This is sad to hear. I was hopeful when PeteM last posted in 2018 that he might be getting better, and return to posting on a regular basis. I only knew him from his posts and a few PM exchanges, but will miss him. He was very knowledgeable in many aspects of double guns. And there was nobody alive who knew as much as he did about Damascus barrels. What always impressed me is that his Damascus knowledge was earned the hard way, with intense dedication and boots on the ground. I recall his saying that was his motivation to learn to read French, since so much of the history of Damascus barrel making is in French. Who else would travel to Belgium and other parts of Europe to search for the Damascus Barrel Holy Grail?
I just checked his damascus-barrels.com website and was dismayed to see the message that "This Domain Has Expired" It would be doubly tragic to not only lose PeteM, but to also lose the vast knowledge of Damascus barrels that he worked so hard to acquire. I wish there was some way to permanently archive that information here as a tribute to him.
