I looked at the startling twist barrels on another thread; the pattern of the top rib is so prominent. I've seen a few composite ribs before but not so many on American guns. Are homogenous steel ribs and damascus barrels peculiar to American construction?

jack

Jack, I think this must have varied from maker to maker. I know that the Parkers I have owned and seen with composite barrels also have both ribs made of the same material; but then I haven't seen all of them.

Jim

On all the damascus barreled guns I've seen also have ribs of the same material. Paul

Whereas most later Parkers have both composite ribs and barrels, my 1875 10 ga has composite barrels and a steel rib. David

Paul, your comment suggests one of two things: 1) you're not looking at the guns I am, 2) I don't know what I'm looking at (which is entirely possible). I've got four American-built damascus-barreled guns, probably only two of which have had the barrels redone. All appear to have steel ribs. It occurs to me that damascus guns can be simply rust blued but I imagine that, in the case of bringing out the pattern in the tubes, avoiding the operation of the etchant on a damascus rib would involve a retardant mask and even more work than simply bringing out the pattern, and thus very unlikely.

jack

Jack,

I have seen guns with both types of ribs from the US and Europe. In a few cases, e.g. Lefever, we know he was buying tubes from Europe, but also had his own matting machine. I can only assume he was buying the rib stock locally, perhaps directly from a mill.

I believe that ribs were a product of the rolling mills in Belgium and were mainly fluid steel. Birmingham may have been a different story.
I would really like to find sales brochures from rolling mills from a variety of countries.

Having said all the above, I have nothing to back it up, so I could well be wrong.

Pete

I had assumed here as elsewhere that generally-applicable statements could be made about the composition of ribs based on the chronology of fashion, the state of the supply side, or the country of origin but perhaps its more of a hodgepodge of singularities?

jack

The twist barrel I just recently posted had a solid under rib. The top rib was composite. I have a Holland double rifle with steel barrels and top rib, with a damascus under rib......???

The Parkers I have seen with damascus tubes had damascus ribs, however the pattern of the rib and tube did not always match.
bill

1880's vintage Purdeys with Whitworth steel barrels had damascus ribs. I'm not sure how long the practice continued, but I would not be surprised to see late damascus barrels with steel ribs. It is probably a matter of what was available or on hand.

Mal

My limited experience with Parkers matches Bill's. I really wouldn't expect the pattern of the rib to actually match that of the barrels. They are surely not made in the exact same way.

I have an Aubrey and a Flues with steel ribs and also a turn of century Neumann.

1880ish English gun with a "twist" rib on damascus barrels.

One thing I noticed....all the steel ribs are "matted" in one fashion or another....the one with pattern to it is smooth.

Did they ony use the damascus ribs on smooth ribs where you could actually appreciate the pattern?

Best,
Mark