[357mag357]

I had my 26inch barrel from a Remington 870 12g cut down to legal length. I brought it to a local machine shop and asked if they could do. I machinist took a look at it and said tell me where to cut. I think he did I great job but what should I coat the exposed steel with to prevent rust? Birchwood Casey makes a Touch-Up Pen in Super Black, would that work?

[61chalk]

Why not gun blue?

[357mag357]

Does Midway carry it? What is the product number? So many to choose from. Thanks.

[rcmodel]

What did the "machinist" cut it with, a chain-saw?
I guess thats why all machinists aren't necessarily gunsmiths. :rolleyes:

Seriously, you need to smooth out the saw marks with a fine-cut file and some fine emery paper.

Then use a Birchwood - Casey Touch-up Blue pin.
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0059350212450a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntt=touch-up+blue&Ntk=Product_liberal&sort=all&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&_D%3Asort=+&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form1&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1

Brownell's Oxpho blue is also very good if you can find it locally.
http://www.cabelas.com/p-0003672223874a.shtml

rc

[SteelyNirvana]

I think you should have the barrel re-crowned also.

[357mag357]

Rc
It was a reciprocating saw from Sears. No, it was an oil cooled bandsaw that is used to cut stainless steel rods to length. I think it came out pretty good for FREE.

[Fred Fuller]

That all depends.

Clear the gun (make sure it's empty). Close the bolt on an empty chamber. Insert a dowel or cleaning rod into the bore until it stops at the bolt face. Mark where the dowel/rod contacts the muzzle. Withdraw it and measure from the end that was against the bolt face to the inside of the mark.

Hope it's a bit more than 18", or it might cost you ten grand and ten years if anyone in LE ever questions it. That's a LONG way from "free."

lpl

[357mag357]

Just under 19 inches.

[Virginian]

I'd just touch up the sharp edges with some sand paper and then that touch up pen ought to do it. I think he did a real good job for free. A lot easier to get it square with a metal cutting saw than a hacksaw.
Everybody loves Belt Mountain oversized base pins for Rugers for $30 a pop, but I have gotten two knurled at a speed shop for free, and that did exactly the same thing.

[Dragk913]

Looks about how mine did after I stuck it in a vice and used a hacksaw.. Except I got a file and purdied it up ;)

[Sunray]

"...used to cut stainless steel rods to length..." Kind of surprised the cut is a clean as it is. Band saws aren't made to cut clean or square. Free, of course, is a good thing, but check it it for square and flat, crown it then use the Touch-Up Pen.
Mind you, a really high polish on a shotgun muzzle is extremely intimidating for an HD gun. Makes it appear bigger.

[JWF III]

It was a reciprocating saw from Sears.

Hey now. Don't knock it.

I cut down a Mini-14 (actually done 2 of them) and welded a flash suppressor so that the total barrel length was 16 1/4". (One original barrel is 13 1/2". The other around 14 1/2". Used two different type flash suppressors.) The sawzall did an excellent job on cutting the barrels. It's all a matter of picking the right blade to use. A little filing, and chamfered the muzzle, it shoots better than it did before I got the sawzall after it.

Actually, following the same procedure, I first cut the barrel to 16 1/4" with no flash suppressor (Before I recieved it in the mail). I used a file to make a notch for the original blade sight. Several friends, even though they knew that there was something different about the gun, they couldn't tell what. Until I laid an unaltered one next to it.

Wyman

[1KPerDay]

post some pics of the mini.

[Loyalist Dave]

Hope it's a bit more than 18", or it might cost you ten grand and ten years if anyone in LE ever questions it. That's a LONG way from "free."

Isn't the law a barrel of 18" AND and overall length of 26", so that even if the barrel is 18", if the rest of the shotgun doesn't add 8" it's still a violation?

LD

[Fred Fuller]

True enough- but the receiver on the handiest 870 here (a 12 ga. Express gun) is 7 3/4" long by itself... any sort of stock or pistol grip at all will put it over the necessary overall length.

lpl