Shooting hammer guns

[Jay Oliver]

I have always looked at this as Dean posted earlier. Damascus is a type of composite barrel...

[Lloyd McKissick]

Mr. Romig: Never easy to lose a good dog (& a longtime family member), my condolences.

I'm not disagreeing with your assessment (as technically they are all "composites"), I'm just trying to understand the distinctions.

I already knew that laminated steel was a different creative process then more-standard Damascus forms (& clearly, different visually as well). Twist, however, is/was (at least as I presently understand it) technically the same as the other Damascus types, but it somehow doesn't/didn't include the added effort up-front (more-complex stacking before forging and then twisting) to get those more-intricate and complex patterns, and because of that it was always less-expensive (less human effort involved equals less cost to manufacture) and was accordingly, usually deployed on the more entry-level guns. To your point, however, "Twist" is clearly visually different from the others as well...so you might be onto something here.


3-Bar Damascus

Twist

Laminated Steel

The odd thing here however, is that while "Twist" was always considered to be the least "strong" of the Damascus variants, Laminated Steel is/was considered to be the "strongest" of them all, with upwards of 70% steel in its composition. The Proof House tests in England in the early 1890s also bore that out.

It'll be interesting to hear what Dr. Drew has to say on the subject.

[Dean Romig]

I believe you’re probably right concerning the process of manufacturing Twist tubes.






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[Lloyd McKissick]

It's interesting to me to see that even here, folks are still frightful about using "composite" shotgun barrels (as you call them). I've owned, shot, and hunted going-on a dozen of these Damascus guns since those Sherman Bell articles were published in the mid-1990s and I've never had an issue with any of them. Fear is a funny thing, isn't it, even in the face of solid scientific (& even British) proof.

So-many guns had their beautiful Damascus barrels butchered or replaced just so they could be sold here....it's just a shame. Oh well, it made for exceptionally good buys on those guns for me for many years (I suppose I should be greatful for the whorish "sporting press" [doing the bidding of the big gunmakers during the Great Depression] for publishing those baseless articles in the 1930s and 40s ).

[Big D]

Cynic that I am, I keep imagining that somewhere there was a letter circulated to all the gun/barrel manufacturers that said "Now that we know how to make cheaper one-piece barrels, let's all send out warnings about how unsafe composite barrels are, and we'll all make more money"

[Lloyd McKissick]

Big D: you're so right, they couldn't get rid of Damascus barrels fast enough after fluid-compressed steel became cheaply available.

I'm drawn to them because they're artistically beautiful, they function for me flawlessly, and they can't be replaced anymore.

When you talk about "lost arts" they're a great example of that. Old timers used to say that they were quieter than fluid steel to shoot in that they didn't "ring" as loudly...well, maybe. I suspect that was from the charges of powder being used in them and not so-much the barrels themselves, but...maybe.



The 3-bar Damascus tubes on my Syracuse-styled Elsie here couldn't be prettier to me and I have several English guns where the Damascus is absolutely gorgeous.



Such as this very early boxlock from George Newnham (my boys gun, it weighs 6lbs2!) I wish he'd leave the poor Sprucies alone...

[Dean Romig]

I believe it is because the transmission of shock waves along composite barrel tubes is somewhat ‘deadened’ by the dissimilar metals.





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[Lloyd McKissick]

Mr. Romig: Excellent theory!

You, Sir, must have a science background, engineering maybe?

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Lloyd McKissick

Mr. Romig: Excellent theory!

You, Sir, much have a science background, engineering maybe?

Nope… just a bit of rational common sense.





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[Dean Romig]

Lloyd, that third gun you pictured must be one of those swamp-ribbed English guns. Can we see a pic of the muzzles and rib?





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