Mike,
No makers punch. In most cases it was filed away. Those are Lefever marks for a D grade ejector.
Rich is correct. The German invasion did not stop production post war. Cheaper high quality steel that was part of the ramped up war effort did. It took a few years.
Remember damascus was 1st sought out because it produced a barrel capable of handling heavier pressures. Eventually it simply became customary for many buyers. Kind of like beer and pretzels.
However, post WWI as the new cheap steel came into the market damascus production slowly died. Also Belgium experienced a period of inflation. The low wages that had driven their success for nearly 100 years were a thing of the past. The truly large mechanized companies had stopped making damascus in-house years earlier. By 1925 most of the great barrel works of the Nessonvaux valley stood empty. I believe the last commercial concern finally stopped about 1930.
To further back up what Joe stated, there are reports as early as 1866 from Birmingham about how Liege was out producing them. Rich, correct me if I am wrong, you know much more about Lefever than I do. I believe that at least a few Lefevers have Whitworth barrels.
Pete
