Thank you, revdocdrew, for you'r response. I really believe the seller didn't intend to decieve. He said his gunsmith told him they were steel finished to look like damascus.When i asked him to take the forearm off and chk. he e-mailed back and said no steel marking so maybe they were damascus. Due to my snail e-mail i didn't recieve it till after i bid and the auction was over. I assume this gun is not safe to fire with target loads. Could somebody explain good damascus-bad damascus? I guess i'm learning the costly way.