• Circa 500 A.D. – Near Nydam, Denmark, a
    ship sinks with a cargo of pattern welded
    sword blades. The Vikings (793-1066) used
    similar blades.

  • 850 – Abu Yusuf ben Ishaq al-Kindi
    describes Damascus ( WOOTZ ) swords.  

  • Circa 1000 – Pattern welded sword blades
    were also produced in Indonesia (Kris)
    and Circa 1100 in Japan (Tachi).

  • 1071 – The Mohammedan Saljuks defeat the
    army of the Byzantine emperor at
    Manzikert and then capture Jerusalem,
    leading to the first Crusade in 1096 with
    the eighth and last in 1270.

  • 1132 - The first documented use of brass
    cannons to capture a city, Fujian.

  • Circa 1200 - Iron musket barrels first
    made.

  • 1382 - During the siege of Liege 'hand
    cannons' are used for the 1st time during
    a conflict.

  • 1453 – Mohammed II the “Conqueror”
    captures Constantinople and makes it the
    Ottoman capital.  

  • 1488 - Dannemora iron mines in Sweden are
    opened. Walloon furnace is used in the
    finery.

  • 1526 - Bartolomeo Beretta di Gardone
    delivers 185 arquebus barrels to the
    Arsenal of Venice.

  • 1550 – Brescia locks are seen throughout
    the Mediterranean and Middle East.

  • 1570 – Pattern welded gun barrels were
    manufactured in India by Ain I Akbari.

  • 1577 – Ferlacher Genossenschaft founded.

  • 1580 – Miquelet lock invented in Spain.

  • 1600s – Forge welded Damascus, crolle
    pattern, barrels are being produced by
    Ottoman makers.

  • 1634 – Hungarian gun maker Caspar
    Hartmann makes Damascus barrels for King
    Gyorgy Rakoczi I.

  • 1650 - Spanish produce pattern welded
    barrels.  

  • 1683 - Siege of Vienna. The defeat of
    Kara Mustafa Pasha by Jan III Sobieski at
    Vienna. This was the key date in the
    development of European Damascus as
    suddenly thousands of pattern welded gun
    barrels were available for examination.

  • 1700 – Liege is producing Damascus
    barrels.  

  • 1718 - Portugal is producing Damascus
    barrels.

  • 1771 - Jean Jacques Perret published
    L'Art du Coutelier and describes the
    process of ‘twisting ribbons.’

  • 1790 – Jean-Francois Clouet, director of
    the Daigny Steel Works, expands Damascus
    production in Liege and Franchimont.
    Damascus SxS flintlocks appear in St.
    Etienne.

  • 1798 - William Dupein obtains a British
    patent for a skelp gun barrel of iron and
    steel.

  • 1799 - Napoleon expanded the production
    of Damascus barrels in St. Etienne and
    Liege.  Production of sporting arms is
    curtailed.

  • 1804 – Nicolas Bernard is producing
    Damascus in Versailles.

  • 1806 - J. Jones is granted a British
    patent for a method of making barrels
    from skelp coiled round a mandrel.

  • 1808 – The Vesdre Valley of Liege had 22
    gun barrel factories using hydraulic
    power for their trip-hammers. Helical
    welding begins to replace the previous
    barrel making technique of folding an
    iron band over a mandrel then
    longitudinally welding the edges.

  • 1811 H. Anschuetz claims Suhl makes
    Damascus "equal to any else in the
    world"    

  • 1811 - Beretta begins Damascus production
    on a regular basis

  • 1817 - The method of welding barrels
    under a trip-hammer was patented by Asa
    Waters, of Millbury, Massachusetts.

  • 1820 – “Damascus iron” is manufactured in
    Birmingham by Wiswould and Adams.

  • 1822 English barrel maker Thomas Smith
    at Harpers Ferry Armory is producing
    skelp barrels.

  • 1822 Anton Crivelli of Milan is working
    with Damascus barrels

  • 1829 Cavaliere de Beroaldo Bianchini
    writes a paper about Damascus barrels
    from Vienna.

  • 1830 - Pavel Anosoff is producing
    Damascus in Russia, and reproduced
    Wootz/Bulat in 1841.

  • 1830 Juan Sanchez De Miruenna of Spain
    is making Damascus barrels.

  • 1834 Levi Coon at Mott's Corner, NY is
    making skelp barrels.  

  • 1836 - The practice of welding barrels
    under trip-hammers, instead of by hand,
    is introduced at Harper's Ferry.

