Album: English Damascus

It is unlikely that Purdey, Manton, Boss, or H&H manufactured barrels in-house. There were several small "barrel makers" in London, the Minories, and Whitechapel, but after about 1800 most barrels were made in Birmingham. William Fullerd was the last to make barrels in London about 1835, and supplied all the "best" makers of that era. Lancaster supplied Purdey (and others) in the early days (1811-1826) before he became a gunmaker himself. c. 1890 James Purdey II wrote concerning steel barrels that he preferred damascus but acknowledged that "weight for weight steel is stronger than iron and shoots harder, though not of so handsome an appearance as damascus barrels." He favored Belgian damascus because "not that when thorough sound English damascus can be obtained they are not superior, but because Belgian workmen are more careful than English, and there is thus less risk of slag and rubbish getting into the welds." "THE GUN AND ITS DEVELOPMENT" by W.W. Greener 8th Edition, 1907- "(In England) William Dupein obtained a patent in 1798 for a twist gun barrel of iron and steel. His method was to wind round a rod of iron a strip of steel, then a coating of iron or iron and steel mixed the whole was then welded together, and the iron cores bored away so as to leave the barrel of steel, or steel and iron as desired. In 1806 J. Jones patented a method of making barrels from scelps or strips coiled round a mandrel so that the edges overlapped, and then welded together the edges of the strip." "From 1845 to 1855 John Dive's mill at Birmingham turned out very large quantities of high-class figured barrels. In London the barrel-welding industry was never of great importance since 1844 no gun-barrel welder has practised in the Metropolis. The last maker was W. Fullard, of Clerkenwell, who enjoyed a high reputation for all kinds of sporting gun barrels. The military barrels were obtained from the Midlands, whence, or from foreign centres, the figured barrels used by London makers are now imported. In the Midlands the barrel welders are not so numerous as they were, the demand for twisted barrels not being so great as formerly." "The TRUE ENGLISH DAMASCUS BARREL IS PREPARED FROM THREE RODS and is known technically as Three-Iron Damascus; the Silver-Steel Damascus is similarly made, but of different metal piled in a different order." "With the English maker the figure of the barrel is the last thing to be considered when determining the type most fit for the particular purpose, whereas with the foreign manufacturer it is usually the first, and often the only consideration. The English maker takes a barrel that will do best; the foreign maker the barrel that will look best."

"THE GUN, OR A TREATISE ON THE VARIOUS DESCRIPTIONS OF SMALL FIRE-ARMS" William Greener, 1835- Greener described 9 different gun barrels at that time, and in general was extremely critical of the quality of British gun barrels being produced: 1. DAMASCUS from only two sources: Mr Clive of Birmingham and George Adams of Wednesbury (introduced about 1820.) 2. WIRE-TWIST IRON (later called Plain Twist or Skelp.) 3. STUB-TWIST IRON or STUB DAMASCUS. Made from horse-nail stubs (iron) mixed with coach spring steel, fused into a "bloom of iron", then hammer forged into rods, rolled into threads, which were then wrapped around a mandrel and welded. 4. MR WISWOULDS IRON and a similar product called SILVER STEEL. These are described as ¾ steel and ¼ iron which were also fused into a "bloom", welded under tilt hammers, then rolled into rods. From the description may be Two Rod "Laminated Damascus." 5. CHARCOAL IRON (without steel) Inferior to Stub-Twist. 6. THREEPENNY SKELP IRON. 7. WEDNESBURY SKELP. 8. SHAM DAMN SKELP which apparently was stained to look like Wire-Twist. 9. SWAFF IRON FORGING made up from small scraps of lockplates and gunscrews.