Barrel shortening

[beerslurpy 1]

Logically it seems like a hacksaw and a vise are all that is needed to make an 18 inch barrel, but what about crowning and stuff?

 

What will be the effects of sawing off the barrel (besides the legal troubles if I saw off too much)?

[Bvamp 604]

what you do is take a 3" shell hull that is empty and chamber it. take a dowel and stick it down the barrel until you hit the open end of the shell and mark the dowel where the muzzle is. take it outa and measure that. you can cut that measurement down to 18" and be 100% legal, because you are using the chamber length, plus the 1/2" of the open shell end. yes, you can use a hacksaw and a vice, but a pipe cutter will help you mark the barrel evenly so you can cut it straight. Just dont put a lot of pressure on the pipe cutter, so you dont distort the metal or damage the enamel on the barrel. saw slowly and carefully, and use a small file to recrown it. file the outside of the muzzle tword the muzzle, not tword the reciever, or you will flake enamel off the muzzle of the gun. shouldnt be difficult at all for you. Ive done it for a few people I know, and its easy even the first time, so long as you take your sweet time and get the length correct.

 

MEASURE TWICE! CUT ONCE! DO NOT CUT TO 18" from a live 3" shell! you are asking for the cops to seize the gun and to have a machinist measure to the ten thousandth of an inch to make sure its REALLY 18". even 1/1000th of an inch shorter and you are screwed. 1/2 inch is not noticable.

Edited September 15, 2004 by Bvamp

[beerslurpy 1]

The 18 inches is measured from the base of the chamber right? I assume that is why you are using the spent shotshell.

 

Any ideas on where to get cheap shotgun ammo? I have seen a few decent deals on Sellier and Bellot buck but wanted to ask you guys first. Walmart has insanely cheap prices, but they only sell birdshot.

[Bvamp 604]

no, the spent shell is open, right? that extra little bit of shell hull gives you 1/2" from the lip of the shell. the chamber is NOT part of the barrel length, and if you use a spent shell and get the 18" from the lip of the shell, you should have 18 1/2" barrel. no problems, no hassles, no headaches.

 

the SB buckshot is decent stuff. make sure you use gas setting 1 is all. also, I strongly advise you to not use steel shot or hevi-shot in this gun. if you are a duck hunter, than a split barrel after a couple hundred rounds of duck hunting is cost effective i suppose. others here feel the same about steel shot in this gun.

Edited September 15, 2004 by Bvamp

[tomme boy 0]

Steel shot or Hevi shot will not split the barrel! The Saiga barrel is 2 times as thick as my old 870 with a fixed full choke. I have shoot over 5K steel shells threw it. Not one problem. Every one I know that has hunted ducks from the 80's when they forced the steel on us has never had a problem either. The wad in the steel shells are 3 times as thick as a lead shell. The shot still compresses down into the wad just as lead does. The only problem I have ever heard of is with the heavy-shot. Before Remington bought them out. The wads seemed to not be long enough, and some of the shot was outside the wad when it was shot. Because the HS is a lot harder than steel shot, it scratched the barrels. This has been fixed.

Before I put a rifled choke in mine, I ran over a case of 3" steel through mine to break it in. Then I just ran my handloads.

[spur0701 0]

Back to cutting the barrel down, since these barrels are chrome lined (at least I think they are) are there any problems, corncerns, or extra steps we need to take when doing this...any potential with the chrome flaking? I seem to remember an old post about that somewhere last year. And along these same lines has anyone threaded the barrel to accept new chokes and done the work themselves, how hard is it? I know it can be done by a smith for $80 to $100 but I've got two guns and two other friends are getting them because they like mine so much and Brownell's has reamers and taps for about $100 each, so if it's not terribly complicated it makes sense for me to just buy the tools.

[darkknight9 1]

Barrel length is measured from the breach face with the bolt closed to the end of the barrel.

[mickporno 0]

no, the spent shell is open, right? that extra little bit of shell hull gives you 1/2" from the lip of the shell. the chamber is NOT part of the barrel length, and if you use a spent shell and get the 18" from the lip of the shell, you should have 18 1/2" barrel. no problems, no hassles, no headaches.

 

the SB buckshot is decent stuff. make sure you use gas setting 1 is all. also, I strongly advise you to not use steel shot or hevi-shot in this gun. if you are a duck hunter, than a split barrel after a couple hundred rounds of duck hunting is cost effective i suppose. others here feel the same about steel shot in this gun.

ok here is what i was told monday nite by the manager of the range where i shoot......the BATF **who by the way has been in there everyday for the last few weeks doing an audit on them** uses a dowel just like you say but they measure from the breech face not the end of a shotgun shell...so all you have to do is close the bolt on an empty chamber and measure the dowel as it rests on the breech face.....the chamber counts as part of the barrel length....this came as an answer to a direct question to a BATF agent on how to measure barrels on shotguns to make sure their complient.....the question was asked because of the manager having knowledge of my desire to cut my barrel.....i'm going to cut it 18 1/2 inches from the breech face.....

[Bvamp 604]

well the local law enforcement here lied to me then, the bastards. They told me a couple of times, that smoothebore chambers are not part of the barrel length. a#$holes. thanks for the correction. Im beginning to understand why my state has gun laws like it does: NOBODY CAN GIVE YOU A CORRECT ANSWER BECAUSE THEY DONT KNOW JACK!

 

Time to stop asking and just re-read the federal and state laws.

Edited September 15, 2004 by Bvamp

[G O B 3,516]

Several choke manufacturers say steel shot splits barells. Their chokes that are designed for steel shot are all extended and extra heavy. They say that even these will split, but will save your barell. It's your gun, shoot steel shot thru choked barell, shoot slugs thru choked barell JUST DON'T do it NEAR ME!

 

G O B

[ForGreatJustice 1]

For the record, I believe the breech face measurement method is actually written into the text of GCA '68. You should be able to find the relevant text easily on line.

 

I recrowned using a dremel and several hand shaped stones which I inserted into the barrel end. I finished some with a had file, some with a fine dremmel bit, and then I polished. The pattern isn't quite as tight as I like out of a cylinder bore, so I will probably have a choke installed.

 

I, too, and interested in doing a self-install choke. Any info on doing this? I prefer reaming and tapping I think. I've broken a die when threading my AK, and it was tougher than I thought.

[Bvamp 604]

you have to distemper the metal I believe to do it the right way.