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Joe: this is a Baker Batavia with what I believe to be "Boston" damascus; large round symmetric scrolls



And yes, the Belgian dealers gave their patterns "American" names: Boston, Oxford, American Flag, American Flag Bunting, Washington, etc. for the U.S. market
And I haven't figured out how to 'read' laminate yet

Names for Boston in Lincolnshire more likely.

jack

Jack:
Claude Gaier's Four Centuries of Liege Gunmaking sheds some light on the connection between US and Belgian firms. Ernest Heuse-Lemoine (1834-1926) from Nessonvaux was a major force in the Vesdre Valley for barrel making. He maintained agents in London, Birmingham, and New York and his firm supplied the Belgian royal court. Every 3 years he would travel abroad and upon his return, would be met by a band in celebration because he always came back with more work orders than his own firm could handle. He would then distribute some of the work to smaller barrel makers in the Vesdre. Gaier states that Heuse-Lemoine supplied damascus barrels for at least 50 years to US makers, and that he invented the names of "Boston" and "Washington" damascus especially for the American market.

Boston didn't come in last, it was included in the top 30 best steels for barrels. There were lots of others of less value. Note that none of the twist types are listed, nor are steel skelp formed barrels steels.

From The Gun and Its Development, W.W. Greener, 8th edition, 1907

The word laminated, as the designation of a gun barrel, arose from the fact that…thin strips, plates, or laminae of steel, piled alternately with iron plates, formed the composite metal. They differ from Damascus in so far as the iron and steel are differently arranged in the pile, so that instead of a decided curl in the figure there is only what may be termed “herring-bone” lines running spirally round the barrel from end to end.

http://books.google.com/books?id=3HMCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA224&dq=%22laminated+steel%22#PPA225,M1

I finally got around to Charles Semmer's wonderful Remington Double Shotguns, and have made some progress on the different patterns and sources of Remington's damascus barrels. Nothing definitive but at least some clues
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=17067005

Hey Drew,

Nice synopsis. Normally I would have doubts about Pieper as a source. However, Pieper and Remington seemed to have a special relationship. He was licensed to produce several of their guns. He also seemed to have a special relationship with Colt. Some of the Bayard pistols are direct Colt imitations. They may have felt an affinity for his company. He did model it heavily on what he observed during the American Civil War. In particular the reliance on mechanization for manufacturing.

I finally obtained a copy of "Bayard Les hommes, les armes et les machines du Chevalier Pieper & Cie 1859-1957" par Michel Druart. It is ok. Unfortunately he attempted such a broad survey of Pieper's life, career and legacy that many things are just not mentioned.

Pete

Well, I've found out some more stuff so did a bit of editing, so here it is:

Named patterns used by Remington
London (Stub Twist), Twist, Laminated, Boston N. (Horse-shoe pattern), Boston 2 S.J. (large scroll 2 Iron Crolle), Oxford 2 & 4 S.J. (smaller scroll 3 Iron Crolle in several different patterns), Chain J, Etoile 3. B.P., Legia P. (Herring-bone pattern), Washington N 3. B.P. ("Stars & Stripes" or "American Flag Bunting"), Chine P ('mottled'), Ohonon 6 S.T. (similar to Bernard I), and Pieper P.
The Remington Damascus salesman's sample rod is shown on p. 275 of Charles Semmer's Remington Double Shotguns.

The significance of 'S.J.' (Boston 2 and Oxford 2 & 4) is uncertain, but could be Simonis-Janssen http://www.littlegun.be/arme%20belge/art...moulin%20gb.htm
'J' could also be one of the Janssen families http://www.littlegun.be/arme%20belge/artisans%20identifies%20i%20j%20k/a%20janssen%20gb.htm
The meaning of 'B.P.' (Washington N and Etoile) is unclear.
Claude Gaier's Four Centuries of Liege Gunmaking states that Ernest Heuse-Lemoine of Nessonvaux named both "Washington" and "Boston" patterns for the US market. http://www.littlegun.be/arme%20belge/artisans%20identifies%20h/a%20heuse%20gb.htm
Boston N. and Boston 2 first appear on the Model 1878. Boston and Washington patterns are also found on Baker and Ithaca guns.

Damascus barrels with possible Belgian maker's marks include 'HP', frequently found on Oxford 4, likely Henri Pieper http://www.littlegun.be/arme%20belge/artisans%20identifies%20p/a%20pieper%20en%20tete%20gb.htm Oxford patterns are used from the Model 1876 to the 1900 KED.
An Etoile pattern 1894 Pigeon has a fused 'JP', possibly the mark of J. Pire & Cie, a large munitions firm established in Liege in 1885 http://www.littlegun.be/arme%20belge/artisans%20identifies%20p/a%20pire%20gb.htm

Remington graded the damascus barrels on Model 1894 guns as follows:
A Grade: "Two stripe Damascus" (Boston)
B Grade: "Three stripe Damascus" (Oxford and Chain J)
C Grade: "Finer Damascus" (Etoile and Washington)
D Grade: "Very fine (Four stripe) Damascus" (Chine and Ohonon)
E Grade: "Finest Damascus" (Peiper and Legia)

The Model 1900 was offered with Remington steel (K) or Two stripe Damascus (KD).

The following are taken from the Beretta Catalog #46, 1910. It is simply a list of the types of damascus and steel listed as available in the catalog. Still working on some descriptive phrases that don't translate very well. These are in no particular order.

Types of Damascus
London
Boston
Pearl
Bernard
Turkish
Crolle
Star
Robinson
Oxford
Thonon
Chain
Japanese
Washington
Bresciano

Types of Steel
fine steel
superior steel
english steel
Mannesmann
Wetterly
Krupp
Baiardo
Cockerill
Siemens Martin

Pete

What a find Pete! If anyone out there has a damascus barrel Beretta PLEASE post high resolution close up pics, or send to me by jpg attachement at revdoc2@cox.net and I'll post. Thanks!
And I wonder if the Beretta 'Thonon' is the same pattern as the Remington 'Ohonon 6 S.T.'