poptart 3 Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 hey everybody, new here and will be getting a 24" s12 shipped in sometime next week and was wanting to cut it down to 18.5. Do y'all have any tips on cutting the barrel? such as what to use, pipe cutter? hacksaw? grinder? I am aware that I am probably gonna have to do some work with the ports as most all the 24"s have 2 ports, any tips on that? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
setlab 11 Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 (edited) Might want to reconsider cutting it and buy a 19" with a threaded barrel instead. My first saiga was a 24" someone cut down and not being able to use a choke really drove me crazy. Plus if you cut down a 24" gun you will always have the markings on the receiver that say it was a 24" gun with whatever standard choke (full I think) was on it if you can live with that. Edited February 19, 2011 by setlab Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poptart 3 Posted February 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 aesthetics aren't all that important to me, and there seems to be plenty of info about rethreading for a choke, just not much out about cutting the barrel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
setlab 11 Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 I think you couldn't go wrong with a hacksaw and files. Just be careful, I think the barrel is chrome lined it wouldn't be good if the chrome lining were to get chipped. Maybe a pipe cutter could be used to score a line as a reference to square up the cut. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poptart 3 Posted February 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 that was actually exactly what i was thinking, just a couple times around with the pipe cutter then real slow with the hacksaw Quote Link to post Share on other sites
billyjoebob 10 Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 There was an almost identical thread recently. If I'm not mistaken, a pipe cutter was used for the cut with very gradual tightening, so as not to collapse the end of the barrel. Just my .02, but if you are cutting the barrel down anyway and know you have work to do on the ports, why don't you cut it down further (14.5"ish) and permanently attach a nice 4" break to bring it up to your 18.5" target length? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poptart 3 Posted February 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 I had considered that also, and may end up doing it, but i don't know how the shot will spread considering i intend to shoot skeet occasionally. I might have to check out some brakes though Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Night Armory 0 Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 With things the way they are now, I would not cut the barrel down. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poptart 3 Posted February 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 what's your reasoning behind that? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sapper1371usmc 107 Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 (edited) Ive never cut down a barrel, but you could make a jig that would hold your barrel and provide a slot to cut your bbl square. then take files and give it a crown, similar to the way it came from the factory (although I dont believe it to be necessary to have a rounded edge/crown, but at a minimum, i would still take the sandpaper and lightly polish to remove burrs and keep the chrome from flaking) . polish with 800-1000 grt sandpaper. Get with EvlBlkWpns here on the forum. He made a post about exactly what you want to do. You can go down to 18", but allow yourself some room as precationary, and also so that if you have to, you can square up the face with files if you happen to cut crooked. Me personally, I wouldnt go below 18 1/8". For the ports, if yours only has 2, then add another port within the hole allocated by the gas block. When you take off your gas block for the first time, you will notice a black circle on the bbl that encompases the gas ports. All of your ports should be within that circle. Start by using a small drill bit, maybe 1/16 or a little larger to get started. My technique is to start straight up and down to get started and once the bit starts to bite, the change angle to 45 degrees. Make sure that your added port isnt going to be to close to the others so that it will create one giant port (not good). Use a 3/32, .093" drill bit to complete opening the port. Also go through the existing ports with the 3/32 drill bit. Ports should look like a triangle. while your at it, now would be a good time to look if your gas block is partially covering any of the ports. if you look at the barrel, if any of your holes are partially or fully outside that circle that i mentioned earlier, then you need to enlarge the hole in the gas block to look like the letter "D", with the flat edge facing the gas block threads. If you have to do this, do not enlarge the hole to the point it breaks into the area just after the threads. If you look at the gas block, youll see what Im talking about. If the holes are withing that circle, leave the gas block alone. Hope this helps. If you have questions, just pm me. ETA: More Info that I left out of original post. Edited February 19, 2011 by sapper1371usmc Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poptart 3 Posted February 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 thanks sapper, that is exactly the kind of info i was looking for Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Azrial 1,091 Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 We just talked about this here. Hope this helps! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tktm 13 Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 I think if I were doing this I would shove a 12 gauge dowel down the pipe. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
luckypunk 0 Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 Plus if you cut down a 24" gun you will always have the markings on the receiver that say it was a 24" gun with whatever standard choke (full I think) was on it if you can live with that. isn't that designation going to be a digit in the serial # or is there other markings? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poptart 3 Posted February 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 thanks azrial, good info in that thread too...looks like i'm going to be using the pipe cutter going slow and light method...the plan for now is to get it down to ~18.5 and the gas system fully operational, then cutting a little further and permanently attaching a poly-choke Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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