I had wanted to hold some of the good stuff for a future article, but realized there is a LONG way to go for a reasonably complete summary SO I went ahead and added what I have here
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dnRLZgcuHfx7uFOHvHCUGnGFiLiset-DTTEK8OtPYVA/edit

Many thanks to Dave Suponski, Ron Graham, Bro. Raimey and Bro. Walt for their contributions, and Adam W. Haskins, P. E., Metallurgist at Metals Engineering and Testing Laboratories, METL in Phoenix, Arizona.

If someone 'harvests' the information, an attribution would be nice, since some of the data cost me.

IN SUMMARY what we know about pre-WWI guns and loads:
1. The gun makers said the guns were safe with the shells available in that period, the ‘rough forged tubes’ were proved in Belgium, and the finished gun was proved by the U.S. maker.
2. Smokeless powder shells were in no way “low pressure”:
20g 7/8 oz. 2 1/2 Dr. Eq. Bulk Smokeless pressure was 8000-9000 psi; 7/8 oz. 2 1/2 Dr. Eq. Dense Smokeless was about 11,000 psi.
12g 1 1/4 oz. 3 1/2 Dr. Eq. pressures were well above the modern SAAMI 12g 2 3/4” maximum pressure of 11,500 psi.
3. We have a pretty good idea as to the wall thicknesses the makers chose.
4. The makers had a “safety margin”. In the Birmingham Proof House Trial there were NO dimensional change in the 19th - 21st barrels, all Pattern Welded, until more than twice the Definitive Proof Load (DP about 11,000 psi) charge. In the Second Phase destructive trial, the 12th barrel (because of ties) Foreign Pointille’ Twist failed at 5.77 times DP and the 13th (last) Foreign Four Rod Crolle’ failed at 5.74 times DP.
5. My study, and one unpublished, showed NO evidence of the “because of low cycle fatigue, barrels get weaker over time” or “damascus barrels are a mass of rusting, delaminating welds” myths.
6. Fluid steel barrels DO have a bit less than twice the tensile strength of Pattern Welded and Decarbonized Steel barrels.
7. The safety margin for small bore doubles is less because the shell pressures are (in general) higher, and the wall thickness less for proper barrel weight. This may also apply the barrels of light weight 12b British game guns.
8. Bad things happen to barrels over 100 years through misuse; inappropriate loads (3” steel shells in 2 3/4” chambers), lack of cleaning, being dropped and dented, etc. and NO barrel, or any composition, can be assumed to be “safe” without a careful evaluation; which takes the time, interest, expertise, and tools to be done properly.
9. There is NO definitive NDT for pattern welded barrels, but we are getting much better at evaluating their integrity with bore scopes and wall thickness gauges.

Valuable information - Thanks Drew and contributing authors.

Very interesting stuff Drew, as always. Thanks very much. Do you know of any correlation or conversion of tensile strength to bursting pressures? For example if you had a barrel with a wall thickness of .150" at the end of the chamber that was made of a steel with a 75,000 psi tensile strength, could we predict what the maximum pressure before failure at that point should be?

So if I'm reading this right a good quality Damascus barrel may be half the tensile strength of Winchester nickel steel or Remington Ordinance steel. Also the average Damascus barrels tensile strength 4 times the SAAMI pressure for 2 3/4" 12 ga. shells. Nicely done Dr. Drew

very good news re strength of damascus steel...

however, please remember that barrel steel is only part of a gun...keep in mind that many older guns do not have bolting systems that will stand up to the pounding of modern, 10,000 psi plus ammo...and, 100 year old wood is much dryer and more fragile than when the gun was new...so, as always, keep your loads light and your screws tight...

and lets preserve these old guns we love so much...

Brother Drew, great work as always. Put me on your list when you write your book.

Keith and all:

WARNING: Tensile strength is only a part of the equation for estimating bursting pressure. If the barrel is made of Twist with a 50,000 psi tensile strength, that does NOT mean that it will withstand a 10,000 psi load by a factor of 5.

Barlow's bursting formula P=2 S t / D
P=Bursting pressure in psi.
S=Tensile strength of material in tube wall.
t=Wall thickness in inches.
D=Outside diameter in inches.

Barlow’s refers to a pipe capped at both ends with a static pressure (a pressure cylinder). Shotgun barrels are not designed to be pressure vessels as one end is open and the pressure rises and falls quickly.

