Just to help establish a "benchmark" of sorts..... with objective data. Yesterday I measured a damascus Francotte of 1896 vintage. Gun is all-original with 18.4mm bores (.726/.727" as confirmed by my Galazan bore gauge). It's damascus is the chain pattern type, and the exterior barrel finish is original and in pretty good condition. Minimum walls are .031/.032" as measured 8-9" back from the muzzles. That's the thinnest measurement anywhere on the tubes. The walls were measured with a Galazan wall gauge - the heavier bench model with vertical posts to hold the barrel and the dial indicator.
This barrel set weighs 3 - 10.7. And the gun weighs 7 - 5. While I understand that a Francotte is not a Parker, the data reported here will give an idea of what another quality manufacturer put up on its guns.
This thread reminded me of the first damascus gun I purchased from a gent who seemed to know what he was talking about. It's a Syracuse Arms gun that supposedly had been "lightly honed" by a gunsmith sort I had heard of. I didn't have a wall gauge at the time, and a short bore gauge (since replaced) showed the tubes to have irregular I.D.'s. Whatever.... Then, months later when I sprung to buy a better/longer bore gauge, and also a wall gauge, I discovered there are multiple locations on the tubes where the walls are 16 to 22 thou thick. I suspect it was "honed" with emery cloth on the end of a rod, turned by a drill motor. The SAC gun now sits off-line in my safe, with a paint marker UNSAFE warning on her barrels, while I look for another barrel to fit to it. Lesson learned.
Since then the bore gauge travels with me whenever I think I might find a gun, and the wall gauge is always in the vehicle at the larger shows and shoots.
Frank
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