16 inch shot gun barrels getting hard to find

My brother has never been into guns. But now he is thinking with all the Democrat idiots letting out criminals ect of getting one. He was thinking of a shotgun. 12ga pump. I was looking for him on line and found a few 870s for 195.00 but they have the hunting 26 inch barrel ect. Most places I found were sold out of the 16inch barrels. I was thinking I could bring my DA grinder and cut the barrel down to 17 inches. I would make sure where to measure it from then add the inch to make sure its good to go. Anyone cut down a shot gun barrel? He has never been a hunter so no worries there.

 

I could be mistaken, but I thought anything shorter than 18 inches on a shotgun was considered an SBS? The shortest barrel I typically see on a shotgun is 18.5 inches.

 

They should be... The limit is 18".

16" is for rifles.

 

Umm.... ya know the minimum legal length for a shotgun barrel is 18"? Shorter than that and ya gotta pay the King for a tax stamp.

 

Better make that ~18.5-inches to avoid trouble with the ATF. Minimum shotgun barrel length is 18-inch. Minimum rifle length barrel is 16-inches. Cutting one off with a grinder is less than optimal. Keep looking you will find one.

 

That is what I am reading I guess I assumed the 16 for rifles was all long guns. I have a Mossberg I have had for years with a short barrel on it. I just assumed it was fine. I will have to get it out this after noon and measure it.

 

Penalties for making and possessing a shotgun barrel less than 18" are insane. Like 10+yrs in club fed and $100k+ in fines if convicted and permanent felony record insane. Most 18" shotguns actually measure 18.5". I'd recommend taking one to a reputable gunsmith if a shorter barrel is desired, as they can ensure you stay legal. Or just use a 26" or wait to find a 18.5".

 

I've cut a couple with vent ribs. If you cut on the rib and then install one of the fiberoptic beads that clamps to the rib it is an inexpensive option that works great. The problem is that by cutting on the rib you don't have many options as to length. On the ones I cut I had the option of cutting at 21" or 19". I cut at 21" in case I messed something up I'd have one more chance and be able to stay legal. I was perfectly happy at 21", to me the 18" guns are just a bit too short anyway.

I used a hacksaw and then used a file to square up the end of the barrel. It is almost impossible to cut perfectly straight with just a hacksaw, but once trued up with the file works great. The ones I did shot slugs pretty accurately just using the new fiberoptic front sight.

 

PLEASE DO =ignore us all here.

AND READ THE LAW YOURSELF !.

You do not want to violate the law ,or have your brother do that either.

 

As said above, if you’re the “gun guy” of the family and hand your brother a shotgun with a short barrel, he’s not gonna think twice about it until he gets pulled over for speeding or something and gets arrested for the unregistered SBS and becomes a felon. 18” minimum for shotguns.

Anyway, on to how to actually shorten a barrel. I would generally advise against just cutting down a longer barrel because you lose the ability to use chokes (ie the gun becomes cylinder only) and you have the issue with reattaching the bead. Also, as mentioned above, if you have a ribbed barrel you usually want to cut at the end of the rib (so that the bead is supported) which limits your options as far as where you can cut.

CDNN occasionally has advertisements for 870 barrels for less than $100, so you might want to see if they have any in stock. I don’t know anything about them so I can’t really endorse them, but worth a look.

Finally, if you do decide to cut a barrel down, find someone with a metal lathe and have them cut the barrel down properly. While concentricity is not quite as important for a shotgun as it is for say, threading a rifle barrel, a lathe is the proper tool for the job. As a bonus, they will probably be able to cut the barrel for chokes at the same time. Be prepared to pay handsomely for this though. Shop rates are pretty high and this would almost assuredly cost more than just buying a spare 870 barrel unless you have a friend who will do the work for a case of beer.

 

Whheew I checked and put a dowel down the end of the barrel to the bolt face and it was 18.5 inches. Thanks for the heads up. All nice and legal now. If I end up cutting it will be 18.5

 

Find a machine shop or a buddy with one of those automatic metal stock saws. They could cut it in minutes at a guaranteed 90º angle, and you could do the finishing. Should only charge a minimal fee for the cut. (Of course, the shop might have reservations about doing so...)

 

I'm not recommending it, but the when the local pawnbroker got tired of looking at a rabbit gun in the rack, he would shorten the barrel - if not vent rib - with a roller type pipe cutter, ream out the burr just like you would on a plumbing job and voila, a "riot gun" that sold promptly.

 

If you still have any doubts on the legality stuff, google Randy Weaver and see how his family fared. And his barrel was o.k. The overall length was a fraction under the 26" minimum o.a.l. Just one more thing to consider.

 

FWIW, you can rent a reamer and tap from this place so that you can thread the barrel to take choke tubes. https://4drentals.com/

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/REMINGTON-...828217?hash=item2cf5c41079:g:BQMAAOSwsxVde~3L

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-manufacturer/remington/870/barrels-rem-870
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1003741790/

https://www.opticsplanet.com/remington-18inch-bs-870-express-extra-bbl.html

 

Stevens pumps... 320 I think may be the model... pretty easy to find, affordable, decent. I will find a link and post it.

https://www.sportsmans.com/shooting...ge-stevens-320-security-pump-shotgun/p/p30448

 

E-bay is your friend for shorter shotgun barrels.

 

That’s actually a really cool site, I didn’t realize there was a company renting reamers! I have a project where I need some reamers (case trimming on a metal lathe - WAY overkill, but a fun little project) but I wasn’t crazy about spending $100-150 per caliber to buy each one. For $34 each I may have to rent a few reamers and see how well they work.

Back to the topic of choke tubes - the site does have a reamer and tap that lets you cut and then thread a barrel for chokes, but their FAQ notes that you need power for the cutting portion, so you’re back to needing a lathe.

 

Cheaper to just buy a barrel at a pawn shop

 

A lathe is nice but not required. I've done it.

 

Ya do not know much about machining do you? most barrels are tapered so just tossing a shotty barrel in one wwilly nilly will not make a true cut at all...

 

I had (have still) a Navy Arms SXS that had damage in the first few inches of one barrel. I decided to cut it back from 26 to 22 inches.
I used a hacksaw. I taped the barrels where the cut was to be. Very carefully...to keep the tape edge parallel to the cut. Carefully cut the barrels using the tape edge as a guide..
it was a good cut. Clean. Checked with a machine square. Parallel all around. Polished the cut edges. Drilled and tapped the rib and installed a new front bead.
It was cylinder bore to begin with so there was no change there.

 

This definitely is the path of least resistance. And will probably save him some money too. Now you've got me eying up the one with the heat shield, like a modern day trench gun.