Burrard used the Alger Burst Formula
Burst pressure = Ultimate tensile strength x 3(OD – ID) / OD + 2xID

Lame Formula
Burst pressure psi = Ultimate Tensile strength x (OD squared – ID squared) / OD squared + ID squared

American Standard Formula
http://www.smt.sandvik.com/en-us/materia...rican-standard/


Wallace H. Coxe, in "Smokeless Shotgun Powders: Their Development, Composition and Ballistic Characteristics" published by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. in 1931 cites a study in which a fluid steel barrel was cut to 9” and capped, then a series of progressively increasing pressure loads fired. The barrel cap was blown off and barrel burst at 5,600 psi.

Don A. and Chuck H. can, and have, provided failure curves and hoop stress formulae. I've discussed this issue with a Mechanical Engineer and a Metallurgist, and basically there is no bursting formula for shotgun barrels

Thanks very much Drew. I was concerned that some folks might confuse tensile strength with the maximum pressure a barrel might withstand since both are expressed in pounds per square inch.

In that 1931 du Pont test where the capped 9" section of shotgun barrel burst at 5600 psi, did they mention what the thickness of the test piece was? What I'm getting at here is questioning whether the burst pressure of a capped barrel section which is as thick as a normal chamber would be closer to the pressures Sherman Bell reached when his test barrels finally let go.

Drew--

What is your take on these barrels: http://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-fo...un_id=100667832

Best and thank you again for your extensive and insightful contributions

Berrien

A well done 2 Iron "Horseshoe" Berrien

Here's one acid etched which makes the pattern a bit more obvious



The pattern demonstrates that the 'scroll' is composed of 1/2 of each adjacent rod with a 'zipper' weld in between, or straight weld if at the ribband edge

Drew

I do not believe that I have seen such prominent ribband welds or maybe it is a photographic effect??

Berrien

The distinct weld lines are a variant of "Rosen" pattern

Hemenway's New Model



Remington Three Iron "Oxford 4 S.J.". The 'zipper' and straight welds are quite clear



And since it is springtime here in Paradise

Rosa damascene

Took a bit to find this Belgian Pinfire with 'Horseshoe". Interestingly, every weld line is a 'zipper' weld, which Steve Culver could no doubt 'splain. Also note the prominent black & white 'Stars', BLACK BEING THE STEEL AND WHITE, THE IRON AFTER STAINING

Wallace H. Coxe, in "Smokeless Shotgun Powders: Their Development, Composition and Ballistic Characteristics" published by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. in 1927 and 1931 cites a study in which a fluid steel barrel was cut to 9” and capped, then a series of progressively increasing pressure loads fired. The barrel cap was blown off and barrel burst at 5,600 psi.

Keith: the barrel was from a "12-gauge pressure gun which was equipped with piston for recording pressures". No mention of wall thickness.

This is interesting.

"Measurement of Pressures"
The common method of taking pressures in small arms in this country is known as the Radial Pressure system. A housing is built around the barrel, and a hole drilled through the housing and barrel into the chamber at a distance of 1 inch from the breech and at right angles to the axis of the bore. The hole is then bushed and drilled to a uniform diameter of 0.2250 inch. Then a piston is made the length of the piston hole and 0.2250 inch in diameter. Next the piston hole is lapped to permit the piston to fit snugly without either sticking or getting out of alignment.
In firing the gauge, the piston is inserted and seated, then a lead crusher cylinder is placed on the head of the piston and held firmly in place by a screw and anvil attachment built into the housing. When the cartridge is fired, a portion of the same gas pressure that pushes the bullet through the barrel drives the piston against the lead cylinder and compresses it.
The length of the lead crusher cylinder after compression is naturally less than before the shot was fired and the difference between the original length and the length after compression therefore represents the amount of pressure which has acted upon the lead. Thee exact pressure is read from a table giving a pressure reading for every remaining length reading and commonly called a Tarage Table.
Pressures that are determined at ballistic laboratories are merely relative values and are not absolute values.

That is exactly the opposite of what I would have thought. Interesting.

SRH

Boy this must have been good stuff!!

The J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co. No. 105, 107 & 115 singles were listed with “Electro Steel” in 1901. In 1902 the No. 180 hammerless single had “Special Pyro-Electro Steel”.



