Total production for those years were approximately 600k as you state but pistol tubes were also included. At this time there were in excess of 50k workmen, workwomen & work-children. Around 1907 info suggest that the American market was strongly shifting to fluid steel.
Absolutely! While I agree with the calculations of man hours per rough tube for the barrel smiths, that would only be a fraction of the total time involved in the production of a finished set of Damascus barrels....
Keith and ellenbr, that 50k number may be the total number of all Belgian trade workers supporting the industry at the time. The document referenced on Doc Drew's site says of that number, about 2k were damascus barrel makers. But, agreed, it would seem that only rough tubes come out of the shops.
