Truth about DOM tubing barrels

[Zonie]

You should call Loyalist Arms in Nova Scotia, Veteran Arms in Georgia and Middlesex Village Trading Company in New Hampshire and ask them about the barrel material.

I doubt that they really know what it is and I suspect that if they ask their sources in India they would hear,
"Thisrifleismadeonlyfromthefinestofmaterials!
Itshouldlastalifetimeifitisleftonthewall.
ThequestionastothetypeofsteelfromwhichthebarrelismadeisformedifficulttodeterminebutyoucanbesureitisfromthehandofGod."


My apologies to our Indian friends.

 

[shortstring]

So.... what about the other components of these pieces? Lock, trigger setup, touch hole, fit of stock, workmanship, finish & on & on. I personally can't say that I've seen one of these but the fact that this thread exists sort of makes me wonder.

 

[wbyman]

I made a 4 bore barrel out of 1/4" thick dom tubing proofed it with 500 gr. 777 and a bunch of sand bags , proofed fine. I shoot it with 250 gr. 777 , I have shot it about 10 times no problems yet. Also made a double 4 bore 3/16" tubing , 400 gr. proof, shoot it with 200 gr. no problems. In my opinion not that much different than buying a barrel from a maker [ which I have done], if you use reasonable charges. One difference, no 6 month to 1 year wait !

 

[4575wcf]

I am surprised that no one seems to mention in these threads the manufacture of the Springfield and Harper's Ferry military barrels from the era directly proceeding and during our American Civil War. The process was pretty thoroughly documented in writings from the times. These barrels, produced in their thousands, were as a general rule, produced from a single flat bar of iron closed and welded around a mandrel the whole assembly of which was repeatedly fed white hot through huge rollers with proper-sized tapered grooves. Workmen fed the barrels through the rolls to each other, the receiving guy slapping the heated barrel on a flat metal table once in awhile to keep it straight. At the end of this process the mandrel was somehow removed, and they had a tapered forged blank, upon which the.forged bolster breech section was installed, then finished and rifled. Failures of these rifled musket barrels must have been rare, we don't read much about it. The same basic process was used in the armories right up through the M1903 Springfield, but those barrels were rolled solid from better steels, and then drilled for the higher pressure. I doubt that DOM tubing manufacture, although modernized, varies much in theory from this original method.

 

[Rudyard]

Having read all these for & against posts re DOM tubing I can say I proofed many Indian barrels at Birmingham proof house non failed . My own re enactment musket was a compellation of odd parts (Cobblers kids is poorest shod ) . But I made one West African' Dane Gun 'using galvanized water pipe with its clear seam per the sometimes met with similar barrelled guns made by native blacksmiths . I threaded the breach plug when most where just brazed & I fine bored it to a reasonable degree .I proofed in a rabbit hole (Rabbits MOST upset) .And later shot one rabbit & that was it .As its purpose was to have an example of these rude guns I had often observed on the West coast .It dosn't mean all such pipe is fine for barrels but I have turned the same tubing to make obsolete cartridge cases thin as they where they expanded with no failures it says a lot for welded water pipe steel . And as for Damascus " My names Jimmy Ile take all you can gimmie. "and 'bubbles' to the nay sayers .
Rudyard

 

[4575wcf]

As a career machinist closely involved with the hydraulics industry I have built a lot of stuff out of DOM. As a rule it is an expensive way to go. The quality of the tubing seems to be all over the place, some cuts and finishes beautifully, and some won't finish at all. All DOM I have ever machined though is a substantial grade above mild steel, a tougher, better material all around.

 

[Robby]

Interesting to read over a ten+ year old topic. Lot of fellows are now gone, lot of their knowledge lives on in the web, and a lot of their wisdom too, but much has been lost. I remember this thread.
Robby

 

[Brokennock]

After 11 years, did we really need to renew this argument?