The Iron Age, April 1902
https://books.google.com/books?id=xqM-AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA9-PA65&lpg

The first electric arc furnace was developed by Paul Héroult, of France, in 1900. Héroult came to the U.S. in 1905 and Halcomb Steel Co. installed the first electric arc furnace in the U.S. in 1906 (4 years after the Stevens ad )
Blast Furnace and Steel Plant, November 1922
https://books.google.com/books?id=ad0fAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA542&lpg
Electrically refined steel, or electric steel, or electro steel was reported to allow a higher carbon content with less sulfur and phosphorus compared to Crucible or Open Hearth process steel.
The Horseless Age, Dec. 14 1910
https://books.google.com/books?id=DKONYWNYDqIC&pg=PA813&lpg
Chilton’s Automotive Industries, January 12 1911
https://books.google.com/books?id=sB1HAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA137&dq

Sanderson Brothers Steel Co. installed an arc furnace in 1907. This furnace is now on display at Station Square, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

I'm thinking the "pyro" & "electro" part came from Stevens' marketing dept.

The many c. 1919 Hunter Arms Fulton Tradename guns no doubt win the prize for the most, if not the most creative, names stamped on the (no doubt) same barrels :
“Royal Steel”, “Special Smokeless Steel”, “London Fluid Steel”, “Peerless Steel”, “Fluid Blued Steel”, “Projectile Steel”, “Silver Steel”, “Missabe Fluid Steel”, and “Blue Diamond Steel”.
http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/17126039

The underlying fact that a shotgun may explode in the shooter's face with each shot only serves to bolster the calamitous spirit that is the very essence of shotgunning. When super-duper steels were introduced and the risk abated, we all died a little.

The Top 5 developments which have ruined shotgunning:

1) Chokes
2) Smokeless powder
3) Super-duper steels
4) The recoil pad
5) Patterning

I'm glad those are only hypothetical reasons that " we all died a little ". Also the " calamitous spirit of shotgunning " or a " shotgun may explode in a shooters face ". Me thinks you wrote everything in jest, or tongue in cheek.

The barrel with all zig-zag (zipper) welds is indeed interesting. A we have discussed before, the zipper welds are caused by forge welding together twisted rods of damascus. The corners of the formerly square rods, create spiraling ridges around the twisted rods, appearing similar to threads on a bolt. Forge welding the twisted rods together, drives these “threads” into one another, creating the zipper weld lines.

As we also know, it is typical that a number of twisted rods are first forge welded together to make a riband. The connections between the twisted rods display the zipper welds. Whereas at the edges of the riband, the hammer blows to weld the rods together flatten the threadlike ridges and create a flat surface. This flattened surface become the straight weld lines between the turns of riband in the forge welded barrel tube.

This barrel tube does not display the straight weld lines. It is obviously made up of alternating right twisted and left twisted rods. It very much looks as though the barrel smith wound at least two twisted rods on the mandrel, without first welding them into a riband. This is entirely possible to do. Every smith is his own man, not constrained to do the work as everyone else. I suspect that he flattened the twisted rods on two sides, to make it easier to wind them on the mandrel. But, we’ll never know for sure. I guess the take-away here, is to not be surprised at anything you find.



I’m also curious about the statement that Drew posted. I’ve seen it before. Where did it come from, Brother Drew?

I have seen this color scheme after rusting and etching stated both ways many times. In the majority of cases, it is said that the steel portion ends up black (or brown) and the iron portion ends up white... just as Drew has stated above. But here is a source that says "During etching, built up black ferro-ferric oxide is removed more rapidly from the steel portions of the barrel than the iron portions." See step # 7.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18MIv...ref=2&pli=1

Most often, it is said that the ferric chloride etching solution acts more aggressively upon the iron than the steel, but if the barrel is left in the etching solution too long, the black oxide will be removed from both. Also, I have most often heard or read that if the etch is too strong, it will attack the iron more aggressively and begin to cause the surface to become uneven as the iron is eroded. I'd like to actually rust, boil, and etch a piece of steel and a piece of iron just to see which one ends up black and which one ends up white. If I had to take an educated guess, I'd be inclined to go with the way Drew said it, just guessing that the steel would be slightly more resistant to corrosive agents than iron. But unlike Larry Brown, I have sometimes been wrong. Does anyone know for certain which is correct?

Steve: here's what the knife guys say, but we know they've been breathing fumes in a shed a bit too long
http://knifedogs.com/archive/index.php/t-42359.html

LOL!! Yea. You never know what knifemakers have been huffing!

Regarding the comments in this knifemaker’s thread, the colors that they are discussing come from the degraded steel left on the surface of the metal after etching. Knifemakers often use this degraded material for the coloration on damascus knife blades. Damascus gun barrels are typically finished by a rusting process. Knifemakers seldom use a rusting process for finishing knife blades.

