Rewatering Persian Barrels- 1818

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This is an article from the Annual Register in 1818

"Directions for renewing the water
of Persian gun-barrels.

Take a barrel that has lost the
regularity of its water by use or
rust, and have it scrubbed bright
with scowering paper, or any
other means, until it has the appearance
of common iron.
Force a stick into the muzzle
of sufficient strength to hold the
barrel up, that the necessity of
touching it during the operation
may be avoided. A paste must
then be made of a kind of brim- stone, called here Kibreel tit Gente/, sal ammoniac, and common salt mixed with water in tire following proportions: of the first, one hundred and eighty drachms; of the second, twelve; and of ihe thin!, fifteen drachm.". When it is of the consistency of stiff clay, let it be plastered, or laid on, so us to cover the whole surface of the barrel an inch or more in thickness; but particular care must be taken, that in making the clay adhere closely to the barrel, not the least air is suffered to intervene, because wherever there is a globule of confined air on the barrel, there it will come in contact with the composition, and consequently not be acted on by the corrosive qualities of the clay.
It must be laid on wet, and suffered to continue a sufficient time, more or less according to the state of the atmosphere. In the experiment I made, it was exposed to the air in the shade of a room in the middle of summer for twenty-four hours. The operator told me, that in winter it should be placed in a moderately warm atmosphere. * It may be doubted whether the
Persians ever possessed the art of
smelting the fine metal of Damascus
blades. It is not probable that so
lucrative a knowledge would have
become entirely extinct, whilst we
know that the Wootz of India is
brought to England in lumps cast in
hemispherical rtierulds.—•£<*. The art of composing (for it is certainly a composition) the steel of Persian sword blades is undoubtedly lost, but I have been told, that the iron of their gun and pistol barrels is still manufactured in some towns of Persia and Turkey. I was assured, that it is done by entwining together certain proportions of steel and iron drawn out, to great length, and again drawn out, and so on till the two metals become incorporated, which on undergoing the operation
above described, shows not
on its surface the waving flowery
grain by which it is distinguished.
If that is the case, it 'would
seem, that the clay corroding
only the impure particles of the
composition, leaves the veins of
steel in all their doublings exposed
to the view, and in a blight
degree to the touch. "

end of article



Intrigueing that they made a claylike compound that etched the steel, would be fun to try that technique of a barrel or any pattern weld. Also fascinating to read a description from the time of use....

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