Damascus barrel quality

[Ray Masciarella]

I would like to know a little about the quality of Damascus barrels.

Parker advertised that BH with "extra fine" and a AH with "finest" Damascus. Every BH or AH I have looked at all have 6 blade Damascus so what was the difference between "extra fine" and "finest"? Was it the number of leaves? They all look the same to me. The quality of the work appears to be the same. Was it marketing or was there some difference I'm overlooking?

When a CH was made with Damascus, what grade was used 4 or 6 blade? My D4 has 6 blade. Is that usual?

One thing I notice between the 6 blade D4 and at least one of my D6's is that the scrolls are smaller/finer on the D6. The difference is slight and the D4 barrels scrolls are about the same as other D6's i have. Is that the difference between "extra fine" and "finest" supposed to be the size of the scrolls?

Thx, Ray

[Drew Hause]

This might help Ray
https://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfg2hmx7_22ddqshmdq

[Dean Romig]

We have noted that on Grades 2, 3 and 4 Damascus barrel flats there is a "D" stamped under the right barrel toward the front of the flats which we always believed to indicate Damascus. However, we also note that on Grades 5 and 6 there is a "DD" stamped in the same area. Could this "DD" stamp indicate "extra fine" or "finest"? Has anyone ever seen barrel flats stamped with a triple D ("DDD")?... is there such a marking?

Dave Suponski has a BH with "DD" stamped on the flats and Oscar Gaddy told Dave that his barrels were the finest he'd ever seen.

[Ray Masciarella]

There is a top action D3 in TPS that has "DD" on flats. I can't tell from the photo if it's 6 blade but it looks finer then another D3 barrel on same page.

I'm thinking Parker's claim that the A grade barrel is finer then a B grade was just marketing hype because I can't see any difference. If both AH and BH both have "DD" barrels there can't be much difference?

[Big D]

The Grade 6 I posted in "Nice One" a few days ago has only a single D.

[Dean Romig]

Hmmm...

John, can you post a close-up of those barrels?

[Big Friend Ten (BFT)]

Dean,

This is Big D's friend's AH 10:

[Ray Masciarella]

The AH 10 looks like it has 4 blades? If I'm seeing it correctly, I thought, at least as a general rule, AH and BH had 6 blade. Wonder if new barrels were ordered. I have a AH made in early 1890s that was sent back to Parker in late 1890s to be fit with an extra set of barrels and the order specified 4 blade to be used. I guess it was a little cheaper and made no difference to buyer.

[Setter Man]

I have a 16 ga D with to the eye appears to identical to the damascus in that A10. John, when I get back I to town let's put the A next to my D and compare the two.

[Drew Hause]

Ray: there are examples here of Grade 6 barrels with 4 Iron 'Oxford', 4 Iron 'Turkish Star', and this 10g with 4 Iron 'Turkish' typical of Parker D4

https://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfg2hmx7_268gzhjpd4d

I am of the opinion that nothing was more difficult to produce that 6 Iron 'Turkish' with small symmetric scrolls, nor nothing as aesthetically pleasing.
'Rose pattern' Bernard 2 is a bit garish in comparison but might better fit Bro. Day's personality



And yes, C & D grades also used D4. Greener was of the opinion that 6 blade crolle was "over-twisted" and British 'Best' of that era were 3 or 4 Iron.