Not without a barrel obstruction of some sort.

nice looking little gun.. what ga is it...i too shoot damascus and twist steel guns...have probably fierd around 500 rounds through a 8 ga parker lifter gun using blue dot powder with no problems..it has stub twist barrels...ive never had a damascus or twist steel barrel let me down but i had a 28 ga remington barrel come apart at the forearm... charlie

Well, let's see - the British have shot damascus guns forever. They still proof them. If they were unsafe they would have quit a long time ago. They rust from within ? ? Thought rust needed oxygen - so they're not going to rust from within, but on the surface. So no, they won't get weaker over time unless you can see the surface rust going down in enough to make the barrels unsafe. I blew one up, but it was because I made a mistake - had some PB left in the bottle and thought it was Pyrodex. Only took about 4 shots with 94grs of PB. Anyway, I still shoot damascus barrel guns, have 11 of them, and shoot clay birds 3 times a week - all with nitro powders - although not quite as much. Think about it - if pressures are kept around BP pressures, how could damascus barrels be unsafe ? A heavy BP shotgun load would be 7, maybe 8000psi. There are many nitro loads for handloaders in that range. Sorry for the rant - just my opnion. Paul

94gr of PB...? That would definitely do it Paul. I'm surprised it took 4 shots. That alone is a testament to the abuse that at least that set of damascus tubes would withstand.

I was very lucky it only took 23 stiches to stick a piece of skin back on my arm. Guess it's true - if it blows in the chamber there's too much pressure ; blows down the barrel it's an obstruction. I had a shell sticking out the barrel. Paul

keep your loads light and your screws tight...and remember, the wood is the most fragile part of any gun...the older the wood the more fragile it is...

i too shoot a lot of old wire twist stub twist damascus and so on brands of barrels...some with super heavy loads some with lite loads never a problem....like s been said up to the individual...you can look at it or shoot it up to the guy who looks after his gun.... charlie

I have been reading all of Sherman Bell's articles in DGJ that I can find in my 15 year collection of those fine magazines. He did his best to blow damascus guns up and without an obstruction and even with heavy proof loads and more the damascus tubes stood up as well as any others.

He also said that early smokless powder, which according to him started being loaded in 1863, could be loaded with an old BP powder scoop. Then they introduced a Unique like powder which when loaded with an old BP scoop produced a shell that delivered 60,000 psi! Those modern smokless proof loads deliver 18,000 psi. So when using BP reloading equipment the newer smokless powder around 1900 blew any shotgun to smitherienes.

Many people shoot their old damascus guns just as if it was a fluid steel shotgun and they do just fine. Will I? Well, no. But I will shoot light loads with confidence. I will lay off of heavy, high base 1 7/8 ounce loads. While I think they'd shoot just fine...well....I don't want to take a chance with my life and limbs. If I want to shoot a cannon, I'll shoot my Browing Gold which will handle a 3" shell. I think we should treat our antique shotguns like we treat antique ladies; they can't do what they did in their 20's.

I just read an article in a new issue of Sporting Classics. about one of the English proof houses. Those guys "proof" everything that shoots, from machine guns to old shotguns.

When proofing a shotgun they started with a detailed visual inspection. It took a worker four years of study to be qualified to make visual inspections! So, it is harder to do than it looks. The author said that if the gun passes the visual inspection they almost always pass the shooting part of the test. I think the proof master said he had seen one or two let go after 18 years of working there. Success rate was way better than 99%. I'll find the article around here someplace so I can reference it.

It's in the Jan/Feb issuse of the " Shooting Sportsman ". Was very interesting. Paul