swamp barrels

[56 kodiak shooter]

when did gun builders start using swamp barrels and is there any advantage to using a swamp barrel except weight reduction-thank randy

 

[BrownBear]

They go waaay back, but I don't recall the specifics.  The big advantage for me is in balance and handling.  They're just lots easier to point, hold and shoot.  I have tapered barrels on several rifles and they're close, but not the same.

 

[Kentucky Colonel]

56, I recently asked a similar question. I was told that people have been trying to swamp barrels since there were barrels. 
I was told that they would file off some in the middle to get that effect rather than the way they do it today. 

Go find a nice swamped barrel rifle and hold it up as if on target. You will feel the advantage.

 

[Hilljack1]

I agree with the others,,,,I have built a few swamped barrels and they are a joy to shoot...Many of the different schools used them, from the English to the Germanic Jeagers....Like KC said you need to find and hold one to appreciate and they come in all sizes and calibers....31" to 44" long...

YMHS
Hilljack

 

[Buck Conner1]

... I was told that people have been trying to swamp barrels since there were barrels. 

During the Han Dynasty, a man named Wei Boyang was the first to write anything about gunpowder. He wrote about a mixture of three powders that would “fly and dance” violently. Soon after the Chinese were trying different ideas on its uses. Then came the "Hand Cannon" in the 9th century by a Chinese alchemists searching for an elixir of immortality even though the Chinese were manufacturing firearms using bamboo tubes and stones as projectiles in the year 904, soon they were working with metals. Some of the very first barrels were swamped (the Chinese made hand cannons that were swamped making them lighter and easier to grip).

I was told that they would file off some in the middle to get that effect rather than the way they do it today. 

In London at several of the bigger museums the "Hand Cannons" are on display, you can see how the barrel had been filed down in the center section. Seen on a few of the early ones are file marks. Same goes for