new barrell for NEF Pardner Protector

[GeneH]

Hi,

Last weekend when I went shooting my Pardner Protector I had a lot of fun shooting (at) skeet, even though the 18.5" barrel is not ideal for skeet.

From reading this forum, it seems that just about anything for a 870 would fit the Pardner, but not the barrel.

So the question: can I purchase a, say, 26" barrel from other Pardner models that will fit my Pardner Protector? I want that barrel for skeet shooting.

Thank you,
Gene

 

[swampboy]

Seems they only factory-fit the barrels. Can't imagine why. LINK

 

[MAX100]

You have to send in the receiver for them to put a drop in barrel on it and send it back. Are they anal or what.

I have interchanged the barrels on my H&R Protector & Hawk 982 many times. They drop right in.


GC

 

[GeneH]

Thank you both. Well, I hate to send it in and not have it for several weeks, but I may just do it.

 

[swampboy]

I just wonder if their policy is a carry-over from the break-open (their specialty) guns that do indeed have to be fitted.

Could just be a geeky, non hands-on managerial type of thing.

 

[MAX100]

I did have a very good gunsmith say the barrels would be hard to put on a 870 even if the lugs were in the same place. He said they connected different. I thought they were the same except for the position of the lugs but this guy has been in business for 50 years or more and he is the best in a really big area.

I am sure the guy knows is stuff but it's a fact that 870 and Hawk ind made barrels & bolts interchange except for the position of the barrel ring. I have install them on a 870 and they lockup just fine. You don't need to screw the mag cap on to find this out.

The Domonion Arms" is the Canadian importer of the Grizzly (12.5" 870 Clone) and the Grizzle is made by Hawk Ind. The barrel ring on the DA Grizzle is in the same location as the 870 barrel because of the shorter 12.5" barrel. Here is a thread showing a Hawk Ind barrel and bolt installed on a 870 receiver, drop in fit.

Here is the Link: Interesting
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3594104



GC

 

[MAX100]

I had always heard that the barrels were the same except for the lugs but that gunsmith knows his stuff pretty well. He started talking about head space and I was in over my head quick. I need to learn something about that stuff I guess. I don't know what made him say they wouldn't interchange though. Maybe the Pardner stuff is just too new for him to know a lot about it.

Maybe he has never really look them both over together and interchanged parts.


GC

 

[RandKL]

Headspace on an 870 is a product of the length of the bolt lock on the bolt (that square block of steel on the bolt top) fitting into a correspondingly sized cut out in the barrel breech. If that bolt lock is from an 870, it's going to be the right length to lock into pretty much any 870 barrel ever made. If it's *not* from an 870, then chances are it's not the right length and if it's not the right length, you have headspace problems and a potentially dangerous situation.

In Max's example on that franken-gun thread, the builder used a barrel *AND* matching bolt from another gun. He did *NOT* use a barrel from one gun and a bolt from a Remington. Using matching parts is easy....using non-matching parts is dangerous. If the lock is too long or the slot too short, it won't lock up. If the lock is too short or the slot too long, it'll seem to lock up fine....and then leave the bolt unsupported at firing.

NEF's apparent point is that the 870 clone barrels are so roughly finished that they would have to mount it and check the headspace to be sure it was a safe product.

On their break barrel shotguns and rifles, the headspace on the gun is a direct product of the wear on the barrel pivot pin. If the gun's new, a barrel will fit right on in most cases....but if it's even a few years old, the sole wearing part is the pivot pin and a new barrel *won't* fit onto a worn pivot pin safely. You could buy two matching barrels both fitted to the gun on the day of purchase and then use only the one barrel for a few years. The second barrel won't fit safely and will need to be refitted to be used.

richard