Dr. Drew: What distinguishes between a "crolle" pattern and the other variants? Is it merely the absence of discernable weld lines?
Also, in the great Damascus barrel strength tests conducted in Britain in the early 1890s, were any of these truly-beautiful "variants" included in the program? The ones I seem to recall are the more-conventional ones I've already listed (3-bar, 2-bar, laminated, & twist).
Edit to add: There were several 4-bar tubes included in the 1891 tests (which also included fluid steel barrels). The top 10 performers included examples from the 5-types of Damascus identified here and of-course some early fluid steels (Whitworth's and Siemens-Martins).
Last edited by Lloyd3; 06/26/24 09:52 AM.
