chopping a shotgun barrel?

dawgm

dawgm

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I have an old mosserg 500c with a long full choke barrel (non vent rib) that I'd like to cut down to 18.5". I'm sure some of you have experience with this subject.

I've been reading on doing the job with a hacksaw or a pipe cutter. Both methods seem to be doable but far from perfect. Anyone have good results with either? I think it would be hard to get a square cut on the tapered barrel with a hacksaw, and the pipe cutter method appears to leave rough edges.

OR...(probably the better choice)

How much should a gunsmith charge to lop off the end of the barrel for me? I can refinish the barrel myself, just need it cut and the crown cleaned up. Maybe drill and tap the front post too.


Note: I know all about how to measure the length to keep it legal.
 
the only thing that is challenging is rebeading after the cut . I took a 28" single shot down to 18.5" with a hacksaw and fine metal blade. Cleaned it up with a dremel and polishing tool and then put on a basic cold blue and didnt bother with the bead sight. Check with a smith on the cost of cutting and rebeading. It may end up being worth just picking up a 18.5" mossberg or maverick barrel instead.
 
its hard to find short 20 gauge barrels. If a smith charges like $20 thats what i'd do, otherwise its getting carefully cut with the saw.

anyone know a smith around athens?
 
Easy job really. Mark it off with the pipe cutter, but cut with chop or hack saw. Use the score mark you made with the pipe cutter as a guide for the hack saw. Tape the barrel with masking tape where you want to cut it and let the pipe cutter mark through the tape. The tape is there in case the saw blade skips off the line it won't eat up the surrounding area. After you cut it Make sure it is square and dress with a file. Break the sharp corners with a round bastard or rat tail and finish off with emory cloth. For the sight I buy the Brownells "stepped bases" that are threaded for a 6-48 round sight bead. I rough up the area were I plan to solder the sight on with some emory cloth and then I degrease it with acetone. I put a good gob of flux on the spot and position my sight base on it and clamp or wire in place. I heat with propane or MAPP torch (both work fine, propane is cheaper though) the sight block and right below it. Wait till the flux starts to sizzle and smoke and then start "wicking" the solder into the joint. You don't want to force melt the solder into the joint, let the joint "suck" it in. You can take the solder and hold it onto the joint opposite the heat source and it will draw into the joint. I use 50/50 bar solder I beat out into little slivers and just regular copper pipe flux. I thought to get Brownells Force 44 solder or some of their other offerings, but decided to try this method and it worked perfect. One word of caution....The flux will cause flash rust if you don't get the residue off of the metal. It is an acid. The heat will also discolor the metal a bit as well. After cutting, dressing, and soldering the end of your gun then you will want to touch up the bluing around the muzzle and the heat affected areas. Then you are done. I have done several just like this and they turn out great and the sight isn't going anywhere! I even did a test once...I took a piece of an old shotgun barrel I had sawed off and prepped it like I mentioned above and soldered a little block of steel to it. Let it cool and then proceeded to beat it with a ball pein hammer and it DID NOT budge. I beat dents into the block and barrel stub, but it didn't move.
 
With the BOLT CLOSED!!!! If you do it with the bolt open you will be committing a federal crime. It will make your barrel about 3 inches shorter than what you think it will be. If you are opting to saw it to 18 inches it would make it 15. Almost bought an 870 on another GA website and the seller showed a pic of the gun and I inquired about the barrel length. He assured me it was 18 inches dead on the nose. I asked him to measure with the bolt closed and then get back to me. Turned out it was a 15 inch barrel. Knowing what just happened he destroyed the barrel and decided to keep the receiver. Too bad because I had another spare barrel that I could have mated up to it...
 
I had assumed that,but thanks. Glad you caught that with your almost buy.That's gotten a few in trouble.

EMC45 said:
With the BOLT CLOSED!!!! If you do it with the bolt open you will be committing a federal crime. It will make your barrel about 3 inches shorter than what you think it will be. If you are opting to saw it to 18 inches it would make it 15. Almost bought an 870 on another GA website and the seller showed a pic of the gun and I inquired about the barrel length. He assured me it was 18 inches dead on the nose. I asked him to measure with the bolt closed and then get back to me. Turned out it was a 15 inch barrel. Knowing what just happened he destroyed the barrel and decided to keep the receiver. Too bad because I had another spare barrel that I could have mated up to it...
Click to expand...
 
I picked up a pipe cutter and realized it will not actually cut through steel. I'll use it to score the barrel like EMC45 said, then use a hacksaw with fine teeth to make the cut.

Barrel length will be measured from the closed bolt face with a dowel. Measure twice, mark the barrel and walk away. Come back later and measure twice again. I'm going to 19 inches so that a smith can correct any mistakes that may arise during this project. Most of my projects quickly go to hell, hence 19 inches.

Thanks for the help. If anyone around athens has done a barrel and feels like helping on another one...
 
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