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Advice on first kit

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I was looking at the poor boy, you can get it standard, already made for $1000. Would you recommend adding a swamped barrel? Is there that much difference?
If you've ever held a strait barreled gun..and then picked up a Swamped Barreled gun...yep there is a very noticeable difference. The swamped gun will balance perfectly if well made...it is such an awesome feeling to hold a well balanced gun.

Sadly, none of my guns in my collection are swamped...YET. There is always hope...

I would say, if you have the money...that would be $350.00 well spent.

Track of the Wolf had a .40 calibre Pennsylvania a couple months ago and it had a swamped barrel...I love my wife and I love being married to her, so I didn't order the gun...but it was close. I really had to think that one over, the price was just that good.
 
This book really gave me insight on my first kit build. Well worth the $$ and time to read it.

View attachment 61846
After assembling a T/C kit, this was my guide to building a Penna. long rifle. Basic pre-carved stock, just the barrel channel and ramrod hole were cut. I still refer to it on occasion. Chuck Dixon made learning easier.
 
If you've ever held a strait barreled gun..and then picked up a Swamped Barreled gun...yep there is a very noticeable difference. The swamped gun will balance perfectly if well made...it is such an awesome feeling to hold a well balanced gun.
I had never held a rifle with a swamped barrel until I built my Jaegar. You are correct, what a difference.
 
Other than balance, is there any difference in accuracy between straight and swamped barrels?

Intuitively, a swamped barrel is going to be bendier in the mid section than a straight barrel with the same dimensions all the way down as in the breech (assuming we start with your swamped barrel breech dimensions). The expanded mass will have more static energy/ inertia to remain in place as the rest of the barrel is bending prior to ball exit, and the amplitude of the wave will be greater. That's of course all theory, but may only be provable in extremely controlled conditions. From a practical point of view you may not notice a difference if your gun can only shoot 3" groups. But heavy target suppository guns use short thick barrels to minimize this sort of thing. If weight were the primary limiting factor (only x pounds allowed for the barrel) then in theory a tapered barrel tuned to the correct pressure spike curve with the correct powder and bullet would give you the best results. Remember all those adjustable muzzle weights on suppository guns that were all the rage (on suppository guns) a few years ago? You could move them to find the right position with every different load
 
Ive used Dixons book when I need insigjt on a particular area of tje build process and its been very helpful. Where is the misinformation you speak of?
Since you asked for specifics, here goes.
P. 29 says to inlet the barrel, then find the place for your trigger, then the lock. The correct way to do it is the lock placement is determined by the placement of the touch hole. The trigger placement is determined by the location of the sear bar in the lock.
P.33 advocates a 3/16"-1/4" web thickness. That's a little on the fat side, but not all that big of a deal. 1/8"-5/32" would produce a slimmer gun, but that's a matter of taste.
P.67 gives instruction on the tang bolt, but doesn't stress the importance of fore-aft location by drawing your line at a perpendicular tangent to the intended intersect point on the trigger plate
P. 69-72 ignores the installation / use of a pre-made left side lock plate for locating lock bolts but 96-98 has you making one later, which might or might not work for the locations chosen earlier
P. 130 advocates using a metal hammer to put wire inlay in to the stock. That's a good way to bend it. a softer driving instrument is better, like a short wooden dowel, plastic or rubber hammer etc. It advocates sanding to level things, which is a good way to have it wind up proud to the wood because wood is softer than metal. Cutting it off and scraping keeps everything at the same plane
P. 135 advocates a countersink in the outside of a barrel liner. Very few people do that.

Apart from the items I pointed out above, it's really the lack of clarity and detail that is the bigger issue. That's why I think the other 2 books are better, and the fact that they explain things a little better in the "how to's" --more pictures too.
 
Other than balance, is there any difference in accuracy between straight and swamped barrels?
I own both swamped and straight barrels. Yes, the swamped barrels are balanced so sweet and are a joy to hold. With that said, I get my best accuracy out of the forward heavy straight barrels. They just hang on the center of the target and stay there for me. My straight barrels are normally shorter 38” tubes where my swamped are a bit longer at 42”. They are all good and kind of a preference thing. Greg
 
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