doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com ?? Cutting chokes on Damascus barrels??

I have a very lightweight 20 gauge Lindner Daly with 28" Damascus barrels. It is full and modified and great for doves but not for quail. I'd like to have the chokes opened and patterned to about Skt 1 and light modified.

I spoke with Both Tom Wilkinson and Kerry Allor about this. Wilkinson only works on 12 b. guns, but Allor allowed that he could do the choke regulation on Damascus barrels.

Has anyone here had this kind of work done on Damascus barrels? Bill Nittler regulated the barrels on my Fox but those are Krupp steel. No idea how it would be done on Damascus - any advice?

It's done the same for any barrel. At least I do. All mine are American made doubles, so the wall thickness is usually there. Paul

Thanks, Paul. This gun is 'Best Damascus' that mic's .030"

Not too many in the business regulate chokes like Nittler did. Most of us cut a parallel section to a specific constriction. Damascus or steel, the technique is the same. I had the video Mr. Nittler put out and his choke work was quite a bit more involved.

C Man- good little display of three species, but I sure cringe when I see a pretty gun like that set down in the dirt. I'm too much of a klutz to do that, or as some guys do setting it on a rock. Heck, I can damage mine putting it back in the case. My folks used to give me no more than a half glass of milk, as I was always knocking it over. Mike

Chemical compositions of 3 Crolle samples and 1 Twist sample were similar to AISI 1002 - 1005 low alloy steel by Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES); a combination of wrought iron and very low carbon �mild� steel.
This would be a relatively "soft" metal, about 1/2 of AISI 1040 or 4140. Barrel smiths have reported some difficulty with micro-fractures (one English smith described "tearing") when reaming pattern welded bores.
Bro. Bertram or Steve Culver might comment.

I have cut many and not had an issue. I use adjustable HSS reamers, flood coolant, bush the chamber and drive from the chamber end. I try not to take more than .005" on the diameter or .0025" on a the wall per cut cut. I also feed the work under power at a slow rate. Not sure if it is the technique or if I have had a really long lucky spell.
Steve

Thank you Steve.

I believe the take home message is to be sure the work is done by an expert.

I'll now 'fess up to having personally cut a pair of Damascus barrels with borderline wall thickness (that I would therefore never sell) by 1/2" and the new chokes were perfect

Dean Harris with Skeets specializes in back boring and cutting chokes. Dean has the correct equipment to do your job. He is a true professional with barrels expertly done at a fair price.

Hmmmm.

Perhaps the first step, before you make an irreversable decision, would be to see how the gun patterns with Spreader loads? (If available in 20ga) You can go from there. It's your gun, do what you want, but they're not making any more Lindner Dalys.

How about adding some pics and info onto the current LD thread? Nice gun to add to the discussion. Wonderful tube pattern, with the alternating light and dark irons within the ribbands.

Regards
Ken