Question about Shotgun Barrels?

[Deacon Stone Sass#58681]

I ran across a hammered 10 gauge SxS and the barrel says cast steel. Now I know about our modern steel

barrel, Damascus barrels, but what about cast barrels? The gun is in great shape and the only thing I would like to do is cut the barrels down for a coach gun. But I'm not sure about the cast barrel? I know cast is

brittle but does it make a good barrel for black powder loads only? Again it is not a Damascus barrel.

 

Thanks

 

Deacon Stone

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

Cast iron is brittle.

 

Cast steel need not be brittle. Whitworth cast steel of the 1880s was excellent steel, stronger than all but the very best Damascus barrels.

 

But, for us to know exactly how good that barrel set it, we would need a lot of info - precisely what type of cast steel, who made it, the shotgun manufacturer it was made by, etc.

 

Think you will need a hands on inspection by a skilled double gun expert. Not a guess by the Wire.

 

Good luck, GJ

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

It might help if you posted the brand of the shotgun you are talking about. During the transition period between BP and smokeless different manufacturers used different terminology for their barrel material.

[Driftwood Johnson, SASS #38283]

Howdy

 

It's not what you think. Cast Steel in the late 19th Century did not mean the same thing that it does today.

 

Before the Bessemer process made steel affordable in the 1850s, the most reliable process to make steel was the Crucible process. At its most basic level, steel is nothing more than iron with a small amount of carbon added. The difficulty was always removing impurities that weakened the metal. Crucible steel was made by melting wrought iron with carbon in an oxygen free vessel called a crucible. The molten metal produced was true steel. It would be hammered and formed into billets, which could then be made into finished objects. The problem with Crucible steel was it could only be made in small amounts, and the quality of the steel varied with the skill of the men making it. It was truly a craft product.

 

When the Bessemer process came along in the 1850s some steel makers began calling Crucible Steel Cast Steel, to differentiate the process it was made by from Bessemer steel. Do not confuse 19th Century Cast Steel with the modern usage where molten metal is poured into a mold to achieve the shape of the product. In the 19th Century, Cast Steel merely meant the process used to make the ingot in the first place. Fabricating the steel into a finished part, like a gun barrel, would usually be done by drilling it out, not a whole lot different than today, except modern gun drills can drill deep holes in steel much faster than it could be done in the 19th Century.

 

The other posters are correct, without knowing more about the actual brand of the gun, and when it was made, guessing at its quality is pretty much of a crapshoot.

[Branchwater Jack SASS #88854]

Thanks Driftwood. I honestly can go out knowing I learned something today.

 

Very great and informative post

[Deacon Stone Sass#58681]

Thanks for all the info so far. Maybe this will help a little more.

 

W M Moore & Co. 10ga Double Barrel, British made in mid 1800's

 

Thats all the info I got except the release lever is on the side. It be a good gun me since I'm a lefty.

 

Thanks Deacon

[John Boy]

W M Moore & Co. 10ga Double Barrel, British made in mid 1800's

Use LIGHT Black Powder reloads only after a gunsmith has checked it out for you

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

To what "proof" do you owe the claim it is a British made double?

 

If you can get any good pictures of the proof marks and any other factory lettering on the gun, post them and perhaps we can spot something. Commonly proofs are on the barrels, barrel lockup lug blocks, or the receiver water table.

 

Many Belgian copies were made that used some variation of the Moore labeling. Some Belgian copies even tried to put variations of "London" marking. The lack of readable proof marks makes it tough to pin it down, and probably says it's not British. The Belgians were reported to have marked a fair number of guns with the label of Cast Steel.

 

Wm Moore would be more correct for the well-known British shop. W M Moore was a Belgian or US Importer technique to build value making the buyer think they were getting a good British gun just because the name was similar. Sorta like what some Chinese manuf/importers have done in the recent past with cheaper copies of many items.

 

Good luck, GJ

[John Boy]

Here's a good read about British proof testing done on several types of damascus barrels ... the *jpg chart can be enlarged to read plainly

... http://firearmshistory.blogspot.com/2010/06/barrel-making-steel-barrels.html

[Hurricane Deck 100366]

Howdy

 

It's not what you think. Cast Steel in the late 19th Century did not mean the same thing that it does today.

 

Before the Bessemer process made steel affordable in the 1850s, the most reliable process to make steel was the Crucible process. At its most basic level, steel is nothing more than iron with a small amount of carbon added. The difficulty was always removing impurities that weakened the metal. Crucible steel was made by melting wrought iron with carbon in an oxygen free vessel called a crucible. The molten metal produced was true steel. It would be hammered and formed into billets, which could then be made into finished objects. The problem with Crucible steel was it could only be made in small amounts, and the quality of the steel varied with the skill of the men making it. It was truly a craft product.

 

When the Bessemer process came along in the 1850s some steel makers began calling Crucible Steel Cast Steel, to differentiate the process it was made by from Bessemer steel. Do not confuse 19th Century Cast Steel with the modern usage where molten metal is poured into a mold to achieve the shape of the product. In the 19th Century, Cast Steel merely meant the process used to make the ingot in the first place. Fabricating the steel into a finished part, like a gun barrel, would usually be done by drilling it out, not a whole lot different than today, except modern gun drills can drill deep holes in steel much faster than it could be done in the 19th Century.

 

The other posters are correct, without knowing more about the actual brand of the gun, and when it was made, guessing at its quality is pretty much of a crapshoot.

 

THIS is a top notch post. I, too learned something today. Thanks Driftwood!

 

HD