swamped barrel question

[stancarlson62]

hello everyone, I'm getting ready to order some parts from TOW and was wondering what are the advantages of a swamped barrel compared to a straight barrel, any help would be greatly appreciated

[SCLoyalist]

From a shooter's and not a builder's viewpoint: less weight and potential for better balance and a steadier hold.

[Don Getz]

Also, if you want an authentic, or close copy of an early rifle, basically one built prior to 1800,  it should have a swamped
barrel.    Straight sided barrels became rather common after about 1810-1820 when they started to manufacture them
in a more modern method.   The early swamped barrels were almost all hand forged............Don

[Dphariss]

Its traditional for an American rifle, almost any American gun before the advent of the eastern gun factorys will have a swamped or tapered barrel.
You order the swamp and build the gun, you will know why
For one thing it allows a heavy breech for breeching and the other work done there and still have a rifle with good balance and much lighter weight than if the barrel was straight.

Dan

[Nate McKenzie]

If you are within driving distance of Benton, Pa. I would be glad to let you handle two equal weight rifles- one swamped and one straight. You'll probably never look at a straight barrel again.

[Roger Fisher]

I may as well buck the trend here as I am prone to do......Rightly or wrongly.

My ol Getz is 39 1/2 .45 (near a .46 seems like) 15/16th straight and is my mainstay rifle for offhand, X stix, sometimes bench and chunk when my chunk gun is verboten!  Not being patient enough and when I try to use my Schuetzen or my swamped .45 I find them a bit too light up front and want to do the ol figure eights!
So, I stick with the ol reliable.   I do admit that the swamped rifle and even the Schuetzen are better balanced.  I also admit to having the straight barreled rifle slugged with lead in the butt to move the balance point back abit over 1 1/2 in.

I admitted too much already!

[jwh1947]

My mainstay barrel--Getz Light Dickert, ranging from standard 42-44" and occasionally a 46 1/2".  My records show that target shooters buy more .45's and deer hunters more .50's.  They are the most popular around here, by far. 

[LRB]

  Another advantage is the the wide breech tapering forward allows for much better architecture with a wider stringer wrist and more strength in the wood around the lock.