Damascus barrels

[Marshal Deadwood]

What would make a Damascus barrel any more dangerous now than then ?

The fact its set for perhaps a 100 years ? Does that damage the barrels ? Does the 'strength it once had' deteriorated ?

Did they blow up a lot in the black powder days ?

Marshal Deadwood

[St. George]

Damascus barrels are essentially twisted iron heated red-hot and were formed around a mandrel.

Rust and corrosion brought on by the corrosiveness of improperly cleaned black powder and dampness that is drawn to it never did those barrels any favors - 'especially' the lower-priced ones.

Look down the tubes with a STRONG light - and see if there are 'wires' present.

If so, you've got a wall-hanger - period - since the metal's separating.

'Back in the Day' - they didn't blow up, but over time, and perhaps a few seasons of the faster-burning, higher-pressure smokeless powder the integrity of the metal's structure weakened.

'Time' isn't the problem - neglect is.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Howdy

With all due respect, time certainly is part of the formula for degredation of Damascus barrels. Not the whole answer, but part of the answer.

As mentioned, Damascus barrels were made by first welding iron and steel strips into long bands. Then the bands were twisted around a mandrel to form a tube. There were many, many different patterns used to form the twist, some of them designed to be very beautiful. The key to all of this is that when the twisted windings were welded together, there were probably 50 or 100 feet of welds in a typical barrel. I'm making a wild guess as to the number, but you get the idea, long, long welds.

Forming the strips was the first welding operation, welding two or three strips together to form laminated strips of steel and iron. Then the strips were twisted, much like multi stranded wire is twisted, to form twisted strips. Then the twisted strips were tightly wound around a mandrel, forming a tube. After the tube was formed, the separate twisted strips were welded together to form the barrel. This was the second welding operation. After the barrel had been completely welded up it was removed from the mandrel. At this point the bore and the outside surface of the barrel were rough from the welding operations. The bore was reamed to form a smooth surface. The outside was filed to form a smooth surface. These final operations cut through the outer layer of the welds, revealing the unique repeating patterns of the twisted strips, giving the barrels their characteristic appearance. The result was a barrel consisting of a many long welds.

Damascus shotgun barrels were made for many years, mostly in the Black Powder era, but late Damascus barrels did span the early Smokeless era. Some were even proofed for Smokeless loads.

Damascus barrels varied tremendously in quality, and that is part of the problem. Some were manufactured cheaply and may have had microscopic defects hidden between the layers of the welds. Others were more costly, and were usually of higher quality. But the important thing to remember is if there was a hidden fault in one of the welds, either a void, or oxidation, it has probably been sitting there for around 100 years now and has had plenty of time for any corrosion to grow. It's not the visible faults that are the scary part of a Damascus barrel, it is the hidden ones.

The next development in shotgun barrels was the Fluid Steel process. Fluid steel was a process that subjected the molten steel to great pressure while the ingots were being formed. The pressure drove out any gas pockets that might have formed. Fluid steel shotgun barrels started becoming popular at the end of the Damascus era. Fluid steel barrels were drilled from solid bar stock, rather than being welded up from strips. With the fluid steel process there was far less likelyhood of hidden voids in the barrels.

The other thing to remember is that most Damascus barrels were designed for the burning qualities of Black Powder. They were thicker in the breach area, where most of the pressure occured, and thinner out in the main body of the barrel. Barrels proofed for Nitro powder needed to have more thickness for the entire length of the barrel because of the Nitro pressure curve. Some less expensive Damascus barrels may well have had hidden defects, but they were still strong enough when first manufactured for Black Powder pressures.

When originally made, a few of the high quality Damascus barrels were actually stronger than their early Fluid Steel conterparts. But as time went by, if there was hidden corrosion in the welds, the strength of the Damscus barrels could actually degrade, dipping below the strength of a similar Nitro proofed Fluid Steel barrel.

Here is an excellent article that goes into a lot of detail on the subject:

http://doublegunshop.com/gunther1.htm