Chantry: Thankyou for that! I was hoping that would ultimately be the case but... your first-hand experience and insight here sounds spot-on and is very much appreciated.
Another question for the hammered-gun crowd here: twist and/or even skelp-barreled guns...any concerns here as-compared to true English-best Damascus? I know the laminated-steel tubes produced later in the era (1890s) were of comparable strength to true-Damascus. Does that also apply to the earlier and perhaps more-affordable (mostly-unadorned guns with fairly plain wood and zero engraving) being produced...let's say in the early/middle 1880s by smaller (& largely-unknown) provincial makers?
Also, I remember hearing (or reading somewhere) that in some of the very early break-action guns, the chambers can be thinner than what became the average, due the the planned use of "perfects" which were the drawn-brass shotgun shells of the period. Some of those guns reportedly need truly low-pressure shells (down in the 6,000 psi range) for safe & regular operation. Is that accurate?
Damascus: That violin-cased gun is over-the-top cool(!) as is the thumb-lever Purdey!
Last edited by Lloyd3; 05/10/22 08:26 PM.
