Bill,
Since the barrel is cooler, the weld will cause hardening all by itself if enough carbon is present. When I welded these barrels, I used mild steel rod. The welds themselves were ok to file, but the area right along the edge of the weld was very hard. I'm guessing something like 60 RC or more based on the way the file wouldn't cut it well. When you harden something, it creates stresses. This is especially true when you harden something locally and there is a disparity of hardening across the part. Given that the hardness was very high in my case, and that it was only local, I would feel much better about annealing than leaving it as it was. High internal stresses and high hardness is a bad combination for a part that will see additional loading stress. If you've ever seen a weld crack right in front of your eyes as it cooled, you have seen the result of internal stresses beyond ultimate strength of the steel.
If you're worried about annealing weakening the barrels to less than their original condition, I think you can lay that to rest. Barrels are relatively soft, except for a few exceptions. All this dent removal discussion is a good indicator of that. But the first time you see an engraver start scratching one up, that's conclusive.
I would treat damascus exactly the same for a weld. Weld it, try to file it, if it has hard spots, anneal.
Last edited by Chuck H; 02/27/11 11:31 AM.