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    Re: Old style L.C. Smith barrels? Archived Message

    Posted by revdocdrew on February 16, 2008, 3:48 pm, in reply to "Re: Old style L.C. Smith barrels?"

    Just today we were discussing Laminated Steel over on the dark side...uh...I mean...the other respected doublegun forum

    Please check the 'Parker Laminated Steel Confusion' thread http://www.parkergun.org/forums/view_topic.php?id=4379&forum_id=1&highlight=Parker+Laminated+Steel+Confusion

    Pics are up of Laminated brls labeled Twist, Laminated, and Damascus. I unfortunately remain confused as to what the c. 1880s-90s Parker Laminated Steel is, and who made it.

    c. 1870, Parker offered ‘Plain Finish-Iron’ Barrel for $50, ‘Superior Finish-Iron’ Barrel for $75, and ‘Laminated Steel’ barrel for $100. The Parker-made 'Laminated' barrels carried a special 'PB' mark. From a thread on DoubleGunBBS, EDM reported that Parker Brothers' advertisments in late 1870s pulp weeklies claimed "This company has succeeded in making their own steel barrels..." Letters in the Nov. 1878 The Chicago Field from Parker Brothers included statments that "We import largely both Laminated and Damascus, and also manufacture a very fine Laminated--as fine, we think, as any we have ever seen imported. We have made them about eighteen months." The 1899 Catalog lists "Fine English Twist" on Quality T, S, R, P & N (and later as an option on VH guns), "Fine Laminated Steel" on Quality I & H, and "Fine Damascus" on Quality G, F, E, & D. The Parker "Fine Laminated" offered on Quality I and H hammer guns in the 1899 catalog is a grade below the "Fine Damascus" used on Quality G guns. The 1888 Colt Patent Firearms catalog also has a quality gradation from Twist to "Laminated" to Damascus, and Hunter Arms used "Laminated Steel" on Quality No. 1 L.C. Smith guns 1892-1898.

    SO whatever this 'Laminated Steel' is, it's not the very high grade (expensive) British Three Rod Laminated Steel used on c. 1870s-1880s British Best guns prior to the introduction of Sir Joseph Whitworth fluid compressed steel (the earliest Purdey documented with Whitworth was made in 1880) and which was declared the winner of the 1893 Birmingham Proof House Test. Laminated barrels were described as:


    Belgian and English Laminated Damascus
    Machine-forged English Best Laminated Steel, 3-Rod and 2-Rod
    English hand-forged 3-Rod Best Laminated Steel
    See: http://www.doublegunclassics.com/alt/DGCJanFeb06.pdf

    Laminated Steel is different from damascus in that it had a higher ratio of steel to iron (as much as 4:1) that was 'puddled' together (mixed and molten into a 'bloom') THEN rolled into rods. The rods were twisted much less than damascus also. Damascus started with individual strips of iron and steel which were stacked into a billet or 'lopin', then heated and rolled into rods, which were then twisted. The manner in which the iron and steel were stacked, and the way in which the rods were twisted and hammer welded into the ribband, is what gave the different Damascus patterns.

    Looking at the pics of Parker Laminated Steel on the PictureTrail albums, I believe the earlier Laminated Steel was what was called One or Two Rod 'Laminated Damascus' in that there is some pattern in the barrel. Later Laminated brls like those posted by Doug show the random 'variegated' mixture of the iron (dark) and steel (light)

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    Milt Fitterman's 1890 12g Quality 1

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    There are lots of British Laminated Steel barrels for comparison here http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=18063717 some of which have an obvious Herring-bone pattern, and others 'Variegated.' The Herring-bone came from twisting two rods in different directions, then hammer welding them together into the ribband.

    Bottom line: early Laminated Steel may have been made by Parker Bros., later likely imported from England or Belgium. Because it was a lower grade barrel, I'm thinking Belgium ie. cheaper.



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