swamped barrels

[doulos]

I have a dumb question again. Why does it seem that swamped barrels are only on older styles of rifles mostly flintlocks? Why was this style barrel not used for full stock guns built during later eras? For instance were there any Leman rifles made with swamped barrels? Or was most everything that was being built in that era straight or tapered?
Just curious.

 

[streetsniper]

One of the gunsmiths at colonial
williamsburg told me swamped barrels were hand forged that wayto reduce weight in the barrel in the middle where it wasn't needed. The breech takes most of the stress. Than the muzzle was thickened again so the front sight could be at the same plane as the rear one. Nowadays modern guns have that unsightly ramp on the front blade to compensate for the difference between front and rear sights. Or so the gentleman at the colonial gunshop stated. Billy

 

[F.G. Ford]

Also a swamped, or tapered barrel shifts the balance point farther aft, taking the weight away from the muzzle, wich gives the feeling of a lighter gun.
If you get a chance, take hold of two similar rifles, one with a swamped barrel, and one with a straight barrel, I'm sure that you will feel the difference.
Best Regards
Old Ford

 

[Coot]

I would suggest that straight or tapered barrels are easier to make by machine and that as machine made barrels became more common, the swamped barrel became rarer. In addition to the weight and balance benefits of a swamped barrel, when working by hand, it may well be easier to make a swamped barrel than a perfectly straight profile as a curve is more 'forgiving' to the eye than a straight line. When filing, it is easy to bear down more in the middle & the exact curve is not critical on a swamped barrel but with a straight line, if you are off a bit, the whole length must be redone to get it straight again.

 

[Stophel]

Coot has it. Industrialization.

 

[LRB]

Also, the wide breech gives more strength in the wrist area as the stock shape follows the barrel shape way beyond the end of the breech, due to the lock, and side plate panels/moldings. This area would be more oval/round, and fuller than later guns with straight barrels. Of course a tapered barrel would be the about the same in this respect, but a straight barrel would not be, unless the lock, and side plate panel are off set. I have seen that done on a few modern builds, but do not know about original guns.

 

[wulf]

Cost and barrels became shorter with half stocks