No wonder we were afraid of Damascus

[LtCol Henderson Marriott]

That and the early cheap imported Belgian damascus shotguns of the 1890-1920s helped further the myth or half-truths.

[Drew Hause]

Because pattern welded barrels were overbuilt to compensate for fools like this.

1917 Damascus 10g Ideal “Waterfowl Special” (NO SUCH THING) with 3 1/2” chamber
http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/...=420838&page=1

The gun was offered for sale again in 2016 - “My brothers shotgun, he has had it approx 2 years. And fired it 50 plus times with factory smokeless 3.5” Magnums, shot a turkey with it this spring!”



The crolle pattern is obvious under the blueing on close examination.

[Mills]

Right. You don't hear about those being used anymore which is good

[Bill Murphy]

At a gun show a few years ago, I inspected a nice Purdey Damascus hammer gun proved in England for 3 1/2" ten gauge loads.

[Dean Romig]

And it is my belief that 95% of barrels that were ‘inherently unsafe’ to shoot have already failed by now. Barrels that were used on ‘best’ guns are, with proper and sensible care, still very safe to shoot with sensible loads.





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