Jerry: Damascus quality is best judged based on the overall quality of the gun.

And marketing plays into the equation :rolleyes:

"Finest A-1 Quality Silver Steel Damascus Highest Proof" Lefever AA

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL.../306354505.jpg

Greener's "Indestructible" Laminated Steel :shock:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL.../377312213.jpg

To my eye, hard to beat Parker D6 however

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL.../353097842.jpg

Please see
http://docs.google.com/a/damascuskno...WMIMkdKr0/edit

In my opinion DD Damascus barrels represent Finest Damascus, however, the authors of The Parker Story did not make that representation. Yours is only the second Grade 2 Parker I've heard of that had DD Damascus barrels. The only other one I have seen an example of is a Grade 2 hammer gun with two original sets of Damascus barrels. Set number 1 is 30" and is D Damascus while set number 2 is 26" and is DD Damascus barrels. There may be, and probably are a few examples of Grade 3 Parkers with DD Damascus barrels as well as a few in Grade 4, but DD Damascus barrels are commonly seen on Grade 5 and above.

These are my opinions only and are based only on what I have personally seen and examined.

Dean

There was a transition in the damascus pattern from the higher grade Lifters to the Top Action Hammerguns introduced in 1882. The c. mid-1870s Quality 2 through Quality 5 Lifters had, for the most part, the same 3 Iron 'Oxford' barrel, likely of British origin.
Examples are here http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/19406549

Destry once posted a pic of a BH stamped 'DD'. P. 511 of "The Parker Story", Figure 12.13, shows the barrel flats of a D-Grade (Quality 3) hammer gun SN 96343, made in 1900, with the DD stamp.

These are pictures of the two sets of D and DD damascus barrels on Parker 23150.

The pattern on the Damascus is difficult to see but you will see the DD stamp on the flats (one D is almost off the edge of the flats) and the much finer pattern than on the D barrels in the following pictures.

Those with the ability to enlarge or magnify these pictures will be able to see the obvious difference between the tight DD pattern and the more open D pattern.




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One more picture of the pattern of the D barrels.

I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures due to the artificial light.

Well, that didn't work so well then did it...
About all this picture does is to show where the forend was stamped for the barrel set number.




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These photos of my grade 2 lifter were posted back in January on the Hammer Gun site. How does the Damascus pattern compare with these barrels?

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Sorry, I tried to copy and paste photos of my posting on the Hammer Gun site and it didn't work. But, you can see my photos on page 4 on the Hammer Gun site to compare with Dean's photos. Maybe someone know how to move photos from one site to another. Jerry