doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Invisible sleeve joints and damascus

Two things catch my eye on the Parker blow-out.

1.The original chamber/monobloc is still intact & the rupture starts at the sleeved tube parting line.

2.The end of the shell is well past the normal chamber length. I just measured one of my Parkers and the shell shown appears to be about 3 1/4" to 3 1/2" in length. Could someone have stuffed a 3 1/2" magnum 12ga shell in this one? Did the shell case separate from the base & get lodged causing a higher pressure?

re: the silver spacers - since Trevallion and Kearcher are both still around (AFAIK), why not just ask them why their sleeve work shows the silver spacers? Rather than speculate.

Keith is retired, but his nephew Kody might know.

SRH

Thanks for your replies and input so far, some scary pics there !
It's the Tig weld method that's raised the question really but I can see the sense in a spacer when trying to match or disguise the patterns at the joint when using donor damascus tubes.
It's whether there's a problem with the weld heat "unravelling" or weakening the old welds between the iron and steel that got me thinking ?

The MacNaughton that Drew pictures on the previous page has the most attractive sleeving I've ever seen. Why try to hide what it is! Proudly display its heritage. And I believe the silver rings are used to highlight the difference. Beautifully done! And I love the extra touch of reverse "sleeving" the muzzles, ala Peiper of Belgium.

+1
I really like the three sections with damascus on the ends.
Gorgeous.

John Foster looks to be in some transition, but possibly one of our British correspondents could alert him to this thread
http://www.johnfostergunmaker.co.uk/

I'll venture an opinion. I don't believe the heat from a properly done weld will have any detrimental effect on sound damascus. The issues with welding generally have to do with higher carbon steels and alloys; some are real fussy about rod, temperature, previous heat treat, etc.

Were higher carbon steels ever used with lower carbon/iron in making damascus? I think this could have been a problem for the welders/blacksmiths of old. I'd guess any heat treatable steel would have been in annealed state after welding into damascus.

DDA

Don: from the 'staining' thread

Steve said "1002 steel may be close to what was used in barrels."

and I agree

The chemical composition of only TWO samples of pre-1900 2 Iron Crolle was similar to AISI 1005 low carbon, low alloy steel based on Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES).

Wrought Iron may have .05% - .25% carbon, so the steel component had to be very low carbon steel.

Also, your xrays of the damascus barrels didn't seem to show a network of weld joints, but rather the two components became a mono steel. I would suppose if the TIG welder thought they formed some embrittlement or other worry, they could stress relieve the barrels.

That appearance of the longitudinal barrel failure on the Parker sleeve gun might be a reason why the damascus smiths turned the long grain of the barrel's parent materials to right angles with the bore. I know it's not related, but that's how I would guess wrought iron, or questionable roll mill steel, might fail if the long grain followed the length of a barrel, a different intent from construction fasteners, axles, etc.