Shooting them?

[Garth Gustafson]

Ryan,
Ditto on having the barrels inspected by a smith that knows doubles and Damascus barrels. Bachelder in Grand Rapids comes to mind as they are in state but there are others. Check the FAQ section on the PGCA homepage. After inspection be sure to use loads your gun was designed to shoot. RST 2-1/2” shells are low pressure and are highly recommended.

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Garth Gustafson

Ryan,
Ditto on having the barrels inspected by a smith that knows doubles and Damascus barrels. Bachelder in Grand Rapids comes to mind as they are in state but there are others. Check the FAQ section on the PGCA homepage. After inspection be sure to use loads your gun was designed to shoot. RST 2-1/2” shells are low pressure and are highly recommended.

Just as a precaution - two years ago i sent a set of Parker fluid steel barrels to Parker Bachelder to measure them for safety and he got back to me a few weeks later saying he believed them to be safe. I said Fine, but what were the wall thicknesses incrementally along their lengths and circumferentially, just so that I would know? At that point he told me that he didn’t know but inside measurement subtracted from the outside measurement showed plenty of thickness....
I asked, But what were the thicknesses in thousandths in the incremental locations that I had asked before? At this point (again, two years ago) he admitted they didn’t have a wall-thickness gauge....
They may have since bought one - I don’t know.





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[Drew Hause]

Jeff Kuss graciously shared an explanation from Parker Bros. of the testing protocol. It's here about 1/3 down
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...UOZEFU/preview
It is important to understand that the "rough forged tubes", both damascus and fluid steel, sourced in Belgian by all the U.S. makers were also proved.

A Parker Service and Proof Load table was published in the 1930s and reproduced in The Parker Story p. 515. 12g 2 3/4” shell Service Pressure is 10,500 psi. Definitive proof used 7.53 Drams Black Powder and 2 oz. shot with a pressure of 15,900 psi. The pressure was no doubt measured using LUP and modern transducer values would be 10-14% higher, or more than 17,500 psi.

LTC Calvin Goddard reported the same numbers in “Army Ordnance”, 1934. He wrote that Parker followed the SAAMI standards of that period: 13,700 psi proof, 9500 psi service for 2 5/8” chamber; 15,900 psi proof, 10,500 psi service for 2 3/4” chamber (by LUP) + 10-14% for modern transducer measurement.

[Garth Gustafson]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

Just as a precaution - two years ago i sent a set of Parker fluid steel barrels to Parker Bachelder to measure them for safety and he got back to me a few weeks later saying he believed them to be safe. I said Fine, but what were the wall thicknesses incrementally along their lengths and circumferentially, just so that I would know? At that point he told me that he didn’t know but inside measurement subtracted from the outside measurement showed plenty of thickness....
I asked, But what were the thicknesses in thousandths in the incremental locations that I had asked before? At this point (again, two years ago) he admitted they didn’t have a wall-thickness gauge....
They may have since bought one - I don’t know.

.

They did. When I picked up my refinished Dam barrels in June, 2018 I had them take measurements.