muzzle thikness on a strait tappered barrel

[ottawa]

I have a .45 cal 7/8x 27 1/2 strait barrel going to try and tapper it to make it lighter at the muzzle wanting to start the tapper about 7in in front of the breech. now I'm doing this the hard way as I do not have access to a mill or lath. going to make a series of cuts like doing tenons then remove with chisel and draw file. can't find one in this length tapered and cant afford to have one special made . this is for my daughter. its not going to be very PC when finished but she is having fun helping me build it and cant wait to shoot.
thanks Ben

[rich pierce]

Ben, since fowling guns and muskets have thin walls at the muzzle you can use this as a general principle. 1/8" is enough at the muzzle and many old smooth rifles with octagon barrels show no more than that. The thinner the barrel at the muzzle, the taller the front sight needs to be.  Good luck with your project.  It will be a ton of work and take a couple files and maybe 20 hours.  Originally forged octagon barrels were profiled on grinding wheels, based on what we see on the lower 3 flats on old originals.

[Dphariss]

I have a .45 cal 7/8x 27 1/2 strait barrel going to try and tapper it to make it lighter at the muzzle wanting to start the tapper about 7in in front of the breech. now I'm doing this the hard way as I do not have access to a mill or lath. going to make a series of cuts like doing tenons then remove with chisel and draw file. can't find one in this length tapered and cant afford to have one special made . this is for my daughter. its not going to be very PC when finished but she is having fun helping me build it and cant wait to shoot.
thanks Ben

I would NOT beat on it with a chisel. You risk distorting the bore.
At that length it might be as muzzle heavy as you think straight
You could also file it 16 sided.

Dan

[Swampwalker]

Ottawa;
I've hand tapered and flared a number of barrels, and it's not that hard to do.  I would not taper this one more than a sixteenth inch or so - down to 13/16th.  Instant blue the barrel, use a sharp scribe and a straight edge and mark the first four opposing flats on their adjacent flats, then use a grinder and take down the first four flats to final dimension, stopping often to cool the barrel with water.  work opposite flats, and go fairly slow.  True up the first four flats with a mill file.  Then blue those flats, and scribe them, then grind the final four flats.  It takes a bit of time but is pretty easy.  Hope this makes sense.