The Modern Sportsman's Gun and Rifle: Including Game and Wildfowl Guns, Sporting and Match Rifles, and Revolvers
John Henry Walsh (Editor of The Field) 1882
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“CONSTRUCTION OF THE GUN”
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THE BARRELS
Whatever may be the kind of gun about to be made, the first thing done is to forge the tube or tubes containing the charge. Formerly they were all made of plain iron, but for the last hundred years the barrels of all best guns have been constructed either of strips or twisted iron coiled spirally round a mandril, and welded together by heat, or of steel. At present the selection is from three kinds, viz., first, Damascus; second, laminated steel; and third, plain steel.
The chief difficulty in the present day is to obtain iron of sufficiently good quality to mix with the steel, whether for Damascus or laminated barrels. Formerly horseshoe stub nails were alone thought good enough; but of late years these have fallen off in quality, and are also insufficient for the supply of the increased demand for shot guns since the passing of the present game law. These stubs, generally mixed together with other "scraps," were welded together and forged into bars; but in the present day new iron is alone used, selecting the best quality in the market, and refining it by melting and puddling, after which it is submitted to the tilt hammer, by which its fibres are condensed and drawn out.