Modern damascus knife blades and old damascus gun barrels are not quite apples and oranges. As they are both made of ferrous materials, some things are related. But the steels used, the heat treatment given each and the finishing processes employed are all different.

There is a lot of confusion about whether the iron or the steel is white in finished damascus gun barrels. I think we should start a new thread to discuss this. Maybe we can come to a consensus on this topic. We have a bunch of guys on this forum, who have finished damascus gun barrels. What do they say? Do they believe the iron finishes white? What are their observations during the finishing process?

Drew posed a couple photos that are a perfect example of the kind of thing that gives me pause on this finishing topic. They are the photos of the barrels with Rosen and Three iron Oxford patterns. The weld lines on the Rosen barrel are black. The weld lines on the Oxford barrel are white. Why?? What caused this difference? How does the fact that welds lines can color differently affect the probability of being able to predict whether the iron or steel will finish white?

Yes, it's tongue in cheek but there lies some truth in it as well. Shotgunning is like sex...applying too much science gets stale in a hurry.

The most boring thing in the world would be a shotgun that throws a perfect pattern and never misses.

Interesting observation Steve, about weld lines coloring differently. I believe you've mentioned back a while about the significance of the chosen finishing process on how the different components color. I've wondered if it's possible to reverse the dark/light coloring on the same piece of barrel just by the finishing schedule.

Craig,
I have wondered about this same thing. But the more I understand about the processes of etching and coloring ferrous materials, the more I am convinced that the outcome of coloring can only have one result.

For comparison, Springfield 1903 Rifle Barrel Steel

https://books.google.com/books?id=KdARAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1073&lpg
Mining and Metallurgy: Published Monthly by the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, 1919

The Government specifications for barrel steel for model 1903 rifle (Springfield) call for carbon 0.50 to 0.60 per cent., manganese 1.00 to 1.29 per cent., silicon under 0.25 per cent., sulfur under 0.06 per cent., phosphorus under 0.08 per cent. The minimum physical requirements are: Tensile strength, 110,000 lb. per sq. in.; yield point 75,000 lb. per sq. in.

Three barrels were analyzed with an average of:
Carbon .48%
Manganese .98%
Sulfur .05%
Phosphorus .06%
This would be similar to AISI 1551 with slightly higher sulfur and phosphorus.

Winchester Nickel Steel, introduced for the Model 1894 rifle about 1896: 100,000 - 107,000 psi with an elastic limit of 81,000 psi
Marlin “Special Smokeless Steel” introduced for the Model 1893 rifle in 1897 and Model 21 Grade C Pump in 1907: 100,000 psi
Remington Ordnance Steel, introduced in 1897 for the 1894 Hammerless Double: 110,000 psi with an elastic limit of 60,000 psi

I've not been able to find a composition analysis of the Marlin or Remington steels

BTW: It is assumed the "Remington Steel" used on the A Grade Hammerless Model of 1894 (until 1897), K Grade (Model 1900) Hammerless, and (1894) Hammerless Grade “F.E.” Trap Gun (introduced in 1906) is similar to Marlin “Special Rolled Steel” and Winchester “Rolled Steel”.
The 1897 Remington catalog stated “Remington blued steel barrels are manufactured in our own works” and the Sears catalog No. 112 c. 1902 states the K Grade has “fine Decarbonized steel barrels”.

Col. William Brophy, Arsenal of Freedom - The Springfield Armory, 1890-1948
Krag-Jorgensen Model 1894 .30-40
C < .5%
Mn < .6%
S < .034%
P < .045%
AISI 1044

Roy Dunlap Gunsmithing, 1963
https://books.google.com/books?id=7Ab12fHr8y0C&pg=PA181&lpg
Army “Ordnance Steel”
C - .45 - .55%
Mn - 1.00 - 1.3%
P < .05%
S < .05%
AISI 1551
Tensile strength 110,000 psi; yield strength 75,000 psi
“I believe the Savage Arms Corp. uses this (steel) for all center-fire rifles.”

ANOTHER CALL FOR BARREL SEGMENTS and then I'll let this thread rest.

Thanks to the graciousness of Dennis Potter I was able to tensile test a segment of "Krupp Essen" (maker and age unknown) and a segment of Remington 3200. I doubt if the Remington barrel was the cursed 1140 Manganese Sulfide Modified Carbon Steel because the tensile strength was 121,000 psi!

