Profiles of Swamped 18th Century Barrels

[grabenkater]

Does anyone have a diagram showing profiles of original barrels? I was having a discussion with a local builder and he suggested that some original barrels have very little to no waisting, just a light taper.

Thanks

[JTR]

All I can go by is what I've owned, or had a chance to look at. That said, I'd have to say that most, but not all, 18th and early 19th century rifles had swamped barrels. The swamp varies with maker and time period, and overall probably wasn't as pronounced as the barrels made today. I think the earlier ones had more swamp than the later ones.
As example, a 52 cal J Dickert signed barrel I have has a breech of about .980" the waist is .878" and the muzzle is .950". This doesn't seem that much different than a modern barrel.
Once you get to about 1830/40 or so, swamped barrels seem to have disappeared for the most part.

As usual, just my opinion,
John

[jerrywh]

 Grabenkater
  It is my opinion that if any two barrels from the 18th century had the same profile it was probably an accident.

[Pete G.]

I have a rifle with a percussion back action lock, which puts it about 1870 or so. The waist is not quite 1/16" less than the breech or muzzle. The swamp is so slight it really is not discernible by eye, but it is enough to measure. Incidentally, the barrel only has 5 flats across the top, the bottom portion covered by the stock is left in the forged condition.

[Hungry Horse]

I think any 18th century barrels you encounter that appear to be tapered, rather than swamped, have been shortened in the past. remember that the old way of fixing muzzle wear, was to shorten the barrel. Also, although around 42" is pretty standard today for a long rifle barrel, that was not the case in the 18th century. Those excessively long barrels were often shortened, if the owner was heading out west, to make the rifle easier to handle, on horseback or in a wagon.

Hungry Horse

[Bill Paton]

There  is good evidence that poor quality 18th century American powder made long barrels desirable to better utilize its slow burning characteristics. During the American Revolution, the best powder was made in German States (think of Swiss powder today), and the British military paid a high premium for it to use in their  Pattern '76 and Ferguson rifles then. As American powder quality improved in the 19th C, our long barrels weren't important any longer. Old barrels still in use frequently got shortened, and new barrels got made shorter in the first place..

[James Wilson Everett]

Guys,

Here are a couple of tapered & flared barrels with dimensions.

1.  Mid-18th c twist iron barrel, probably Germanic, now on a reproduction German rifle.

Breech, 1.22"
Waist, 0.91", 10" from muzzle
Muzzle, 1.04"
Barrel Length 27.2", originally about 28" as I cut back and re-breeched the barrel





2.  Late 18th c or early 19th c Southern rifle, cherry stock.

Breech, 0.92"
Waist, 0.82", 7" from muzzle
Muzzle, 0.90"
Barrel Length 39"




Jim

[Dennis Glazener]

The drawing below show dimensions for Earl Lannings unsigned Gillespie which has an almost identical stock profile as my Mathew Gillespie rifle. Both barrels are 45 1/4 inches long and neither appear to have been cut off. The measurements at the top are for my Mathew rifle and the ones at the bottom are for Earls rifle.

Earl dated my Mathew rifle circa 1810 and his a little later (my Mathew has 2 lock bolts and Earl's only one, both flintlocks) Both barrels are hand forged. Note how shallow the swamp is in both barrels.

[Richard Snyder]

Wallace Gusler constructed his first Williamsburg rifle with an original barrel and lock.  I don't know how old the barrel is, but it measures 15/16 inch at the breech and the muzzle and 7/8 inch at the waist.