British fowler?

[scottmc]

I'm asking for a friend but I also had the gun in my hand and should've taken other pictures.
Just wondering the following:
1.  What do the proof markings and initials under the barrel indicate?
2.  I'm assuming the barrel is Damascus since it says on top "London Fine Twist"?  I took the barrel out and it looks like I could see evidence of Damascus on the bottom 3 flats but nothing on the exposed part of the octagon or round parts of the barrel.

The lock is a back action lock marked J.C. Grubb.
Hooked breach with typical British fowler butt plate and scroll trigger gaurd.  Appears to have had a shellac finish as it's chipping and cracking.
The gun was found in the attic rafters of house a friend of mine bought in Northeast, MD.  Pretty cool find.
What be the approximate age of a gun like that with a backaction lock?

[scottmc]

Some additional pics...

[T*O*F]

W & C S stands for William and Charles Scott, born on a farm near Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk in 1806 and 1807 respectively.    Wm. began his apprenticeship there in 1827 and served 7 years, possibly with Benjamin Parker.  In 1834 he married and moved to Birmingham, working for one of the established gunmakers before starting his own business at 11 Leach street.  Six years later he was joined by Charles and they moved to Loveday street as W&C Scott.

The company changed its name to W&C Scott & Son in 1862.

You should be able to extrapolate the gun's age from the above info.  We don't know how long Wm. worked for others before starting his own business, but 6 years after leaving them, he was joined by his brother

[JV Puleo]

A relatively inexpensive export fowler. The proofs are Post-1813 Birmingham. I'd guess it probably dates from the 1840s or 50s.

[scottmc]

All good information and thank you.  Am I right in assuming the barrel is Damascus steel?

[JV Puleo]

It may be but since Damascus barrels were considered very desirable at the time many of these inexpensive guns had "fake" Damascus barrels where the pattern was simply etched into the surface. It would seem more likely to me that it's just an iron barrel made by forging a flat skelp around a mandrel and hammer welding the seam. That's how virtually all barrels (that weren't Damascus) were made, including all musket barrels.

[scottmc]

Interesting about the fake Damascus etching.  Might be why I can only see it in areas that were buried in the wood.  You can see the marks in the photo that has the proof marks.
Thanks again for the info.

[Pukka Bundook]

The barrel is stub twist.
A stub  twist barrel is sometimes referred to as damascus, but damascus is a different process and looks different.
Stub twist was as Joe says, the usual  way a barrel was produced, and can be very beautiful.
Damascus could be two, three or four stripe, whereas an iron twist barrel was not comprised of twisted rods beaten into a ribbon.

Here is an example of stub twist tubes....

To me, it looks like a re-stock.

Best,
R.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Folks today refer to all iron/steel that has a pattern on it as Damascas.  Richard is right on the mark, when he says that the barrel is not Damascas, but rather, pattern welded iron/steel, and the best barrels were made from stubs twisted material.

[scottmc]

Thanks Taylor.  I had never heard of stub twist before unti Pukka mentioned it so I learned yet another thing.  You guys are an encyclopedia of knowledge!