Not exactly my favorite part......

[The Appalachian]

1 down, 7 to go.

 

[martin9]

I only do 5 flats...no way am I filing and polishing the ones you cant see..

 

[The Appalachian]

I only do 5 flats...no way am I filing and polishing the ones you cant see..

Well that's your business. In my opinion anything but a fully finished barrel is unprofessional, so I do all 8.

 

[oldwood]

Good work.......Martin 9. I'm with you on not finishing the 3 bottom flats. I've Looked at 100's of original barrels , and can't remember one with the bottom 3 sides finished. Granted , hand made files were always not wasted on "finishing" unnecessary anything. We have as many tools as we wish to use now , but I think I elect to stay 18th century , and let the bottom 3 flats lay as they are. Never claimed to be a professional muzzleloader mechanic , and never want to be. More fun to just build good working rifles. .............oldwood

 

[martin9]

Thank you....I almost remember the day I learned the fine old original rifles by the big names weren't finished all the way around..... It was a good day....

 

[HighUintas]

1 down, 7 to go.View attachment 141698

How does that sanding jig work that you pictured?

 

[The Appalachian]

Thank you....I almost remember the day I learned the fine old original rifles by the big names weren't finished all the way around..... It was a good day....

It's 2022, these are my rifles, I don't care what you think about it, nor will snide remarks change what I do/think. Have a great night.

 

[The Appalachian]

How does that sanding jig work that you pictured?

Works better for me than a file on barrel flats.

 

[The Appalachian]

Good work.......Martin 9. I'm with you on not finishing the 3 bottom flats. I've Looked at 100's of original barrels , and can't remember one with the bottom 3 sides finished. Granted , hand made files were always not wasted on "finishing" unnecessary anything. We have as many tools as we wish to use now , but I think I elect to stay 18th century , and let the bottom 3 flats lay as they are. Never claimed to be a professional muzzleloader mechanic , and never want to be. More fun to just build good working rifles. .............oldwood

oldwood, understanding how original barrels were forged, I'm going to bet very heavy odds that 18th century barrels didn't come to the bench with 21st century end mill swirls from one end of the barrel to the other on all 8 sides, like this Colerain barrel came to me. So, by graining the end millings out with a draw file or the 80 grit sandpaper like I'm doing, it gets it a little closer to the 18th century, wouldn't you say?

As far as claiming to be a professional, I'm far from it, but I do have my pride, and my barrels are finished all the way around because I'll put 8/8 effort into my work instead of 5/8. And you're absolutely right about the old ones not wanting to waste their files on what's not seen. That's likely the only reason too. I have a whole drawer full of spent files that would put an original builder in tears.

In the time it took martin9 to post his snide comment from the time of my original post I had 2 more flats done, so it's not a terrible job, not even too time consuming, just not my favorite part.

 

[Ames]

Snide?
I only do 5 on mine as well. Just stating facts.

 

[Vaino]

I also do only 5 bbl flats except at the muzzle end that's visible past the muzzle cap....Fred

 

[tenngun]

Well that's your business. In my opinion anything but a fully finished barrel is unprofessional, so I do all 8.

I do all eight, because 1) I do it before breaching so I don’t know what the top 5 will be, 2) my guns are pinned, so I don’t pull them very often, I think smooth leaves less spots for rust to develop, 3) I don’t want to cut corners
However, even on the finest guns in the old days what wasn’t exposed could be pretty rough

 

[ppb]

Awh, stay with it.
It's good practice for the time that comes when you get amped-up to build a half-stock...

 

[Eric Krewson]

For me it depends, If I am going to gray a barrel I tend to finish all of the flats, for browning not so much.

 

[R Ellis]

I do all flats it is satisfying to see that metal shine when you finish JMO

 

[Colonial Boy]

I do all the flats as I mostly built half stocks and I used a lot of Damascus barrels, they were throw away scrap for most gunsmiths, that’s 60 years or so ago…’things is different now’

 

[ord sgt]

1 down, 7 to go.View attachment 141698

Too clean. Definitely a staged photo

 

[The Appalachian]

For me it depends, If I am going to gray a barrel I tend to finish all of the flats, for browning not so much.

Yep, this one will be French Gray

 

[The Appalachian]

Too clean. Definitely a staged photo

Lol. If you saw the rest of that table you wouldn't say that. Being a solo hermit has it's advantages, like moving projects into the dining room if I want to.

 

[BP Addict]

I've only done a couple of barrels. They were half stock rifles so, all 8 sides. Love the jig! I used a file with sandpaper wrapped around it.

Walt