Barrel composition of pre 1900 Parkers

[Mills]

Rick, I am getting hooked on 7/8 oz loads for much the reason you give. Easy on the gun and easy on the shoulder and still deadly for whatever you shoot

[Autumn Daze]

For me I don't shoot decarbonized barrelled guns. These very early guns were made from musket barrels left over from the war of Northern Aggression. Any of the later composite barrelled guns once the wall thickness and integrity are given the green light I wouldn't hesitate to shoot.

[Drew Hause]

Dave: Parker Brothers "Gun Iron" barrels were made from surplus musket barrels used on "Charles Parker Makers" guns. This is an 1866 Price List



Decarbonized steel by Remington was new fangled stuff at the time

From Fire-Arms Manufacture 1880 U.S. Department of Interior, Census Office
"The earliest use of decarbonized steel or gun-barrels is generally credited to the Remingtons, who made steel barrels for North & Savage, of Middletown, Connecticut, and for the Ames Manufacturing company, of Chicopee, Massachusetts, as early as 1846. It is also stated that some time about 1848 Thomas Warner, a the Whitneyville works, incurred so much loss in the skelp-welding of iron barrels that he voluntarily substituted steel drilled barrels in his contract, making them of decarbonized steel, which was believed by him to be a a novel expedient. The use of soft cast-steel was begun at Harper's Ferry about 1849. After 1873, all small-arms barrels turned out at the national armory at Springfield were made of decarbonized steel(a barrel of which will endure twice as heavy a charge as a wrought-iron barrel), Bessemer steel being used until 1878, and afterward Siemens-Martin steel."

[Autumn Daze]

Thank's for straightening me out Drew. ButI am still hesitant about shooting Decarbonized Steel barrels. Just my own opinion.

[Holeshot]

That is interesting, does anyone here have that gun?

[Researcher]

"America's Oldest Gunmaker", Remington, was really in the gun barrel and parts business for most of the years from their 1816 birth date up until just before the Northern War of Aggression. One of the earliest pieces of Remington paper that the Remington Society has come up with is an E. Remington & Sons 1854 broadsheet listing their cash prices for barrels. They offer --

MATCHED BARRELS for DOUBLE GUNS, plain iron------------$4.50
MATCHED BARRELS for DOUBLE GUNS, stubs twisted plain---$8.00
MATCHED BARRELS for DOUBLE GUNS, stubs twisted fine---$10.00
MATCHED BARRELS for DOUBLE GUNS, cast steel------------$8.00
BARRELS for DOUBLE GUNS, cast steel, solid or drilled from single bar-----$15.00
BARRELS for DUCK GUNS, from 20 pounds upwards -- 75 cents per lb.

[Autumn Daze]

Very interesting Dave. Thanks for posting it up.

[charlie cleveland]

boy that must have been some duck gun with them at 20 plus pounds and at .75 cents per pound ...this was a great post...thanks charlie

[charlie cleveland]

so would any of ya ll shoot a plain steel marked parker brothers gun or would you be hesitant to shoot them..and the barrels are real good no pitts... charlie

[edgarspencer]

Perhaps Tom Armbrust and Sherman Bell could be talked into doing the same test they performed on Damascus barrels, but using a Parker marked 'Decarbonized Steel'. Given that they had to take the loads all the way to the mid 20,000 psi range to burst a set of Damascus barrels, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot a 7000 psi load out of an otherwise good set. I have yet to see any published information that emphatically states that decarbonized steel barrels are unsafe, and suspect there's some urban legend involved, much like the old legends of damascus barrels.