SO this summer I'll take both segments, and a couple more pattern welded segments, by METL for composition analysis (at $75 per test ). I would very much like some other pre-WWI new fangled Fluid Steel barrels IF you know the source; such as Stevens "High Pressure Compressed Forged Steel", Ithaca "Smokeless Powder Steel", or especially Hunter Arms London, Crown, or Nitro Steel.

Please email at revdoc2@cox.net if you have a chunk of barrel and thanks! The analysis only requires an about 2" square.

BTW: I have no knowledge of what 'Zircon' has done with the almost 40 barrel segments he received.

I suspect the difference in the colors of the butt welds along the edges of the ribands were due to how the metals were stacked in the billet. Outer edges of iron in the billets would result in a silver line, steel would cause the black.

I'd think this was easy for the smiths, considering how they were able to manipulate and create intricate patterns.

I think a thing to consider is that the billet is generally twisted, so the steel or iron that ended up next to an eventual weld is constantly alternating. The interesting observation, is that the entire weld line not only colors uniformly, but different on different barrels.

I think Steve's right, in that the materials chosen would likely have consistently contrasting colors, but one finish may display display them a bit different than another.

The materials seem to weld very nicely, so that might imply similarity/compatibility, and there doesn't seem to be any indication of heat treatment. The color differences seem to be related to changes in the properties of the component, and maybe not the coloring of a trace element, I think as Steve noted.

This is interesting.

In 1911 Hopkins & Allen listed the “Ladies’ Model (Single)” with “Decarbonized Steel”.
The No. 112 Hammerless was still listed with “American Decarbonized Steel” in 1918.
Single barrels were also listed with “Diadem Smokeless Steel” ( Researcher likely knows which models? ) as was the Marlin Model 60 single in 1923.

I’ve found no Iron & Steel Works that used the “Diadem” name. Interestingly, there was a Diadem Manufacturing Company, “Mfrs. of Celluloid Novelties” in Fitchburg, Mass.



"Crown" was the brand name of the Crown and Cumberland Steel Co., Allegany County, Maryland which was established in 1872. Related to the Panic of 1893, Crown and Cumberland Steel was sold at a trustee sale in 1894, and then reorganized as Cumberland Steel and Tinplate Co.
In 1901, the company became part of Crucible Steel http://www.crucibleservice.com/history.aspx

Hunter Arms first used "Crown" steel with the introduction of the Pigeon Gun in 1893, with barrels surely sourced in Belgium.

c. 1901 - 1903 Ithaca Gun Co. No. 3 and above models have been identified with “Crown Steel” marked on the top of the barrels

In the 1900 Edition of The Horseless Age, Volume 7, Whiteley Steel Co. of Chicago with works in Muncie, Indiana also advertised “Crown Steel”
http://books.google.com/books?id=QaFMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA39-IA37&dq

Hunter Arms had "Crown" (and others) registered by at least 1905



Missabe Fluid Steel is interesting. The Messabi Iron Ore Range is the largest iron deposit in NE Minn. into Michigan and was (then) the only source for low phosphorus ore in the U.S.
A c. 1919 Fulton tradename gun for Comstock Arms Co., Duluth

Thought I'd add some infro from this interesting Witten steel thread here, and thanks to Bro. Raimey for his contributions
http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=445562&page=1


The Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute, Volume 31, Issue 2, 1881
“Application of Solid Steel to the Manufacture of Small Arms, Projectiles, and Ordnance”
https://books.google.com/books?id=BCJDAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA456&lpg
Canon barrel composition
Witten is listed as “Cast Steel in Crucibles” – 3 samples
Siemens-Martin is Open Hearth process – 3 samples
Bessemer – 5 samples
Nobel is M. Nobel (Alfred's brother) of the Tjef Works in Perm, Russia using the Terrenoire process with silicide of manganese. Terre Noire process was developed by Compagnie des Fonderies et Forges de Terre Noire, La Voulte et Bessages near St. Etienne
Bofors Co. of Karlskoga, Sweden (later owned by Alfred Nobel) also with silicide of manganese

……….Witten……...…Bessemer…...Siemens…..….Bofors……..Nobel
C_____.43 - .47_____.15 - .55____.5-.55______.4 - .5_____.12
Mn____.4__________.17 - .48____.12 - .22____.36 - .61___.53
S______.035 - .045__<.01 - .015__<.01_______<.01 - .02___.02
P______.057 - .08___.016 - .042__.014 - .024__.04 - .045__.11
AISI… High P 1044…………………...............…………..1044………1108
Siemens is similar to AISI 1050, but with about 1/2 of the AISI standard Manganese content.


