"I stand corrected . I didnt know that , I thought it was generally accepted that damascas was weaker . I do agree that I would hate to see that gun cut up and a new set of barrels might give her new life . I think I know where Ash could "commission" said barrels , although I dont know how hard it would be to get them imported ."

Don't feel bad, a lot of us believed until just the last few years. Basically, it turns out to be one the greatest marketing ploys of all time, and people have been believing it for 100 years. It is true that rusted out, deeply pitted, damsacus barrels should not be shot, but that is true of fluid steel barrels as well. The one thing about damascus barrels is that they were shot a lot with black powder loads and, if they were not cleaned properly, they tended to rust and pit the bores more. That is also true of the corrosive priming of the day. There have been several really good articles in Double Gun Journal over the last few years, that record the testing that has been done on damascus barrels.