I have always struggled to distinguish between 2-bar and 3-bar Damascus on shotgun barrels. Twist is easy to identify for me and after a fashion, so is Laminated Steel. Where I was perplexed was on the 2 versus 3-bar stuff. Our own good Dr. Drew here has taken the time and trouble to finally educate me on the finer points of all that, so while I'm absconding with his handiwork, I did provide the original photography.

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

He describes the red notations as being "straight-edge" (riband-edge) welds and "zipper" welds and, in summary, the number of zipper-welds per section (between the the straight-edge welds) is how you determine the rod number for a Damascus pattern. I had always used the size of the "stars" in a pattern to help me distinguish the difference, but that can be misleading. Look for the "Zipper" welds and the light will go "on".

2-Bar Damascus will only have one zipper weld, 3-bar Damascus will have two.

The gun with the 2-Bar Damascus that provoked this enlightenment...

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Smaller "stars" and a finer pattern were always another clue for me, as was the "grade" of a gun (more-expensive guns usually have the more-expensive 3-bar tubes).

Last edited by Lloyd3; 06/18/24 11:25 AM.