D grade question

[Ray Masciarella]

When they have Damascus barrels, are they 3 or 4 blade? Thx, Ray

[B. Dudley]

They are single "D". Same as GH grade.

[Ray Masciarella]

No, I meant the number blades used to create the figure.

[Drew Hause]

Grade 3 with Parker D4 (4 Blade) courtesy of Greg Baehman



DH D4 courtesy of Greg Franklin



Austin's DH D4



https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...YvzD18i3c/edit

[Dean Romig]

I've seen D's with three and I've seen them with four.
I can't ever recall seeing a GH with four and I've never seen a CH with three.
They are all marked with D for Damascus or DD for Finest Damascus (usually only seen on Grade 5 and higher). Often, but not always, you will see a 3 or 4 stamped above the D which I believe indicates the blade count.
The number stamped closer to the breech end is the grade stamp. I have never seen a 1 or a 2 stamped here... just 3 and higher.

[Ray Masciarella]

Thx, Dean. I never made the connection with the number over the D. Interestingly, only one of my guns has such a number. I wonder why they were not always so marked?

Do you know the relationship between the number of leaves used to make the pile vs the number of rods in the ribbon? It doesn't appear to me that there is a direct relationship. I just looked at a 4 blade barrel that appears to have six leaves in the pile.

[Bill Murphy]

Stock book entries often comment on the number of blades in the barrels for an individual gun. Maybe our Research Committee would post a few pictures of the stock book notations about Damascus barrel blades.

[Bindlestiff]

Originally Posted by Bill Murphy

Stock book entries often comment on the number of blades in the barrels for an individual gun. Maybe our Research Committee would post a few pictures of the stock book notations about Damascus barrel blades.

See FAQ #56

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Ray Masciarella

Do you know the relationship between the number of leaves used to make the pile vs the number of rods in the ribbon? It doesn't appear to me that there is a direct relationship. I just looked at a 4 blade barrel that appears to have six leaves in the pile.

That's a good question for Dr. Drew Hause... I don't know the answer to that one.

[Drew Hause]

Good place to start
https://docs.google.com/a/damascuskn...Ns5L2XVfc/edit

Short version

It all starts with the lopin or billet: thin strips of iron and steel called 'alternees' or leaves.

The lopin is heated, hammered, and rolled into a rod, stripe, band, blade, iron, or rope – THEY ALL MEAN THE SAME THING and in the finished barrel are described as a 'scroll' by their appearance in Crolle pattern damascus.

The scrolls are larger in 2 Iron/Stripe and (usually) progressively smaller 3 to 4 to 6 Iron. The size of the scrolls is dependent on how tightly the rods are twisted before being hammer welded into the ribband AND how many alternees are in the rods.

2 and some 3 Iron/Stripe crolle patterns usually have 7 or 8 steel (which stain black) and 7 or 8 iron (which do not stain so silver) alternees or leaves within the scroll.

2 Iron



3 and 4 Iron might have 6 and 6.

D3 refinished by Dale Edmonds



4 and 6 Iron usually have 4 and 5 or 4 and 4. End on view of a rod with 4 steel and 5 iron alternees



4 Iron



6 Iron