doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com What is it about Damascus?

I had a slow moment at work today and went trolling through guns online & of course I found something interesting. I've been idly toying with the idea of a lighter damascus 12 boxlock for grouse next year. This is clearly not driven by need but by a wierd fascination with damascus steel tubes(!) and made worse by boxlock 12s being so... blasted cheap these days. Everything else in life is getting more expensive (seemingly by the day), so...why are good boxlocks so-unloved anymore? This gun could be a good 1st (real) birdgun for my 20-year old as well so, maybe, eh?

Sounds good to me. Why not? I don't have any Damascus at the moment. Wish I did.

My damascus barreled William Cashmore sidelock is one of my most prized possessions. I love brown barrels. My Cashmore is also nitro proved 2 3/4, so I get to shoot it with some regularity.

Lloyd, I have a 12 ga Sauer with Damascus and just picked up a project Lindner Daly 16 with Damascus. And had a couple Rem 1894 B grades, both with Damascus. All so beautiful it surprises me I don’t have more!

Some of my greatest gun related regrets are due to falling for the big lie that all Damascus barreled guns are unsafe to shoot. When I became interested in doubles, I passed up some screaming deals on these guns because I wanted only guns I could actually use, and not merely keep as wallhangers. I'm particularly haunted by a B grade Lefever and an A grade Harrington & Richardson I let get away because they had those unshootable Damascus barrels.

Now I understand that any gun I might buy has to be evaluated on an individual basis, and good Damascus barrels are better and safer than marginal or early fluid steel. Now I have no qualms about buying and shootIng sound Damascus with appropriate loads. The best part is their beauty, and knowing the skill and labor required to produce them would make them totally unaffordable to the average gun owner, if they were available in new guns today.

Damascus almost screams incomplete without hammers, but recently I have picked up a Colt and Remington both Damascus box locks. I need to get them out hunting next fall…

My favorite is damascus. Unlike everything else that has passed through my hands, no urge to let this one go.

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Someone of any generation who also appreciates damascus barreled guns is welcome in my shop .

I know what you mean Lloyd, we talk about hand made guns having “soul” but when you look at a pair of barrels hammered out of strips of iron and steel by a team of 2 or 3 skilled artisans over 100 years ago they really have it.

This 1900 example is not the finest twist, Drew tells me it is English 2-stripe, but I could not resist it at a cost little more than the price of a box of 25 Bismuth cartridges.

The sad thing is that someone in recent years has spent at least 10 times as much to have it nitro-proofed (2 1/2” only), refreshing the address on the rib and nicely browning the barrels. I hope they got some pleasure from their investment but there is little sign of any subsequent use.