By 1890 the steel producers were obviously attempting to manipulate carbon content, along with manganese
The Mechanical and Other Properties of Iron and Steel in Connection with Their Chemical Composition, 1891
https://books.google.com/books?id=-c8xAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA30&dq
For ordnance material generally a harder and stronger kind of steel is used, although some prefer a mild steel for guns:
Terre Noire: .12% carbon;
Cammell: .14 - .19%;
Vickers: .24 - .27%;
Trubia (Spain): .23 - .33%.
Harder steels:
Firth: .34 - .4% carbon;
Whitworth: .3 - .42%;
Bofors: .35 - .45% (cast without blowholes);
Witten: .47%;
Krupp: .45 - .71%;
Terre Noire: .5 - .88% (cast without blowholes).
“A modern gun being built up of different parts which have to fulfil different duties must not be made of one and the same steel unless different mechanical properties are obtained by different processes of hardening, tempering, &c.”
Barrels for small arms:
Solingen .13%
Terre Noire .3%
Spanish .43%
Witten .47%
St. Chamond .49%
Firminy .57%
Unieux .60%

Gun Steels
https://books.google.com/books?id=-c8xAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA196&dq
……..Witten…..Whitworth…....Vickers…...…Krupp….…...Krupp…...…Bofors
C____.47______.30 - .42_____ .24 - .27___.46 - .52____ .60 - .71___.40 - .45
Mn___.41______.24 - .31_____.22 - .23___ .07 - .13____.16 - .18___ .54 - .61
P_____.08____________________________<.01________<.01______ .02 - .05
AISI__(High P) 1044_________________________________________1042 - 1044

Bridge and chain steels were reported to be .2 - .25% carbon. Chain has been listed as a source for steel in pattern welded barrels.

And other news

In the 1902 Sears catalog, the Crescent New White Powder Wonder “Bored For Nitro Powder” is listed with “Wilson’s Welded Steel”.



In the same catalog, under the “Our Line Of Imported Double Barrel Shotguns” shows a ‘Greener Action’ with ‘Wilson's Best Damascus Finish’ and the T. Barker gun with ‘Wilson's Royal Damascus Finish’.
There are also single barrel Long Range Winner, (Crescent) New White Powder Wonder, 36” and 40” (Crescent) Single Barrel Shotgun, and Colton Fire Arms Model 1902 double all listed with ‘Wilson's Welded Steel’.
The 1908 catalog did not list any guns with ‘Wilson’s Steel’.

I just scored a 'Wilson's Welded Steel' barrel which I will ask METL to composition analyze, along with a Krupp Essen chunk courtesy of Dennis Potter, and a Twist and Crolle barrel. I suspect Wilson's will be plain 'ol Crescent decarbonized steel by another name but it might be interesting.

A c. 1910 Meriden Fire Arms “Armory Steel” barrel was Bessemer Rephosphorized Carbon Steel sorta between AISI 1211 & 1016 and had a tensile strength of 71,500 psi.

This was common of the German barrel makers. They used an extended exposure to sulfuric acid to achieve this effect.

Pete

The steel industry had moved to using coke (they had been using charcoal) to forge the iron. This caused the carbon to build up after it had combined with silicon. which in turn ruined the patterns for the barrel makers. After much work the two were able to develop an alternative formula. Part of this search included buying iron form various European sources.

Pete

To elaborate on Pete's accurate observation. We only have TWO crolle Damascus composition analysis, both specimens c. late 1890s, and both have very low carbon so it appears the Damascus makers stuck with something like "Low carbon, Low alloy AISI 1002-1005" for pattern welded barrels. I have one more crolle sample and one twist sample to analyze also.

