Greetings,
You want to be feeding the boring bar toward the head stock, the lead angle and rake of the tool is set up for using it in that manner. Look at the cutting insert, or how the solid boring bar is ground and you will see the logic. The boring bar will be much stiffer under compression than under tension resulting in less chance of chatter, again look at the boring bar, the way it's made and how it's ground. If concerned about swarf use a shot of cutting oil to float out the chips or use boring bars drilled for flood coolant. When chambering a barrel blow any chips that might have migrated into the bore out by applying air through the muzzle. Then hook up your muzzle flushing system and you will be golden. Use a dial indicator to gauge when to stop the carriage at the right depth by disengaging the feed. Don’t waste your half nuts on boring save them for threading, their designed purpose. If your lathe does not have a carriage feed other than by the use of your half nut, feed by hand.
Individual results may vary,
Nic.