Damascus Warning

[Big D]

I suspect the topic has been discussed before, but i can't find it. Is there a definitive date when Damascus barrels were declared "unsafe"? Was it simultaneously by all manufacturers or by one company? Being the cynic I am, if several companies sent out the message at the same time, one wonders about collusion

[Dean Romig]

There was no specific date but of course there was collusion amongst gunmakers and ammunition makers (often being a subsidiary of the gun manufacturers) in that they wanted to create a market for their “new, safer” fluid pressed steel barrels. So what better way than to say pattern welded barrels would not hold up under the stress of smokeless and nitro powders.





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[Mills]

Some of the propaganda had to have been fixed. And then it just bred more propaganda that continues to this day

[todd allen]

I visualize the gun makers of the day having a meeting.
"Look, the market is saturated, these guns seem to last forever - we gotta do something".

[Mills]

Originally Posted by todd allen

I visualize the gun makers of the day having a meeting.
"Look, the market is saturated, these guns seem to last forever - we gotta do something".

Exactly!

[Jeff K.]

After WW1 you also had the problem of supply of Damascus tubes .

[Big D]

When was the first alert published? By whom?

[Dean Romig]

I will guess it was first announced or warned of by ammunition companies.





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[Kensal Rise]

Originally Posted by todd allen

I visualize the gun makers of the day having a meeting.
"Look, the market is saturated, these guns seem to last forever - we gotta do something".

Possibly. But, more likely, the covert discussion went like this:

"Look, these new fluid steel barrels will add at least 30% more profit to each gun we sell. They can also be bored easily by machine. So, we have to convince the market place that those expensive Damascus barrels are not any good. Let's all tell our customers that Damascus is dangerous with smokeless powder. And the barrels could blow up and kill them.

They'll believe us. We're the experts. And everybody believes advertising."

And so it came to pass...

(no Russians were involved in this scam)

[Big D]

I figured it was an economic decision, but never thought about the possibility of scarcity of tubes after WWI.