swamped barrels on Tennessee rifles

[charliek]

I'm thinking of building an East Tennessee style flintlock and am unclear about barrel shapes. Were they always straight or were there occasional swamped ones? I seem to recall Ron Borron mentioning a swamped barrel but I can't find the quote. What are your thoughts?

 

[hoochiepapa]

IMHO, a swamped barrel just handles better. Do what you want to do.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Nothing has changed with the centuries. Folks got what the budget allowed and/or their personal tastes dictated.
Swamped barrels have better handling and accuracy. They give a rifle a more graceful appearance.
But they cost more and are harder to inlet raising the price of the finished gun.
In museums you will see both.

 

Both barrels are correct. more swamped earlier, and in flint, and a lot less with he advent of percussion, after around 1815 or there a bouts. Today's swamped barrels are more profiled than those of that time period. Jerry Nobles books have many examples of both in his four volumes. The real constant is that the locks are of English import hardware styles, as the Smiths in the south were mostly of English, and Scottish decent. Another aspect of these barrels is their length. a 42" one would be considered short, and 45" to 54" would be more common.

Bill

 

[rich pierce]

Agree with Bill 100%

 

[Okwaho]

I pretty much agree but with this caveat:A great number of the guns I have seen with a swamp on those long barrels have had an almost imperceptible taper down to about 4-6" from the muzzle at which point there is usually a very slight flare.The result is still usually a barrel heavy gun.The presence of a more dramatic swamp often suggests prior use on an earlier gun.Remember too that Tennessee guns are relatively late {19th century} and generally have smaller calibers. :hmm: :bow:
Tom Patton


Tom Patton.

 

[Bob J]

My .54 Tennessee rifle built by Roger Sells, Monterrey, TN, has a 42" swamped GM barrel. The handling is awesome. No comparison, IMHO, between a straight and a swamped barrel...swamped wins hands down!

 

[MSW]

i agree with DixieFlinter ... put a .40 "a" weight in my last build (a Southern Mountain) ... this was the first time i had the extra money to go with a swamped barrel, and i was amazed at the handling and balance ...

now i'm all spoiled ... wouldn't have anything else.

 

[hanshi]

I agree with the others that you'd find both swamped and straight barrels just like you would a variety of woods, metals and locks. They pretty much used what was at hand.

My own SMR has a straight barrel but it's only 3/4" x 38" so is not muzzle heavy. It's a .36 and if I'd chosen a larger caliber - my .40 Lancaster is swamped - the barrel would have been swamped as well. There's no comparison between straight and swamped.

 

[DEWB]

I'm building a southern mountain rifle with a 38 in. swamped barrel in a .54,should be somewhere in the 8 lb. range when done and be nice for packing up the mountain. But I also like staight barrels and the way they hang depending on size and caliber. The serious target shooters ive. talked to use staight barrels. And a straight 15/16" barrel in .54 probably wont be that much heavier than the one that I'm bulding. Build what you like and good luck on your project. Dew

 

[Erzulis boat]

On my current "Tennessee" I am using a 13/16" straight GM-

I have both, and each has it's place. The swamped has balance, but the straight has a steady hang.

For my latest squirrel/rabbit gun, I decided to go straight. I also wanted a "quicker" build, and wanted to keep it as simple as possible.

I wouldn't sweat it, you could toss a coin on this one IMO.