“Manufacture of Damascus Gun-Barrels”, E. Heuse-Lemoine, 1884

From the remotest times, this industry of gun-barrel manufacturing has been practised in the Valley of the Vesdre from Nessonvaux to Chaudfontaine. Under the first French empire, our renowned barrel-smiths furnished the contingent of work people for the Imperial manufactories. At that time all the barrels for military guns were forged by hand; the preparing of the iron for these barrels was exclusively performed with charcoal and the superiority of this iron to that preparation with coaks is well known, in our day of the specialty of fire-arms as we shall show a little for further.
The barrels thus manufactured with good charcoal iron proved to be already a great progress with respect to solidity, but offered of the Damascus appearance which was visible by certain traces of the spiral produced by the appearance of the fibres or the varnish of the metal.
The steel as well as the iron for these fine Damascus barrels must be of a special quality, which is to be got in Wesphalia in Germany from the manufacturers of this metal, especially from the firm Koite of Luttringhausen which supplies as with all we want in this article in which enjoys all the great reputation for this type of article.
In this kind of curled or other fine Damascus, we may not use any other but we refined charcoal iron, because it has, contrary to the Swedish iron, the propriety of being very light colored and consequently of a contrasting hue with the steel and moreover by its natural purity contrary to the coak iron it does not require nor want to be welded at a high temperature for being purified; as we just observed it would be in discord with the steel, its alloy, which cannot and must not be exposed to excessive heat when welding. (It is the [unreadable] Stok Company at Grivegnee [Liege] which enjoys the highest reputation for the preparing these packets of lumps for welding and reducing them into stripes.)
Unfortunately the manufacturing iron by means of coaks is almost everywhere prevailed over its manufacturing with charcoal on account of the extensive use of coaks in all kinds of metallic construction and especially because it is a great deal cheaper, so that charcoal iron becomes more and more scarce.
In Belgium there are only Mess. Mineur et Son a Couvin who manufacture and furnish us this speciality of iron, which we must declare give us the greatest satisfaction by its undeniable superiority and which it is really indispensable for manufacturing fine Damascus barrels.
A great number of fruitless trials have been made with all their similar metals, among others Swedish iron which has the advantage of being fibrous but it also has a defect of being a steely nature, so that it is not produce a beautiful Damascus; it's hue is blending and confounding with that of steel, so that only an imperfect Damascus is resulting from it.
The coak-iron however is also much used in manufacturing barrels on account of its being very cheap, but it cannot be employed in manufacturing the superior kind of Damascus barrels on account of its impurities and of some other defects unseparable from its nature. Therefore it is only made use of in making common and cheap barrels.
Here is yet something to be noticed in favor of the charcoal-iron, for the stripes composed with this kind of iron may be wrung and twisted, and furnish a very fine Damascus, where the coak-iron can only imperfectly be twisted and gives a coarser Damascus.
The same observation may be made respecting the smithwork, more the man is hammering the Damas composition made with charcoal-iron, more it gains hardness and metallic elasticity, were as the contrary takes place in the same composition made up with coak-iron.


The New York Times, May 3, 1896 “Costly Belgian Gun Barrels”
The United States Consul in Liege describes, in a recent report, the manufacture of and trade in damascus gun barrels, wholly hand made, in the valley of the Vesdre in Liege Province. These barrels are for sporting guns, and the industry is many years old, the workmen in the villages in the valley being almost all gun barrel makers, and the trade descending from father to son. The best barrels are a combination of the best primary substances, welded and forged by the martelage ‘a froid (“cold hammering”) process; the steel comes from Westphalia, the iron is manufactured at Couvin, in Belgium; the coal, which is specially suited for the work, from the Herve’ Highlands, in Belgium, while the motive power of the factories is obtained from the River Vesdre.
Medium quality barrels are made of coke iron and steel, while the superior quality, which are produced in the Vesdre Valley, are made of charcoal iron and steel. An ingenious “marriage” of these metals gives a composition which, when manufactured, guarantees the required solidity and resistance.

Apparently a difference of opinion regarding "Swedish Iron" It should be noted that Swedish iron ore was one of the few sources for low phosphorus ore.

Appleton's Dictionary of Machines, Mechanics, Engine-work, and Engineering, 1873
“It would be difficult to define what scrap iron is, or what it is not, being composed of everything in iron that has previously been manufactured, as well as of the cuttings from the various manufactories…saws and steel pens.”

“Swedish iron, known by the mark CCND, and coach-springs, form an excellent combination for Damascus barrels.”


Appleton didn't have that quite right. CCND was Russian iron from Demidoff's Works at Nisch-netagilsk
https://books.google.com/books?id=rZEBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA150&lpg

https://books.google.com/books?id=3XY4AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA419&lpg

Or maybe not

A.H. Bogardus, Field, Cover, and Trap Shooting, 3rd Edition, 1891, "How Guns Are Made", p. 426
https://archive.org/stream/fieldcovertrapsh01boga#page/426/mode/2up

In a visit to W&C Scott&Sons, Bogardus comments on Scott's method of manufacturing Damascus barrels. The key ferrous ingredients used were old coach springs and rusty anchor chains. This would likely result in a mixture of Wrought Iron and a carbon steel with a C content of approx.; 0.5%.


