Damascus Barrels

[The Rattler]

I want to buy an old shotgun for a "fix-up" project.

How can one tell if a barrel is made of Damascus steel? Of course, I want to avoid Guns with barrels made of Damascus steel.

[trigger643]

pretty much by looking at them. occasionally someone will have cold blued or painted a barrel and it might be a little hard to tell. Many early barrels moving past damascus were marked "fluid steel" or something similar do differentiate themselves from the older, less sturdy barrels.

[44 AMP]

"Damascus" barrels are made by winding straps around a mandrel, and hammer "welding" them together.

True Damascus used 6 or 8 straps, and a cheaper version, known as "stub twist" used 2 or 4 straps.

The key visual ID is the barrel has "rings" or lined around it, its entire length.

A Damascus pattern blade is a high grade (expensive) knife. Up until about 100years ago, people thought the same of a Damascus barrel shotgun.

Until smokeless powder came along. While they work ok for black powder, smokeless powder is a different beast, and Damascus barrels ARE NOT SAFE with modern ammo (smokeless powder).

The problem is that while smokeless powder will "unravel" a Damascus barrel, it won't do it in a predictable manner. It may do it on the 1st shot. Or it may do it on the 40th shot, or you may use the gun every season for 20 years without issue and then, out of the blue, a shot goes BLAM and you have steel spaghetti for a barrel.

Look up Damascus barrel shotgun, find a pic, see the lines on the barrel. If your proposed project gun looks anything like that, pass and find another that has a "fluid steel" or "nickel steel" barrel.

Many early barrels moving past damascus were marked "fluid steel" or something similar do differentiate themselves from the older, less sturdy barrels.

"Fluid steel" was the term used by Ithaca (and likely others) for their early solid steel barrels. They are safe for smokeless powder loads (keeping in mind the overall pressure limits of the old guns).

"Nickel steel " was used by Winchester (and others) for their solid steel barrels, and was still marked on barrels made through the 1920s.

[The Rattler]

I looked at pictures on the net. Do I understand correctly that with Damascus steel barrels, you can see "rings" in the steel upon close examination?

[T. O'Heir]

The rings everybody is talking about is most easily seen in the bore vs the outside. To some extent the date a shotgun was made can help too. However, there were some makers who put fake rings in to appease traditionalists. Think pre-1900ish.
"...Damascus pattern blade is a high grade (expensive) knife.." Yep. Expensive stuff. Not made the same way as a damascus barrel though. Katana's are Damascus blade. Layers of steel folded together and bashed.

[James K]

If you mean the "rings" of the Damascus itself, they are usually visible on the outside. (See the pictures above.) A "ring" (bulge) from shooting out an obstruction can often be seen better from the inside, though it can be felt on the outside.

FWIW, it might seem that a Damascus barrel would "unwind" under pressure, they don't really do that - they usually just blow out a chunk, though sometimes a "band" of steel will be sticking out. The reason is that while smokeless loads don't put out all that much more pressure, the pressure curve of smokeless powder is different. Black powder ignites and has a steep pressure rise, followed by an almost equally fast drop. But smokeless powder is progressive burning, meaning that the pressure remains high farther out in the barrel. That is why Damascus (or other weak barrels) don't usually blow at the chamber where the metal is thickest, but further out where the barrel thins down. That point is at about the end of the foreend, right where the shooter usually has the fingers of his off hand. 'Nuff sed.

Jim