Generally speaking, top-action Grade-0 guns had Plain Twist or Twist Steel barrels while Grade-1 guns had either Damascus or Laminated Steel barrels. Grade-2 top action-guns almost always had Damascus Steel barrels.
Re: engraving - Grade-0 might have had a simple single-line engraving around perimeters of the lock platess and frame while the Grade-1 guns had a 'graver-walk' around the perimeters of the lock plates and often a minimal amount of scroll on lock plates and a bit on the frame.... but there were a significant number of Grade-1 guns that did not have any scroll on the lock plates at all. Grade-2 guns almost always had, in addition to the scroll engraving, game birds engraved on the lock plates and sometimes a single game bird engraved on the bottom of the frame as well as more embellished scroll on the bolsters and top tang.
The above will vary depending on the particular era of manufacture and often depending on the whims of the chief engraver at the time.
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"I'm a Setter man.
Not because I think they're better than the other breeds,
but because I'm a romantic - stuck on tradition - and to me, a Setter just "belongs" in the grouse picture."
George King, "That's Ruff", 2010 - a timeless classic.
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