doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Care of Damascus?

Taking my first foray into damascus bbls. Do the bores require more attention to cleaning after shooting with modern shells (correct pressure) and plastic wads? Are they more prone to rusting in the chambers or certain areas of the bores? Plastic build up any worse? Planning on using Clenzoil like I do on the rest of my guns for cleaning and storage between outings.
V/r
Maxey

They can get a bit plasticy in the bores if you don't clean them much. However, generally, just scrub them out with gun oil and a patch, then with the bronze brush and then oil and patches 'til clean.

Nothing else is required, just keep them lightly oiled and in a dry place.

I shoot a lot of Damascus and have for 20 years. I clean them as I do all of my doubles,(brass brush and then oil).I cannot tell any difference, BUT , I think it is important to stop any potential rusting on the interior because of the layers involved.

I have three Damascus barreled side-by-sides. I use RST 1125 or 1150 fps loads in 2.5" 1 ounce Lites in all of them-- a Parker 12ga. PH 30", an LC Smith Grade 2 12ga. 30" and a LeFever 12 G 28"-- all of them have good bores free of pits or fouling, and I clean the bores with a brass brush and then a swab with Hoppe's after shooting them- if yo9u were reading the bores on these shotguns and didn't know they were Damascus barreled, you might think you were looking down a set of Nitro Proofed steel barrels as well. Just clean the bores of your Damascus barreled gun(s) as you do your others--

Maxey, if you have a damascus (or any other barrel, for that matter) that will not be used for ong periods of time, I'd suggest a coat of wax in place of the last oil. Oil is prone to running off the surface over time. Wax is a solid and doesn't. Just as wax is the ticket for gun exterior preservation, so will it work o n the inside of barrels.

DDA

I clean my damascus guns the same as moden steel. Some of my guns have pitting in the damascus barrels. They are more difficult to keep clean and I believe it is more important that they stay clean in order to prevent further pitting.

I usually clean those guns with a spray like Remington gun cleaner and a bronze brush wrapped with 0000 steel wool chucked into an electric drill. After burnishing the bores with the drill, I swab RemOil in and push clean patches through until the bores shine.

I do have one W&C Scott hammergun that had 'sewer pipe' bores. I shipped it out to Steve Bertram for measurement and subsequent reaming and choke adjustment to clean them up. Normally though, I fall into the camp that holds that pitted barrels are not going to be made stronger by honing out metal...Geo

With the general use of plastic shells many yars ago many began experiencing chamber rusting. Some component of the plastic was often blamed. The truth turned out that was not the case. Upon firing paper shells a left a waxy deposit in the chamber which helped to protect them fron rust. Plastic shells had no such coating so the chambers were left dry. Often time the brushes, mops etc used for cleaning the bore were not large enough to clean the chamber. As the chamber itself appeared clean many simply neglected to follow up on the chamber. In many climate conditions this left the chamber susceptable to rusting. As far as I know though there is no difference here whether the gun is steel or damascus.

I have been experimenting with the use of Thompson Center Natural Lube 1000 to protect the bores of some of my shotguns.

I have been using this product as a patch and bullet lube, and as a bore protectant in my flintlocks with excellent results. Before using this, no matter how much I cleaned, and scrubbed, and boiled, and dried, and oiled, I still got some after-rusting in the bores during storage. Since I made the switch over a dozen years ago, I have had zero problems. I reasoned that if it did that well with black powder, it might do at least as well with smokeless. It has not disappointed me. It is a non-petroleum product that has the consistancy of grease, so it is unlikely to run off as gun oil will over time. If you warm the barrels slightly, it will readily melt and get into the bottom of any pits that may be there, and thus keep them from getting any worse.

I use Automatic Transmission A for all of my cleaning of bores. My black powder rifle shooter friends put me on it. I have never had even a speck of rust since. It is very high in anticorrosive additives and cheap.

I have a damascus Remington 1900 with very light pitting and a Lefever HE with light/moderate pitting. They get a scrub with Ed's red and bronze brush then continued swabouts with Eezox and final coat with the same stuff.

Two years ago, I made the switch to Eezox because it has the best anti-corrosion of any by independent test and it stays put. All my guns get the same inside and out; lock work too.