How can you tell if an old Remington has "Damascus" barrels

[remingtondouble]

I have an old Remington double barrel, serial # 218699. I'm not sure if it has Damascus barrels or not, I know Damascus barrels were made in a spiral pattern, but I don't see any spirals on my gun barrels. I have seen pictures of shotguns with Damascus barrels , many of them had a fancy design on them , mine doesn't have anything like that. Also I've read that Remington used to stamp letters or numbers on the barrels of their shotguns to identify them . I checked my shotgun , and under the breech on both barrels there is the letter "G" on both barrels , with an arrow pointing up from both "G's" to what looks like a crude letter P or D, there is also the numbers 712 stamped on one of the barrels. Not sure if these numbers or letters identify the kind of barrels on the gun...hope someone has some information.

[dieNusse1]

What you appear to have is a model 1889 double made in 1901. They were offered in three grades - #! with plain steel barrels, #2 (better) with twist steel barrels and the best grade, #3, with damascus barrels. Grade 4 and above were special order.

The grade number should be stamped on the water table.

If the barrel has been refinished the twist or damascus pattern may be "hidden" and can be brought back if it is refinished properly.