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**44 AMP** · March 7, 2012, 04:00 PM

In the early 1900s, my Grandfather had an Ithaca with stub twist barrels (the term of the day). These are Damascus barrels made using either two or four staps in their construction. In the day, "real" Damascus barrels were made using 6 or 8 straps. The construction method was the same, it was just a marketing/snobbery thing that called some barrels "twist", and others "Damascus".

A neighbor really liked my Grandfather's gun, and after a few years of trying to buy it from him, my Grandfather finally gave in and sold it. He replaced that gun with an Ithaca with "fluid steel" barrels, in 1909. I have that gun today, and its just as fine now as it was then, except for a century's worth of honest wear on the finish.

The gun my Granfather sold? The right barrel blew out in the 1940s.

These guns went for decades being shot with black powder, or "bulk powder" (an early smokeless powder). Never any trouble, until the twist barrel gun let go. (and with no warning, either!)

Because of the age of Damascus barrel guns, and the fact that the manufacturing process leaves voids in the welds, where rust can weaken the metal, entirely unseen to any ordinary inspection, there is not any good way to tell if the barrel has weakened, over time. An X-ray (in sufficient detail) might reveal the voids, but I don't know if it would dectect corrosion. And its beyond the capability of any ordinary gunsmith, and many factories!

The best thing you can do is make it a display gun. IF Damascus barrels are in good condition (like when new) they re safe with the appropriate black powder loads. HOWEVER, there is no way to tell if they are in that condition, and after 100+ years, odds are, that they are not. AND, when they are not, they can still work fine for an indefinate time, until they burst.

Shooting a Damascus barrel gun is the shotgun equivalent of playing Russian roulette (with out the whole pointing it at your head thing...) You can't say for certain which shot will burst the gun, but the odds are one of them will...

Refinish the gun (if that's what you want), then take out the firing pins, and hang it up for display. Or sell it to a collector, who both knows and understands what it is. Its the safe thing to do.

March 7, 2012, 04:00 PM	#20
44 AMP Staff Join Date: March 11, 2006 Location: Upper US Posts: 28,833	In the early 1900s, my Grandfather had an Ithaca with stub twist barrels (the term of the day). These are Damascus barrels made using either two or four staps in their construction. In the day, "real" Damascus barrels were made using 6 or 8 straps. The construction method was the same, it was just a marketing/snobbery thing that called some barrels "twist", and others "Damascus". A neighbor really liked my Grandfather's gun, and after a few years of trying to buy it from him, my Grandfather finally gave in and sold it. He replaced that gun with an Ithaca with "fluid steel" barrels, in 1909. I have that gun today, and its just as fine now as it was then, except for a century's worth of honest wear on the finish. The gun my Granfather sold? The right barrel blew out in the 1940s. These guns went for decades being shot with black powder, or "bulk powder" (an early smokeless powder). Never any trouble, until the twist barrel gun let go. (and with no warning, either!) Because of the age of Damascus barrel guns, and the fact that the manufacturing process leaves voids in the welds, where rust can weaken the metal, entirely unseen to any ordinary inspection, there is not any good way to tell if the barrel has weakened, over time. An X-ray (in sufficient detail) might reveal the voids, but I don't know if it would dectect corrosion. And its beyond the capability of any ordinary gunsmith, and many factories! The best thing you can do is make it a display gun. IF Damascus barrels are in good condition (like when new) they re safe with the appropriate black powder loads. HOWEVER, there is no way to tell if they are in that condition, and after 100+ years, odds are, that they are not. AND, when they are not, they can still work fine for an indefinate time, until they burst. Shooting a Damascus barrel gun is the shotgun equivalent of playing Russian roulette (with out the whole pointing it at your head thing...) You can't say for certain which shot will burst the gun, but the odds are one of them will... Refinish the gun (if that's what you want), then take out the firing pins, and hang it up for display. Or sell it to a collector, who both knows and understands what it is. Its the safe thing to do. __________________ All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.