The digitized copy of "How Guns Are Made" linked above does not have that reference to .5% carbon, so I'm not sure where it originated.

William Wellington Greener, The Gun and Its Development, 1907, 8th Edition, “The Manufacture of Iron for Gun Barrels”
https://books.google.com/books?id=3HMCAA...p;q&f=false
The steels suitable (for pattern welded barrels) are open hearth and ingot steels produced by modern methods, if low in carbon. On account of its purity and uniformity, best Swedish steel is most usually preferred.

How low is low, i.e. what %?

Cheers,

Raimey
rse

Exactly

And how does this fit with our "the higher the carbon and the harder the steel the better the contrast" narrative
Bro. Steve suggested it's not quite that simple.

I thought you to be the head centrifuge fella and had all the answers. Don't tell me the answer is akin to the limbo skating game, how low can you go?

Cheers,

Raimey
rse

Prior to "Open Hearth" steel, the wrought iron components were scrap horse shoes (Spain) and horse-nail stubs, ox irons; steel, worn scythes, old chain, broken coach-springs, and “Soft steel, which is decarbonized in the course of manufacture” (likely Bessemer).
The sources of nail stubs were exhausted by the mid-1800s, and in the 1881 3rd Edition of Greener's The Gun he states that scrap iron and steel were no longer being used for barrels.
The 1891 study on page 4 lists structural steel and chain as having .2 - .25 carbon. Vickers was listed as .24 - .27%.

How low in carbon were those scythes & coach springs. It would seem a low carbon steel would not be very satisfactory for either purpose. It would seem a man with a low carbon scythe would spend far more time sharpening than scything while a low carbon coach spring would more likely just lose its arc rather than break. o et ansping at all it would have to be very thick & heavy for its purpose.

Miller: up until introduction of the Bessemer process in the 1850s, the steel was "Cast steel"; the Huntsman hot-rolled crucible steel process of 1742 used for farm implements (like the L.C. Smith ). To form a pipe or barrel, a sheet was folded over a mandrel and the long edge hammer welded, leaving a "seam", lest Wonko has forgotten
Basic Bessemer had a C of .07 - .09%, but the 1881 study on the previous page lists .15 - .55%.
The Darby method of carburization was invented in 1890 to add carbon to steel, but there were earlier techniques
https://books.google.com/books?id=Fec9SNazAnwC&pg=PA61&lpg

I revised one of the documents to cover the evolution of iron & steel components in pattern welded barrels
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V-qkkHrs7yJakMkakxkiMx8FzJjGXUg0EDm8-_AQPiA/edit

Again, I have a crolle and a twist barrel segment for composition analysis

Strength & composition of vintage new fangled steel barrels is still here
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dnRLZgcuHfx7uFOHvHCUGnGFiLiset-DTTEK8OtPYVA/edit

The rare and exotic Crescent for Sears "Wilson's Welded Steel" has arrived

Welding Engineer 1922

Was the Wilson in question the above?

Cheers,

Raimey
rse

I did some looking for a c. 1900 "Wilson" foundry or steel works and didn't find anything. Wonder if the Wilson connection is with the Chicago location in your ad??

Here's there 1916 catalog
https://archive.org/details/electricwelding00wilsrich

The "Wilson's Welded Steel" was only used by Sears on Crescent and also Colton double guns 1900-shortly after 1902.

Thought I'd add this information regarding vintage double ACTION steel.

Plans & Specifications of the L.C. Smith Shotgun by William S. Brophy contains an undated but likely post-1913 Materials Specification chart indicating “AISI 1020 Carbon Steel” for both the frame and barrel.
However, under the Featherweight drawings dated Feb. 19, 1929 the lug specifies a forging of 1020 steel, but the barrel is “Steel App. 40 Carbon”, likely AISI 1040.

Just came across this of interest

July 1, 1920 American Machinist published an Ordnance Salvage Board Surplus Property Sale of almost 75,000 pounds of “Spec. Shape Gun Steel” from the A.H. Fox Gun Co. with C .15-.25%, Mn .5-.7% and S & P < .06% = AISI 1020 and likely frame steel
https://books.google.com/books?id=ezRMAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA409&lpg

A.H Fox introduced barrels with “Chromox High Pressure Fluid Steel” (chrome-nickel and vanadium steel) in 1912.

AISI 8620 (a .20% carbon and chromium, molybdenum, nickel low alloy steel) eventually became the standard for frames; it is easily carburizing and machined when annealed. High dollar modern doubles mostly use 4140, or better.