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I thought I understood the terms "damascus" and "twist" as they pertain to making shotgun barrels, but I continually see the terms use together and, seemingly, interchangably. That is where I get confused.

I was of the impression that damascus was an early process used for making steel by heating iron, adding carbon and other ingredients, hammering, folding, and hammering again repeatedly to meld the components together into steel.

Likewise, I was of the impression that "twist" was an early method for making shotgun barrels wherein strips of steel were wound around a mandrel, welded together into a tube, and reamed to produce a smooth bore of uniform size.

I was of the impression that the two processes (damascus and twist) were distinct, though steel produced by the damascus process may indeed be used to produce shotgun barrels using the twist method.

Is this correct? Someone who knows the real answer please clarify this for us.

Thanks in advance.


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It has been my understanding that Damascus involves both braiding and twisting of the strands of metal, while twist is simply twisted (generally considered a lesser process).

Here is a bootleg from a Brit forum, can't vouch for its authenticity, but it makes sense:

Damascus Terminology
Prior to the development (in the 1880s) of the technology to produce steel barrel tubes in one piece, barrels had been made by a process of hammer welding different grades of iron and steel around a mandrel. The resulting, figured, barrels are generally referred to as �Damascus� by modern writers. However, �Damascus� barrels were made in a wide variety of grades and the manufacturing process varied accordingly. Here are some common terms encountered when reading contemporary writers, about types of Damascus barrel and what they refer to:

Laminated Steel
This was made from best quality steel scrap mixed with some charcoal iron and worked under a forge hammer repeatedly until the close and even grain desired was achieved. The metal was then rolled out and shaped into a tube in the conventional manner. Greener praised the practical, hardwearing qualities of laminated steel. Unfortunately, from an aesthetic viewpoint, it lacked the intricate pattern of other forms of Damascus barrel.

Stub Damascus
This was usually made by heating old files, quenching the red-hot metal to make it brittle and then pounding it into very small pieces. This was added to a quantity of nail stubs from horse-shoe nails. The mixture was heated in a furnace to fuse the component parts. The metal was then hammered into rods and twisted and welded into tubes in the usual manner.


Skelp
This was a cheap variety of barrel material also referred to as �Twopenny� or �Wednesbury Skelp�. The iron used was of lower quality scrap but if well forged and hammered could be serviceable. Skelp tubes were not used for good quality guns.

Sham Dam
A poor quality steel barrel was formed by welding along the length and then wrapping a thin Damascus layer over the top to deceive the buyer (or gunmaker) into believing the barrel to be a higher quality one of Damascus construction.

Pointille Twist
This type of Belgian tube was very well figured and free from �greys� and became popular with some British gun makers in the1880s. It looked attractive but lacked the toughness of British Laminated Steel.

English Steel Damascus
This was composed of steel and iron in six-parts-to-four proportions. Tubes made with higher steel content, usually eight-parts to two-and-a-half of iron were termed �Silver Steel Damascus�. In either case, the best barrels used three or more twisted rods of metal and were well figured and tough.

Comparative Strengths
There was an interesting Birmingham proof house experiment to discover the relative strengths of the available barrel tubes carried out in 1888. The test-barrels, equal in size and wall thickness, were each in turn loaded with a charge of powder and shot and fired. The shot and powder charge was increased until a failure became apparent in the material (a bulge, a split, a break etc), at which point the result was recorded and the barrel eliminated from the competition. The test was a kind of �last man standing� contest and the results were surprising:

1st English three-rod machine-forged Laminated Steel.
2nd Whitworth Fluid-compressed Steel (by far the most expensive of the three).
3rd English two-stripe Damascus.


Remember � there will be no more Damascus, ever. Nobody has the skills to make Damascus anymore so a fine pair of Damascus barrels on a gun should be appreciated for the excellence and rarity they represent. As a caveat to the last statement, it has come to my attention that some stocks of Belgian Damascus barrel tubes of high quality have been discovered in storage and made available by Peter Dyson in the UK. There are also rumours of some experiments in Sweden with modern production of Damascus-style tubes. Perhaps, like the return of the wild boar and the great bustard to the English countryside after years of being hunted to extinction, we shall again see some guns being produced by English makers featuring Damascus barrels.

Finally, a word of practical advice: When buying a gun with Damascus barrels, remember that it will have �dovetail lumps�, rather than the �chopper lumps� of best steel barrels. This is no indication of inferior quality (Damascus tubes could be made in the chopper-lump style but the metal was not hard enough to stand the friction-induced wear required of lumps) but the join needs to be checked for integrity as part of the overall evaluation of soundness. Early steel barrels were dovetailed in the manner of Damascus, but this method was superseded by the forging of the lumps as integral parts of the tube, in the now commonly used �chopper lump� method employed on best guns.


Note from jjk308: All Damascus, Laminated Steel and Skelp is twist. Prior to about 1800 strips of iron were used, then wires or strips of iron and some steel, then about 60% steel, braided with iron to form the Damascus pattern. The strands or strips were wrapped around a mandrel and hammer welded, then the mandrel pounded out and the barrel bored true, straightened and finished. This is "the usual manner" and aside from the not completely satisfactory attempts to lap weld mass produced barrels from heavy iron or steel sheet was the way most barrels of shotguns and rifles were built prior to the development of drawn steel barrels.

By the time of the late 1800's - when the information above dates from - Skelp was considered cheap and weak. But until Damascus became popular top quality skelp made with lots of steel was as strong as laminated steel.

"sham-dam" usually didn't have any damascus layer but just had the damascus pattern etched on with acid.

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Twist is a pattern of laminated steel. Not all pattern laminated steel is twist


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A very good source of info put together by a really nice guy.

https://sites.google.com/a/damascusknowledge.com/www/home


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Damascus is "in" again. Purdey and H&H both have new damascus available along with some old found tubes if you have the money. Bring a BIG checkbook.

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Damascus knives have a following too. They are expensive, and the supposed advantages have not been proven to me.


Our God reigns.
Harrumph!!!
I often use quick reply. My posts are not directed toward any specific person unless I mention them by name.

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