No wonder we were afraid of Damascus

[Steve McCarty]

Right. I've been shooting old shotguns (rifles/pistols too) for 40 years now. I avoided demascus barrels until I read Sherman Bell's articles in Double Gun. After that I shot old twist guns with confidence...even better I loaded RST. My question is, has anyone heard of a Demascus barrel letting go lately, or within the past 25 years or so? I have not. Now I figure that hunters are shooting their antique shotguns with some regularity, usually with store-bought shells. If the twist barrels are weak shouldn't we be hearing of exploding
barrels? Sherman Bell wrote about honing LC Smith barrels to paper thin and then trying to blow with up with Remington Proff loads. Still no dice. What gives anyway?

[Dean Romig]

The ONLY barrel failures I’ve heard of that have suffered catastrophic failures were because of overloading or because of an obstruction. Never the fault of the barrel itself unless of course the barrels had previously been compromised… and this is both “fluid pressed” steel and composite.





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[Mills]

If Damascus barrels were inherently unsafe, one would have blown up on me a long time ago. Obstructions, overcharged load or thin barrels are the culprits.

[LtCol Henderson Marriott]

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

[Mills]

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

[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.

[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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