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Help. Anyone know about shotgun pressures? Old damascus barrel Login/Join 
Non-Miscreant
posted
OK, at the last gun show, I bought a wall hanger. Its clearly got damascus barrels and even looks kind of cool with the stripes. I tried to chamber some 2 3/4s shells but the damn extractors wouldn't retract. I was considering buying some of the shorty shells, but have no idea what kind of pressures they run at. I don't need a full box of them, but maybe a couple or 4 shells, just for fun. I'm kind of worried that maybe Ithica chambered it in 2 5/8, as some of them were. Any body here have any advice other than just hang it on the wall?


Unhappy ammo seeker
 
Posts: 18385 | Location: Kentucky, USA | Registered: February 25, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Peace through
superior firepower
Picture of parabellum
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quote:
Originally posted by rburg:
Any body here have any advice other than just hang it on the wall?
Hang it on the wall, and that's all.
 
Posts: 107254 | Registered: January 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
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quote:
Originally posted by rburg:
I bought a wall hanger.


I think you have your answer right there.
 
Posts: 934 | Location: WV | Registered: May 30, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Peace through
superior firepower
Picture of parabellum
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I wonder if rburg is having a bit of fun with us.
 
Posts: 107254 | Registered: January 20, 2000Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Freethinker
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The guidance I read at least 60 years ago about Damascus shotgun barrels was that they were not safe to fire with any ammunition, even mild black powder loads. The reason given has always been that they were none too strong to begin with, plus corrosion can occur between the original strips and not be seen, thereby making them even weaker.

But it is possible that it’s just a “Let’s see what sort of answers I get to this question.”




6.4/93.6

“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.”
— Plato
 
Posts: 47365 | Location: 10,150 Feet Above Sea Level in Colorado | Registered: April 04, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Who Woulda
Ever Thought?
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There is an alternative to hanging it on the wall, make a lamp out of it. Whatever you do don't attempt to fire it. It will make an ugly pile of what used to be an interesting old shotgun.
 
Posts: 6587 | Registered: August 25, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
7.62mm Crusader
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You could display it with dummy rounds. Ive had 3 of my own. The prettiest having external hammers. There's just nothing so cool as rolling those ornate little hammers back to full cock. I had a pretty sweet Baker Batavia 12 bore which pointed so nice. Never fired any of them. I nearly bought a pair of JP Sauer 16 gauge doubles which would have been used in the field as they were Krupp steel barrels. The heart breaker which I should have bought was a Sauer with external hammers. Never have I admired a SxS more. Last double I came close to buying was the little Ringneck by CZ. That was a 20.
 
Posts: 17891 | Location: The Bluegrass State! | Registered: December 23, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Hop head
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general consensus in these parts is to examine the shotgun closely,

a good clean set of barrels, no sharp dents or dings, no rust, that have been taken care of can be shot,
BP loads preferred, and not magnum type , or low brass low powered loads,

keep in mind as well a lot are 2-1/2", not 2-3/4" chambers,


if the barrel is rusty or crusty,
pitting or darkness in the bore
sharp dings (as in metal moved, not just a rounded dent) then hang that thing on the wall,



https://www.chesterfieldarmament.com/

 
Posts: 10409 | Location: Beach VA,not VA Beach | Registered: July 17, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
semi-reformed sailor
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Instant karma Rburg, if the gun is a 12 ga I have some of those brass shells, I’ll send you two of them for display. No primers, powder or shot. Or I can make them up for dummy’s with already fired primers. Your choice.

Send me an email and include sigforum in the subject line with your address.

Now back to the question at hand. If the gun is that old it may be that you have 2 1/2” chambers…which is what the old black powder shells were speced to.

Check this out…
http://www.tbullock.com/bpsg.html



"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.” Robert A. Heinlein

“You may beat me, but you will never win.” sigmonkey-2020

“A single round of buckshot to the torso almost always results in an immediate change of behavior.” Chris Baker
 
Posts: 11246 | Location: Temple, Texas! | Registered: October 07, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
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I would not even consider shooting a Damascus barrel gun with any ammo, even black powder makes me cringe when I used to see some cowboy shooters do it.
One alternative is you can buy modern steel conversion sleeves to shoot smaller gauge modern ammo in them, like 20’s in a 12. This isn’t cheap though
 
Posts: 3268 | Location: Finally free in AZ! | Registered: February 14, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Freethinker
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quote:
Originally posted by captain127:
even black powder


And black powder residues are what can get into the internal structure of Damascus barrels and cause corrosion. Continuing to use black powder in the guns just increases the likelihood of future problems.

An Internet search for “Damascus barrel blow up” will turn up a lot of discussion, including claims that the phenomenon is very rare. The question, though, is how rare does it have to be to run the risk? If there was ever a better example of the “My grandma smoked four packs of unfiltered cigarettes a day and lived to 90 without ever getting cancer” fallacy, I don’t know what it would be. Someone’s experiences with gun A tell us nothing about our possible experiences with gun Y. What’s the benefit of shooting an old gun like that other than to say we did it?




6.4/93.6

“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.”
— Plato
 
Posts: 47365 | Location: 10,150 Feet Above Sea Level in Colorado | Registered: April 04, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Hop head
Picture of lyman
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quote:
Originally posted by sigfreund:
quote:
Originally posted by captain127:
even black powder


And black powder residues are what can get into the internal structure of Damascus barrels and cause corrosion. Continuing to use black powder in the guns just increases the likelihood of future problems.

An Internet search for “Damascus barrel blow up” will turn up a lot of discussion, including claims that the phenomenon is very rare. The question, though, is how rare does it have to be to run the risk? If there was ever a better example of the “My grandma smoked four packs of unfiltered cigarettes a day and lived to 90 without ever getting cancer” fallacy, I don’t know what it would be. Someone’s experiences with gun A tell us nothing about our possible experiences with gun Y. What’s the benefit of shooting an old gun like that other than to say we did it?



my Grandmother did,, LSMFT,,, only she did die of Cancer in her 80's,,



one other thing I forgot to mention, some of the Vintager guys (the shoot comps with vintage shotguns, ) Will use Damascus barrels,

however, these guys also have the tools to measure the barrel thickness and will not shoot any shotgun , Damascus or not, it the tubes are too thin, (some gunsmiths or shops will hone out pits etc and thus reduce the thickness considerably, making them very dangerous)



https://www.chesterfieldarmament.com/

 
Posts: 10409 | Location: Beach VA,not VA Beach | Registered: July 17, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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