Barrel chopping question

[BkBigKid]

I have seen the discussions of cutting down shotgun barrels and the tips and tricks of modifying a barrel. My question is most all mods that I have seen talk about this start with either a single shot or a pump action shotgun.

Is there a reason that semi auto shotguns aren't used for home defense? Seems that a used pump action have gone up in price but some of the older semi auto can be had for very reasonable price? What do yiu think about using a older semi auto shotgun for home defense or shtf weapon?

 

[Leatherhead]

I cut a Mossberg 500 barrel recently...measure a thousand times, cut it with a hack saw, and clean it up with a bench grinder. Mines looks perfect. Had it duracoated afterwards and it looks professional.

 

[Brian618]

If you're cutting down a gas operated shotgun there is a little more to it than just cutting the barrel down, you have to ensure that there is enough gas pressure to cycle the gun properly. The less barrel after the gas ports the less pressure there is to run the operating system

 

[PA4476]

Brian is 100% correct, you must have enough bbl past the ports to cycle the action.

In the past, I have cut down several Remington 1100's. I only had 1 that didn't cyc well with low powered ammo. I simply opened up the gas ports a few thousands and it worked great.

If you use a semi-auto as a dedicated HD weapon, chances are you will be using high brass ammo, and cyc will be less of an issue.

Just remember, 18'' is legal, 17 15/16'' is not. It's best to go with 18 1/2'' to be safe. Most LE measure it inside the bbl with the bolt closed. So, close the bolt, measure down the inside of the bbl to get the true length you now have, and subtract 18 1/2 from that. This tells you how much you can chop off.

Attached is a pic of an old Winchester Super X 1 I made a HD out of.

 

[Barbwire]

Brian is 100% correct, you must have enough bbl past the ports to cycle the action.

In the past, I have cut down several Remington 1100's. I only had 1 that didn't cyc well with low powered ammo. I simply opened up the gas ports a few thousands and it worked great.

If you use a semi-auto as a dedicated HD weapon, chances are you will be using high brass ammo, and cyc will be less of an issue.

Just remember, 18'' is legal, 17 15/16'' is not. It's best to go with 18 1/2'' to be safe. Most LE measure it inside the bbl with the bolt closed. So, close the bolt, measure down the inside of the bbl to get the true length you now have, and subtract 18 1/2 from that. This tells you how much you can chop off.

Attached is a pic of an old Winchester Super X 1 I made a HD out of.

View attachment 98929

Looks good.

 

[PA4476]

Thanks,
Here is a close up pic of the end of the bbl that was cut with a pipecutter then cleaned up with a file.

 

[heyitsshane]

I've found the best way to get it straight and do the cleanest job is to use a pipe cutter. put a piece of masking tape around the end of the barrel (to avoid the guide wheel on the cutter marking the bluing, and cut that sucker off slowly but surely. It will leave a little of a burr on the inside of the barrel, I just use a flex shaft (or you could use a dremel) with an abrasive rubber wheel and smooth it out. A little cold blue and you're good as new.

BUT.. I would follow the advice of the folks above when doing it to a semi-auto. An 1100 should run fine, an A-5 or something else.. may or may not

 

[h34choctaw]

I'm going to drag this thread out of the closet because I recently traded for a nice Remy 1100 in 20 GA from a fellow ODT'er and would like to cut down the 23" barrel a bit if possible. I have read that 22" is the absolute minimum to cut it if you want to cycle low brass #2 and #4 buckshot like the Rio low-cost brand. Since I want to practice with the cheap stuff and want it to cycle reliably what would be the absolute minimun you could go if you had access to reamers and could step up the gas ports and wanted to shoot the cheap low-power Walmart ammo?? What would be the downside if you occasionally shot slug or OO buck?? What size ports did you take them to?? Thanks Oh yeah-here is a pic of my recent Remy 1100 in 20 GA:

 

[DMGun]

FYI - you are going to loose all semblance of a choke if you cut it at all. I cut a single shot down to 18.5" and it patterns well at 10 feet, but would open up quickly.

 

[Shrek926]

I'm going to drag this thread out of the closet because I recently traded for a nice Remy 1100 in 20 GA from a fellow ODT'er and would like to cut down the 23" barrel a bit if possible. I have read that 22" is the absolute minimum to cut it if you want to cycle low brass #2 and #4 buckshot like the Rio low-cost brand. Since I want to practice with the cheap stuff and want it to cycle reliably what would be the absolute minimun you could go if you had access to reamers and could step up the gas ports and wanted to shoot the cheap low-power Walmart ammo?? What would be the downside if you occasionally shot slug or OO buck?? What size ports did you take them to?? Thanks Oh yeah-here is a pic of my recent Remy 1100 in 20 GA:

View attachment 206897

With a 20ga It takes some work, but when at Scatter Technologies in the mid 90's we were producing a 14" 11-87 that functioned fine with lighter loads. I'm searching for a Saiga 20 to build into a shorter barrel, compensated, low recoil shotty for my daughter.

Gas guns can be adjusted and modded, you just need to get the tuning of the firearm as a whole correct. (BTW, great thread to rehash!)