Name that pattern

[Breck Gorman]

Not a Parker. But I thought it was certainly interesting enough to share this unusual pattern.

[Mills Morrison]

Following and waiting for Dr. Drew to chime in.

[Dean Romig]

Appears to be two-iron something or other… :whistle:





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[Drew Hause]

Thank you Breck and very interesting. I have never seen such striking contrast between the 2 rods used to fabricate the tubes (Dean is correct) and I can't imagine that the contrast was not purposeful.

This is Parker D3 (3 Iron) which clearly shows that the "scroll" is composed of the edges of adjacent rods, with a wavy "zipper" weld between, the 'stars' are from the same twisted rod, and that the ribband edge weld is straight

https://photos.smugmug.com/Damascus/Sample-segments/i-2zJXb4d/0/b7b1fdff/M/Parker%20D3%20close%20up-M.jpg (https://drewhause.smugmug.com/Damascus/Sample-segments/i-2zJXb4d/A)

SO Breck's pattern has one rod staining more darkly alternating with one rod staining less so.

E. Heuse-Lemoine of Liege said in 1884 that the pattern coloring and contrast was dependent on the source of the coal, the source of the iron, and whether charcoal, coke or coal was used by the smelter. I suspect, but it is only a guess, that the tube makers chose rods which colored differently, and used one of each simply for the aesthetic contrast.

[keavin nelson]

That barrel pattern is outstanding, and so I bet the rest of the gun is too!

[Dean Romig]

I once bought a POS GH on the 1 1/2 frame with blued Damascus barrels cut back from 30" to 27 with .003" and .002" chokes. I had Dale Edmonds refinish the barrels and as it turned out the D3 pattern had a winding in it similar to the variation in color of the subject gun. It was a fine Skeet gun though.


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[Aaron Beck]

The material composition of the metals will dictate how it etches. Carbon content is key and can be a factor derived from smelting and or the working of the metal as well as the original composition of the ore. Other elements can also play a role, It seems the alternating pattern is deliberate. The gun looks fancy but the material in the barrel seems to be of low quality and shows a lot of porosity which I assume is from the etch.

[Drew Hause]

Aaron is correct.
Steel with manganese (AISI 10XX Carbon Steel or 15XX Carbon Steels) will typically etch black. The steel component of pattern welded barrels was low carbon - AISI 1005 in the 3 crolle specimens I had composition tested.
Nickel will produce silver, and chromium gray.
Higher carbon also = harder steel which will etch darker.

[Aaron Beck]

Some of the earliest steel was actually carburized iron, or wrought iron which was soaked at heat in a carbon rich atmosphere. When you etch this 'steel' it will show dark due to the carbon but the material is no more resistant to the acid than wrought iron. It can be hard to get a good etch for contrast because the two materials dont erode at signifigantly different rates. It can also be hard to get crisp looking patterns in this instance for the same reasons. At least that was my experience which was admittedly limited sample wise.

[Harold Lee Pickens]

My PH 16, circa 1891 letters with Twist steel barrels per the Order book. The stock book says Plain Twist. What is the difference between the two?
The rib inscription says Twist.
Sorry, meant to start a new thread, but dont know how to move it now.

[Drew Hause]

Here you go Harold
http://parkerguns.org/forums/showthread.php?t=32972

[Jim Kremmel]

My PH 16, circa 1891 letters with Twist steel barrels per the Order book. The stock book says Plain Twist. What is the difference between the two?
The rib inscription says Twist.
Sorry, meant to start a new thread, but dont know how to move it now.

I asked the same question a couple month’s back, and I’m not sure I got an answer as to whether there is a difference. My barrels from 1907 were identified in the thread as “plain twist”, and they are marked “twist” on the barrel.

[Drew Hause]

I appreciate the link that I provided has lots of information.

Here is the short version.

Plain Twist (and Stub Twist) are 2 of the many patterns that fit under the general category of "Twist" - thin strips of alternating steel and iron which are "stacked" into a "lopin" WHICH IS NOT TWISTED (as is crolle damascus) before being run through a rolling mill at high heat and pressure to form the rod, which is then wrapped around a mandrel and helically welded to form the "rough forged tube"

This is a segment of Plain Twist which happens to show the end on rod when it was added to the ribband - the white is iron and black is steel

https://photos.smugmug.com/Damascus/Lopins/i-ccCGWX3/0/cab4d69c/S/Meth%2011-S.jpg (https://drewhause.smugmug.com/Damascus/Lopins/i-ccCGWX3/A)

So for practical purposes, when a U.S. maker labeled their barrel "Twist", or a lower quality Belgian gun was marked "Laminated Steel", it had the appearance of "Plain Twist"

This a Dr. Gaddy's English Twist, Plain Twist, Common Twist, Birmingham, or “Scelp/Skelp” sample segment, which was referred to as "Wire Twist" by W. Greener in 1835.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Damascus/Sample-segments/i-Vn3HZ26/0/0389b583/S/Twist%2011-S.jpg (https://drewhause.smugmug.com/Damascus/Sample-segments/i-Vn3HZ26/A)

It is likely that Parker Bros. DID source some Twist (and Crolle Damascus) from Birmingham for Lifters, but certainly the vast majority of top lever guns had "rough forged tubes" sourced from Belgium.

[Dean Romig]

So essentially, Twist and Plain Twist are the same, the only difference being where Parker Bros. sourced the tubes?





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[Drew Hause]

Parker guns with ribs marked "Twist" had a "Plain Twist" pattern

EXCEPT Parker guns marked "Twist" that had a "London Damascus Twist" pattern

https://photos.smugmug.com/Damascus/Parker/i-PMRwbwD/0/0c78a480/M/Parker%20Damascus%20Twist%20marked%20Twist-M.jpg (https://drewhause.smugmug.com/Damascus/Parker/i-PMRwbwD/A)

"Stub Twist" barrels had a slightly different methodology and appearance than "Plain Twist"

[Dean Romig]

Here's a pattern that may be unique as Parker barrels go, and is a 16 gauge. This pattern is known as "Stars and Stripes" or "American Flag Bunting." I prefer the latter.

I'm trying to remember the grade but will have to search my folder "Other People's Parkers" to see if I can find more pictures of the gun.


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[Drew Hause]

It is "Washington" Dean; no stars

http://parkerguns.org/forums/showthread.php?t=33830

[Dean Romig]

Can’t it still be American Flag Bunting…? please…?





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[Dean Romig]

Okay, after an hour of searching my phpto folder of Other People's Parkers I finally found the only other picture I have of the gun.
It's a Grade 2 hammer gun but I don't know what the barrel steel on the rib is, although I have the picture filed as "Grade 2 Stars and Stripes Damascus" so the rib is likely marked Damascus, but I can't say for certain... and I don't know the serial number.

Sorry about the red picture. Somehow a red filter came on in my PC a few weeks ago and I've tried everything to get rid of it, but.... I can't do it for whatever reason.


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[Mike Koneski]

Dean, maybe this helps. I changed it to a gray scale and removed the red.

[Dean Romig]

Thanks Mike - I tried but every time I changed it, back it went to red.





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