  • 1846 - Use of decarbonized steel for gun-
    barrels by Remington, who made steel
    barrels for North & Savage, of
    Middletown, Connecticut, and for the Ames
    Manufacturing company, of Chicopee,
    Massachusetts.

  • 1848 - Thomas Warner, at the Whitneyville
    works, incurred so much loss in the skelp-
    welding of iron barrels that he
    voluntarily substituted steel drilled
    barrels in his contract, making them of
    decarbonized steel.   

  • 1849 - S.S.M.O.A.L. or Société de Secours
    mutuels des Ouvriers Armuriers Liège (
    Mutual Aid Society of Liege Arms Workers
    ) is formed. This early mutual aid
    society is largely geared to helping
    workers with things like housing, food.

  • 1850 - About this time pattern welded
    barrels using billet composition to
    create repeatable patterns become common.

  • 1855 - Henry Bessemer patents his process
    for mass production of steel from molten
    pig-iron.

  • 1865 - Emile Martin and Pierre Martin
    obtain a licence from Siemens for his
    furnace and apply it to steel
    production.  Their process is known as
    the Siemens-Martin process.  

  • 1873 - all small-arms barrels turned out
    at the national armory at Springfield are
    made of decarbonized steel(a barrel of
    which will endure twice as heavy a charge
    as a wrought-iron barrel), Bessemer steel
    being used until 1878, and afterward
    Siemens-Martin steel.

  • 1874 - Joseph Whitworth patents his fluid-
    compressed steel process.  

  • 1886 - City of Liege officials approach
    the owners of the barrel making houses
    and suggest the establishment of a trade
    school.  The owners reject the idea
    stating the guild system provides all the
    education that is required.  

  • 1882 - English gun trade to the USA
    totals $1,169,000  

  • 1889 - Fabrique National is founded in
    Herstal.  

  • 1890 - McKinley Tariff enacted by the USA
    on all imports. English gun trade to the
    USA totals $349,000    

  • 1892 Ernst Heuse-Lemoine files a Belgian
    patent for the composition of Damascus
    patterns.

  • 1895 - Union des Fabricants de Canons de
    Fusils de la Vallee de la Vesdre Les-
    Liege established.

  • 1895 - Fabrique National workers go on
    strike over factory conditions  

  • 1897 - U.F.A Union des Fabricants d'Armes
    U.F.A ( Union of Arms Workers )
    approaches the officials of Liege and the
    L'école d'Armurerie de Liège ( School of
    Liege Gun makers ) is founded.  This
    marks the end of the "guild system".   

  • 1903 - Damascus barrel production ceases
    in England

  • 1905 Professor Buturlin conducts pressure
    tests of various barrels.  

  • 1905 - English gun trade to the USA
    totals less than $20,000  

  • 1906 - Liege produced 850 tons of
    Damascus barrels (100 tons for export),
    156,000 SxS shotguns, and 1.5 million
    guns were proofed at the Banc d’Epreuves
    de Liege.

  • 1908 - All members of the barrel makers
    guild are locked out. The people of
    Nessonvaux and Liege open their hearts
    and their doors. They take in the
    children of the barrel makers guild and
    provide them with food and shelter.  

  • 1909 - Greener identifies Birmingham,
    London, Liege, Nessonvaux, Saint Etienne,
    Vienna, Suhl & Brecia as centers of
    Damascus production.     

  • 1912 - Lochet barrel factory goes on
    strike.

  • 1913 - Germany invades Belgium,
    Netherlands and Luxembourg. Damascus
    production in Liege ceases.  

  • 1924 - Silent documentary is produced in
    Nessonvaux showing Damascus barrel
    production.  

  • 1963 - "How to Make Damascus Barrels" is
    published.  

  • 1964 - England, damascus barrels are
    reproduced.

  • 1966 - Jean Puraye publishes "Le Damas"  

  • 1968 - Wallace Gusler reproduces American
    skelp flintlock   

  • 1983 - Jud Brennan reproduces damascus
    barrels     

  • 1991 - Sachse reproduces damascus barrels
    including barrels with names woven into
    the damascus.   

  • 1995 - Damasteel is incorporated using
    rapid solidification metallurgy is
    produced in Sweden.   

  • 2001 - Heinz Denig produces damascus
    barrel that passes proof.

  • 2005 - Zbrojovka Brno announces damascus
    barrel production using traditional
    methods.  Sample barrels are created. No
    known examples are released.

  • 2012 Steve Culver produces a damascus
    barrel!
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