FOREST AND STREAM. [Nov. 17, 1906. 
Portion of Gun-barrel Coil. 
Greener’s Solid-Weldless-Twist Gun Barrel. 
Two-Iron or “Boston" Damascus Barrel. 
788 
Modern Methods of Gunmaking. 
The Manufacture of Iron for Gun Barrels. 
From W. W. Greener’s “The Gun and Its Development." 
(-Concluded from page 750.) 
When finished twisting, the rod will be round, except 
the squares at each end, where held in the block and 
head, and the four-feet rod will have become shortened 
to about three feet three inches, and have about eight 
turns to the inch. All Damascus barrels must be made 
of twisted rods, while plain twist or scelp barrels are 
made from plain straight rods or ribands. 
Without this twisting,.qf the rod the finished barrel 
would have the appearance of a wire twist barrel, or it 
might be of a plain barrel if the top or bottom of the rod, 
instead of one of the sides, was kept to the outside of the 
barrel. By twisting the metal the grain is so arranged 
that it appears on the outside of the finished barrel in 
the form of a number of irregular links or circles. 
The rod prepared, it is either joined to other rods or 
coiled and welded into a barrel singly. 
The cheapest Damascus barrels (single iron stub 
Damascus) are made from a single twisted bar, rolled out 
into a riband % cf an inch by % for the fore end of the 
barrel, and % by % for the breech end. 
Two iron stub" Damascus barrels are made from two 
twisted rods, each % square, and welded together and 
rolled into a riband % by 1-1(5 for the fore part and % by 
3-16 for the breech end, with the twisted spirals in op¬ 
posite directions. 
Three iron stub Damascus barrels are made from three 
twisted rods, each % by 7-1G, and laid and rolled together 
with spirals, as shown in the illustration, forming a riband 
of y 2 inch by 7-1G for the breech ends, y 2 inch by 3-1G 
for the muzzle piece. 
Best laminated steel barrels are twisted, and the rods 
welded in the same manner as the stub Damascus, but 
the rods are composed of superior metal containing a 
larger percentage of steel. 
In laminated steel and stub Damascus barrels it is not 
usual to use more than three rods in their manufacture. 
Fine Damascus barrels, as manufactured by the Belgians, 
are occasionally made from four or six rods together, but 
three are sufficient to give a very fine figure. 
The true English Damascus barrel is prepared from 
three rods, twisted as described and put together as 
shown in the twisted riband, and is known technically 
as three-iron Damascus; the silver-steel Damascus is 
similarly made, but of different metal piled in a dif¬ 
ferent order. 
The rods having been twisted and the required num¬ 
ber welded together, they are sent to the iron mill and 
rolled at a red heat into ribands, which have both edges 
beveled the same way. There are usually two ribands 
required for each barrel, one riband or strip to form the 
breech end, and another, slightly thinner, to form the 
fore, or muzzle, part of the barrel. 
Upon receiving the ribands of twisted iron, the welder 
first proceeds to twist them into a spiral form. This is 
done upon a machine of simple construction, consisting 
simply of two iron bars, one fixed and the other loose; 
in the latter there is a notch or slot to receive one end 
of the riband. When inserted, the bar is turned round 
by a winch handle. The fixed bar prevents the riband 
from going round, so that it is bent and twisted over the 
movable rod like the pieces of leather round a whip 
stock. The loose bar is removed, the spiral taken from 
it, and the same process repeated with another riband. 
The ribands are usually twisted cold, but the breech 
ends, if heavy, have to be brought to a red heat before 
it is possible to twist them, no cogs being used. When 
very heavy barrels are required, three ribands are used— 
one for the breech end, one for the center and one for 
the muzzle piece. 
The ends of the ribands, after being twisted into spirals, 
are drawn out taper and coiled round with the spiral until 
the extremity is lost, as shown in the representation of a 
coiled breech piece of Damascus iron. 
The coiled riband is next heated, a steel mandrel in¬ 
serted in the muzzle end, and the coil is welded by 
hammering. Three men are required—one to hold and 
turn the coil upon the grooved anvil, and two to strike. 
When taken from the fire the coil is first beaten upon 
an iron plate fixed in the floor, and the end opened upon 
a swage, or the peam of the anvil, to admit of the mandrel 
being inserted. 
When the muzzle or fore coil has been heated, jumped 
up and hammered until thoroughly welded, the breech 
end or coil, usually about six inches long, is joined to it. 
The breech coil is first welded in the same manner, and a 
piece is cut out of each coil; the two ribands are welded 
together and the two coils are joined into one, and form 
a barrel. The two coils being joined, and all the welds 
Silver-steel Damascus Barrel. 
perfect, the barrels are heated, and the surplus metal 
removed with a float; the barrels are then hammered until 
they are black or nearly cold, which finishes the process. 
This hammering greatly increases the density and 
tenacity of the metal, and the wear of the barrel depends 
in a great measure upon its being properly performed. 
When the barrels are for breechloaders, the flats are 
formed on the undersides of the breech ends. If an 
octagon barrel is required, it is forged in this form 
upon a properly shaped anvil; in rifles the barrels are 
welded from thicker ribands and welded upon smaller 
mandrels. 
The iron is twisted in much the same way as that 
already described, but steam power is used to turn 
the winch instead of hand power. The forge fires are 
blown by a steam fan, instead of the old-fashioned bel- 
Fine Stripe Belgian Damascus Barrel. 
lows, and the welding is done by one man instead of 
three. This is accompanied by having a tilt hammer 
close to the forge regulated to give sharp, quick, short 
blows, and capable of being thrown in and out of gear 
with the foot. The welder is also- provided with an 
anvil, swages, mandrels, etc. When he removes the coil 
from the fire, he has only to knock in a mandrel, 
straighten the coil of the anvil, jump it close by striking 
it on the floor in the usual manner, and place it under 
the tilt, reheating the coil and repeating the process 
until the barrel is properly finished. The appearance of 
barrels so welded is not so good as that of those ham¬ 
mered by hand, but they are strong and sound, and on 
Two-Iron Damascus Barrel. 
Scelp Gun-barrel. 
Three-Iron Stub Damascus Barrel. 
Single-Iron Damascus Barrel. 
