Hello all. I thought I should contribute something to the site. I tend only to post when I need help. There has always been a lot of discussion about inletting barrels. I have taken a process from some folks on here, but I use different tools.
I have used this method on three rifles now, and this would be the fourth. The first one was a straight barrel, but it works on swamped barrels too. I have tried this method leaving the breech plug in, but I prefer removing it. This method also takes into account that the barrel does not need contact throughout the inlet. I am most particular six inches from the breech and muzzle.
This particular project is using a B weight 42 inch barrel in .45 caliber. The first thing I do is measure the width of the barrel every two inches to determine the narrowest point of the barrel. I could probably just go by the specs from the manufacturer, but I like to check.
Once I determine that measurement I divide it by 2 and make note of that. Then I figure out where I want the barrel to be and draw a line. I then take the measurement of the narrowest point and mark that the full length of the barrel. Using the divided number on either side of the line. This way what I will cut is the narrowest point only. I will cut the swamp with chisels later.
This image (I apologize for the poor quality) is of the barrel outline for the narrowest point laid out on the stock.
The next thing I do is I take a chisel and drive it in along that line. It takes a while but I do it the whole length of the barrel. The first time I did it, I would make a chisel mark and then carve out a trough but I do not think that is necessary anymore.
I am going to cut this using an old router plane. Which is the best 10 bucks plus shipping I have ever spent. The blade of the plane is about the same width as the flats of the barrel which is nice. The first cut I am going to make is to cut down to the depth of the bottom of the side flats, again at the narrowest point. As you can see from my picture the first pass barely removes my pencil marks. I start very slow, controlling the plane as I go. Once I gain some depth and strengthen the sides I can move faster and cut more aggressively. The one thing to watch out for is the plan will want to start undercutting the sides. Also, about halfway through I will take the chisel and drive it along the sides again.
As you can see from the image the one disadvantage is that I cannot cut all the way to the breech. I have to do the last four inches or so with chisels.
At this point in the above image I have removed all of the material down to the bottom of the side flats. This part does not take very long. Then, using candle soot and chisels I sit the barrel in until it bottoms out. Once it does that I eyeball a center line in the trough and cut another trough in the middle. I gradually increase my depth until I get to the depth of the bottom flat at the narrowest point.
Once this is achieved I use chisels to clean out the ledge that makes up the oblique angels. The end result looks like so:
Here is what it looks like on the inside. As you can see there are some high spot to clean out, but it is sitting where I want it to.
This process took me about seven hours today. That includes layout, measuring, sharpening chisels and eating a sandwich.
Feel free to make suggestions, criticize or point and laugh.
Coryjoe
