damascus barrels. does anyone have one of these or know anything about them?
Thanks in advance.
Tom

Let's see if I understand what you mean.
Engraving on the action (receiver) and fore end irons but not on the stock. Perhaps you mean checkering.
Etched Damascus barrels, I also understand and this causes ridges between the steel and iron bands.
If I have you correctly, here is what I know.
V.C. Schilling from Suhl, Prussia (Germany) was one of the very few shotgun makers to use these etched barrels. His dates coincide with the hammer gun era. I once owned one of these and it is beautiful and desirable.His mark is an S in a cartouche.
These etched barrels were also used on a few English rifles of that same period.
Look at http://www.worldpath.net/~jmann/Schilling%2094779%20016.jpg
to see the barrels of this gun.
I hope this is helpful.
Best,
John

Just...

Sweep,

Metropolitan: Trade name used by the H. & D. Folsom Arms Company on firearms they made for the Siegal-Cooper Company of New York.

Apparently there was also a Metropolitan company that made handguns was well.

If it has damascus barrels, they may be from Belgium. See if you can find any makers marks or proof marks. If you do and can post pictures of them, some one may be able to identify the maker.

Pete

Hey John !!!! DUH !!!!!
The older I get, the stupider I get.LOL
If I had let the name register, I would have saved some bandwidth.
Best,
John

Jhn; The reciever is engraved with a dog on each side and what looks like some kind of clover leaf scroll. The butt stock has an elk? head engraved on the bottom of it with other flowery designs on the sides and the forearm. Very nice looking. What seemed strange was that it had no barrel flats. The reciever was rounded to fit the barrel. There was the slightest amount of wiggle there. I only found it today and the seller knew nothing about it. Told me it was an expensive wall hanger but gave me no selling price. Hope this clarifies my earlier post.
Thanks for your responce. I like this gun and would buy it if the price is ok.
Tom

Pete; I thought there were 2 or 3 proof marks that I saw and 1 did look like a belgium mark that I had seen on here before. I was not able to take any pics at this time as I don't own it yet. There was a crown and some other lettering if I remember right.
Thanks

John,

Interesting information about V.C. Schilling and his treatment of damascus. Nice picture as well. The technique is very old, going back at least to the 17th century. I was recently re-reading Figiel's, "On Damascus Steel" and saw similarly done barrels there.

Pete

I forgot to mention this etched damascus looked like the horseshoe design almost. You could just barely feel the grooves in it. This is the first one I ever saw like this so I hope I'm explaining it properly. I'll see if I can take pics. I may need help posting them though.

sweep:
Pics would not only be a great help but very interesting. So far, you have described a gun that I am not familiar with; BUT, there are surely 23 or 47 that I have not seen.LOL
Best,
John