Barrel inletting issues

[Goo]

Since I started building traditional ML's  have cut 8 barrel channels by hand and I have noticed for tapered round barrels the most difficult portion of the job seems to be the center approx 1/3 length of the channel.    The breech starts to fit the muzzle end starts to fit and then there are high spots in the middle that are troublesome to resolve.   Then I start having trouble with the channel getting to wide in some parts as I remove and replace the barrel so many times.   What are your experiences? 

[fahnenschmied]

In such cases I have found it helpful to measure the width of the barrel with my dial calipers every six inches or so, mark that spot on the stock, and chisel down to exactly half the diameter in that particular spot.  Then you can know when you are getting fully down.  Also there comes a point where you shouldnt cut much off the first 1/8th or so of your inletting black.  Only when its not touching under that anymore should you go up and scrape or chisel that part again. If you fit good at muzzle and breech but not in middle, smoke up your barrel good, lay it in the inlet, and give it a few smart whacks in the center with a rubber mallet or block of soft wood.  This should quickly let you know the spots that need scraping or chiseling.  Round tapered barrels are much easier in my opinion than swamped octagonal ones...

[conquerordie]

I've experienced the same exact thing. The last gun i did the barrel channel on I used the aluminum rail method on. It was a octagon swamped barrel and it came out perfectly. I'm going to use the same method on my next one, which will be octagon to round. I'll leAve the rails on for as long as I can during the inlet and drill holes into the barrel channel half the depth of the barrel every inch so I have a reference how far to go down. It will be tedious, but should give new a good inlet. Hopefully,
Greg

[SingleMalt]

It’s a similar problem with a swamped octagon barrel. I started scraping the barrel channel to smooth it out and reach final depth. I think Brownells has round scrapers for barrel channels.

[bob in the woods]

I just finished inletting an oct/ round barrel today. It took approx 6 hours, using a gouge, chisels and scrapers. I use a gauge to determine depth, and inlet from the centre line out. The last cuts are the side lines themselves and a straight edge helps with the even depth of the inlet. A candle for blacking the barrel and determining the high spots is a mainstay during the final stages.  I tried the "rail" system, and have even used a router in the past, but since I'm not doing this for a living, I actually enjoy the process.
I did make up a plane blade to help with the initial inlet stage, but a gouge and mallet is just as fast IMO.
* I forgot to mention that I inlet deeper than necessary so that I can trim the edges down later and get rid of any imperfections etc which may be caused by taking the barrel in and out.