Damascus 12 bore shotgun

[SmoothBore]

 

Can't understand why a manufacturer would go to the trouble of forging Damascus barrels and not put their stamp on it.
Especially back then whenever then was!!

 

At that time, the Damascus process wasn't considered "trouble", ... it was quite simply, the best means available, for producing lightweight barrels.

 

In it's day, it was the "mark" of a quality shotgun.

 

Early in the 20th Century, ... when inexpensive, mass produced shotguns, with modern "fluid steel" barrels, were readily available, ... it was common practice for gun makers to put a "Faux Damascus" finish on modern barrels, to give their product a traditional "up-scale" appearence.

 

 

Fluid Steel Barrels only came into existence, because the development of modern, smokeless, "Nitro' based gunpowder, was creating much higher chamber pressures, than were ever possible with Black Powder.

 

 

Black Powder burns at a "constant" rate, ... therefore, adding more powder to a charge, made it burn longer, ... but did not develop much additional pressure.

 

While Nitro powder burns "progressively" faster, as the chamber pressure increases, ... thereby creating more of a "pressure spike" during combustion.

 

So, you have a situation, where shotshells that produce very similar ballistics, arrive at those performance levels by very different means.

 

The shot from a Black P{owder shotshell, is accelerating throughout it's passage down the barrel, in order to reach the desired velocity.

 

While the same shot charge, powered by Smokeless Powder, reaches the same velocity, by the time it's traveled halfway down the barrel.

 

That's why modern Shotguns ( particularly repeaters ) tend to have shorter barrels.

 

 

 

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[johnnie]

Smoothbore you are a wealth of information, thank you!