 

[eggwelder]

There are new people here now who may not be familiar with the discussion

 

[4575wcf]

There is some very informative information available on the double gun forum about original shotgun barrel steels. AISI 1020 is the usual steel used for DOM tubing. It conforms very closely to Pre WWI shotgun barrel steel by actual destructive testing. Such steel was a huge improvement over black powder twist steel, offering about 60,000 psi tensile strength. However it falls far short of todays Chrome Moly 4140 which gets up around 110,000 tensile. The chrome moly wears a lot better too, especially if the latter is hardened. I will be using annealed 4140 for my chopper lump project when it comes time for the first attempt.

 

[Rudyard]

Twist Steel ? the mix was iron & some steel, big mass of welds, nice patterns good for black powder, the best in my view. little I care for steel suited to nitro . its not what we re about .
Rudyard

 

[4575wcf]

Point taken. Was attempting to establish the strength of DOM at about comparable to WWI shotgun barrel steel. I think it would be okay for black powder shotgun barrels carefully constructed, but I would give it a good proof. Heavy caliber plains guns? Not so sure.

 

[4575wcf]

If you wish to "roll your own" double barrel shotgun barrel set, there is not much available in the way of blanks. Lothar Walther makes some, but at two bills per pop, you can buy a lot of finished shotgun. William Brockway's method for making them up out of existing cast off barrel sets, both damascus and steel, is viable but you are limited to the quality and strengths of the original material. Shotguns of every quality existed in large quantities, and now some of those better cast off barrel sets have become quite valuable in their own right. ER Shaw used to offer reasonably priced shotgun barrel blanks in lengths and gauges to satisfy anyone, made from excellent modern steels, but no more. For a flint or percussion double shotgun builder now, DOM might offer a safe available alternative material.

 

[necchi]

After 11 years, did we really need to renew this argument?

There are new people here now who may not be familiar with the discussion

Yeah. And a lot that won't bother to read it,
They'll just google search the answer and comment with their new found knowledge..

 

[4575wcf]

Researching a project always involves looking over vintage threads. Many knowledgeable black powder gun builders have passed on now, but some of their knowledge still exists. Many of them forgot more about the subject than some of us will ever know.

 

[Brokennock]

Researching a project always involves looking over vintage

Very true. I often reread old threads, sometimes just because I enjoyed some story or tidbit of info in then.
But if a topic is 11 years old, and has been dormant for most of those years, what not start a new topic if one has a question about something they read? Include a link to the topic that started one thinking about their question.

What really gets me are the ones where a question is asked and discussed a number of years ago, now, say 5 years later someone comes along and decides they have a need to answer that question. Really? Thank you. We were all holding our breath for 5 years awaiting the illumination of your knowledge to lead us out of our darkness Mr. Helper.
Again, why don't they start a new topic? Let us know an old topic got you going on the subject. Then dazzle us ignorant wretches with your infallible wisdom.

4575wcf, I hope it is clear that when I use "you" above, I don't mean you literally individually, I mean the people who do the things I'm speaking of.

 

[Brokennock]

Heck, a lot of people don't bother to read an entire 1 day old topic with more than 3 replies before they have to jump in and "educate" the rest of us.

 

[necchi]

ad hoc minor corrections

Researching a project should always involves involve looking over reading vintage threads. Many knowledgeable black powder gun builders have passed on now, but some of their knowledge still exists. Many of them forgot more about the subject than some of us will ever know.

The archives of this forum are priceless.

 

[4575wcf]

Oops. Thanks for the grammar corrections. Usually I am typing on the fly, my brain seems to work much faster than my hands do. I guess I could start a new thread about DOM; I work with this material a lot on my job. I really need? a flintlock double in 16 gauge in these days of cap shortages, maybe one day I'll make up a set of DOM barrels just to say I did it.

 

[Rudyard]

Hey don't knock 4575 because he inputted his knowledge. & These E gajets cant spell for toffee. Mines just the same I type away then look up & its written some bumph it thinks I want & I have to sort it out , I cant look at the stops & the screan at the same time . Many seem to have the same problem but we all get the jist of what they mean & excuse any" Random fits o daffin" as Burn's put it .
Regards Rudyard