[wankerjake]

Questions for you fellas who've sawed off your shotgun barrels; do you get a pattern decent enough to shoot birds or trap with, or is it too wide open for that? What about slug accuracy and buck patterns? Adequate/good/excellent for home defense?

I've shot two guns that were sawed off and I couldn't hit pigeons at all with them. And I'm not a bad shot...when I went from hitting 9 out of 10 to 0 out of 10, I figured it was the gun and not me. I ask because I'm trying to decide between finding a cheap used 870 and cutting the barrel or buying a new one with an 18-21" barrel and an improved cylinder choke for $277 + tax at walyworld. The 28" barrel I have now is just a tad long to wield efficiently around the house:p

[hub]

do you get a pattern decent enough to shoot birds or trap with, or is it too wide open for that? What about slug accuracy and buck patterns? Adequate/good/excellent for home defense?

Well basically when you cut the barrel you are removing the choke at the end so that gives you the same performance as a CYL barrel or no choke. It should be fine for slugs and also buck at HD ranges.

I ask because I'm trying to decide between finding a cheap used 870 and cutting the barrel or buying a new one with an 18-21" barrel and an improved cylinder choke for $277 + tax at walyworld. The 28" barrel I have now is just a tad long to wield efficiently around the house

Well honestly you would be better off with two barrels in my opinion. One for HD if you feel you need a shorter barrel and then the 28in with Rem Chokes. There is a reason they make so many different chokes and barrel lengths available and that's because no one set up works best for everything.

[wankerjake]

Well honestly you would be better off with two barrels in my opinion
Well in my initial barrel search, it seemed that I could get a new shotgun for the price of a new barrel ($277) but that crossed my mind too.

[highorder]

You can buy Mossberg brand 870 barrels (18" bead) for less than $100.

[ants]

I bought a used barrel at auction for $50 plus $12 shipping. It was a 26" plain barrel, no vent rib, excellent bore, slight wear on the finish. I was patient for a month or two until I found the right deal.

I sawed it off myself, cold blue on the muzzle crown, and bought a HiViz front sight at WalMart for $6.

Pattern is the same as any cylinder (no choke at all). Barrel length didn't matter one bit. It's the choke and the shotshell load that makes the pattern on my shotguns, not barrel length.

[wankerjake]

Thanks on the advice on the mossberg barrels, that may be the way to go.

SO, a cylinder bore then is what you have after you cut a barrel down? So ordering a cylinder bore would be the same as cutting one?

[rcmodel]

Yes.

A 30" cylinder bore would pattern just about the same as an 18" cylinder bore.
By the same token, an 18" Full or Mod choke barrel will pattern just as good as a 30" with the same choke.

If you want a universal short barrel, send it to Carlsons and have them cut it to 18" or 20" and add interchangable choke tubes. Just pick a Cyl tube for SD, and a Mod & Full for hunting & trap.

$125 bucks complete with three tubes, and two wrenchs.
http://www.choketube.com/instal.html

rc

[wankerjake]

Awesome, thanks for the info guys.

[foghornl]

The "choke" is in the last few inches of the barrel, so if (when) it is cut down, the built-in choke goes away, and what you have left is the same as a factory "Cylinder-Bore" barrel.

A better alternative is another barrel, with lenght and choke you want, or another barrel with swappable choke tubes.

[wankerjake]

The "choke" is in the last few inches of the barrel, so if (when) it is cut down, the built-in choke goes away

Yeah, I know that...

and what you have left is the same as a factory "Cylinder-Bore" barrel.
That's what I wasn't sure about.

A better alternative is another barrel, with lenght and choke you want, or another barrel with swappable choke tubes.

Yeah that's what I can't find, an 18" barrel with screw in chokes. They're all cylinder bore fixed. Anyway I got a cheap one used for $50 that I'm gonna cut down. I may get it threaded for chokes, not sure yet. I like my 28" barrel for hunting. Thanks for all the replies guys.

[Lovesbeer99]

Ping - I need to save this thread for future reference.

[greyeyezz]

Have a Stevens 311 16GA double sawed to 18". At 15 yrds it throws a 12" x 10" pattern with Winchester #1 buck 12 pellets. Plenty good for HD.