Old Damascus barrel still safe to shoot?

[bigbore442001]

I have a double barreled shotgun at the house that belonged to my Dad. It is an old Greener 17 guage muzzleloading shotgun. It needs some work to it as the nipples are missing and the hammers are mismatched. In addition, I noticed the fine design of the barrel indicating that it is Damascus or twist steel. My Dad shot it with black powder without a problem and I wondered if it would be worth rebuilding and using for small game? I like the gun but I don't want to blow myself up with it either. This may sound like a stupid,neophyte question but I want to make sure. Thanks.

 

[mazo kid]

BB, I think the safe and prudent answer would have to be to restore it and hang it up as an heirloom. Yeah, I know lots of shooters out there are using damascus barrels and black powder loads, I've done it myself. But....you never know when the barrel might decide (if ever) to let go. If you still want to shoot it, I would take it to a knowledgeable black powder smith and have it checked out as far as possible. Emery

 

[roundball]

Don't know how badly you want to use it vs. keep it in original form, but sleeving old barrels is always an option

 

[Tkendrick]

I have a couple of those, and I still shoot them now and then, especially when I get a chance to hunt cottontails behind my buddies beagles.

There are two things you need to do.

First, scrub the barrels out really well and then check for circular shaped pits inside the bores. Thats a pretty good indication that the lamination is about to give. The only thing to do there is sleeve it.

Second, ring the barrels. If they sound good, it should be safe. If they don't, hang it on the wall. That indicates that the soldering between the barrels is giving, usually the first sign of trouble in a damascus barreled gun. At that point, hang it up. The repair bill will be more than the cost of a new gun. Worthit, maybe if it's a Purdy or an H&H.

If you decide it's good to go, check your chambers.

I personally believe more of those old guns were destroyed by people putting shells that were too long in them than any other reason.

Modern 2 3/4 inch shells will chamber in both of my antique guns. But they have 2 5/8 chambers, and shooting the 2 3/4 shells will cause what amounts to a barrel obstruction along with all that it entails.

Restoring these old guns is never cost effective, but I'm working on a W. Richards right now. It'll be my third one, and I've not regretted any of them.