Dave McCracken
Moderator In Memoriam
Queries in Yr Humble Scrivener's E mail box tend to run in bunches.
I had five requests to recommend a good 00 buck load in 24 hours once.
And "should I buy this?" questions show up in droves in August and after New Years.
Lately, it's been people asking about tweaks for their pet shotguns, both field and clays, and even a couple about defensive weaponry.
While I've written reams about this stuff, it's not all in one place. So, here it is with an apology for being repetitious.
And note these are opinions and not on stone tablets.....
Shotguns are not terribly complicated. They ARE built to contain pressures of up to 13,000 PSI and handle up to 70 ft-lbs of recoil. As with all power tools, they can be misused and can cause injury or death.
This is why I often say that trigger and barrel work should be left to folks who know what they're doing. Figuring it out as you go along is not a good approach.
Trigger work first. Many shotguns have triggers heavier than they should be. Due to litigation issues and cost cutting, often these can stand to be made lighter and crisper.
And it's my opinion that crisper is as important as lighter.
A decent trigger can often be had for $50 or less. Money well spent. The old British rule of thumb said that the front trigger should be half the weight of the gun, the back trigger 1/2 lb more. I'd go for 3-4 lbs, if possible,and clean.
As for barrels, the most common query I get is about shortening them.
I've had it done a few times, and it's been 50-50 as to whether I regretted it afterwards.
Since most modern repeaters have easily replaceable barrels, a better approach is to buy a short barrel and change them as desired.
And if you have an old 97,12 or A-5, let them retain their barrels and go buy a Maverick or something for defense.
On doubles, it's usually not a good idea. Barrels can become deregulated and POIs go south big time. And there's probably not a 26" barreled grouse wand hiding inside great uncle Zeb's duck gun anyway.
Internal barrel work can be beneficial or just a waste. Let's look at a few processes.....
Chokes can be opened if they're too tight or in many cases replaced with interchangeable tubes. Making a choke tighter is like cutting something longer.
Not every person with a choke hone is qualified to work on even an inexpensive barrel and choke. But, good people are common enough that you can get your money's worth with some research and googling.
Same goes for tubes. If I were getting tubes installed or fixed chokes opened, I'd send the barrel to Briley, Carlson's or Mike Orlen. These firms have plenty of experience and good reps. Good things don't come cheap, but botched work can be very expensive.
You see a lot of ink these days on overbored barrels. These are barrels made larger than the standard bore. Supposed bennies include better patterns, less kick, higher velocity, world peace and the cure for cancer.
Backboring is reboring barrels larger.Overbores are from scratch.
Bores on these run as big as .750", with a few up to .800". The standard 12 gauge is .729"
I remain unconvinced.
The big money in Shotgunning is in live Pigeon shooting. Thousands of bucks can ride on a single shot. The pros in Europe tend to like tight bores, down to .720". If a bigger bore helped, they'd be swinging what looked like 10 gauges.
Another mod ballyhooed by many is porting. This involves making lots of tiny holes in the barrel to pipe gasses off and reduce kick and muzzle jump.
Still unconvinced. It may reduce muzzle rise a bit, but shotgun velocities are not high enough for the vented gasses to make much difference.
Porting does make the shot much louder. It complcates cleaning also.
The third common mod for barrels is to give a slower taper to the forcing cone. This cone is the funnel between the chamber and bore. This is supposed to give the same benefits as overboring.
In fact, this does work. The gentler taper eases the pellets into the bore with less deformation. The pressure spike is a bit lower and recoil is spread out just a hair. I defy anyone to tell the difference in kick at the shoulder, but the patterning board never lies.
One cylinder bore 870 barrel here was patterned with a favorite load of 00 before and after a cone job. About 4" less spread at 25 yards.
Results with smaller shot are not as dramatic, but more pellets staying in the pattern are almost always good.
As with all barrel mods, the concentricity of the cone in relation to the bore is important. Were I getting a cone done, I'd want the smith to set it up in a lathe, work slow, and polish it slick afterwards.
Moving on.....
Other smithing includes anything done to improve fit and comfort.
Stock work done by someone who is fecally cognizant can improve one's shooting incredibly.
Adding a good pad is also a very good idea on anything bigger than a 28 gauge.
As for sights, the plain bead works for many folks. Mid beads can do some good when shooting a premounted shotgun, but I doubt they help much when shooting low gun.
The newer and increasingly common Fiber Optic "Green Worm" sights may help also, provided one stays focussed on the target and is not distracted. The three shotguns I shoot the most are a Beretta O/U and two 870s. All three have F-O front beads and mid beads. I can do without the mid beads, but I don't feel strongly enough about it to remove them.
My F-Os are from Hi Viz and come with user friendly instructions. They were easily installed.
Open and Ghost Ring sights are popular with both slug shooters and the black BDU folks. For home defense, the single bead works well and is faster than anything elsel though not by much. I'd work with a bead lots before trying out other styles and that's exactly what I did.
To summarize, here's my answers and opinions on what smithing and mods to do.
Triggers, yes.
Chokes, yes if needed.
Bobbing barrels, probably not.
Overboring, the same.
Porting, heck no.
Long cone, heck yes.
Stocks, yes.
Pad,certainly.
Sights, maybe.
HTH.....
I had five requests to recommend a good 00 buck load in 24 hours once.
And "should I buy this?" questions show up in droves in August and after New Years.
Lately, it's been people asking about tweaks for their pet shotguns, both field and clays, and even a couple about defensive weaponry.
While I've written reams about this stuff, it's not all in one place. So, here it is with an apology for being repetitious.
And note these are opinions and not on stone tablets.....
Shotguns are not terribly complicated. They ARE built to contain pressures of up to 13,000 PSI and handle up to 70 ft-lbs of recoil. As with all power tools, they can be misused and can cause injury or death.
This is why I often say that trigger and barrel work should be left to folks who know what they're doing. Figuring it out as you go along is not a good approach.
Trigger work first. Many shotguns have triggers heavier than they should be. Due to litigation issues and cost cutting, often these can stand to be made lighter and crisper.
And it's my opinion that crisper is as important as lighter.
A decent trigger can often be had for $50 or less. Money well spent. The old British rule of thumb said that the front trigger should be half the weight of the gun, the back trigger 1/2 lb more. I'd go for 3-4 lbs, if possible,and clean.
As for barrels, the most common query I get is about shortening them.
I've had it done a few times, and it's been 50-50 as to whether I regretted it afterwards.
Since most modern repeaters have easily replaceable barrels, a better approach is to buy a short barrel and change them as desired.
And if you have an old 97,12 or A-5, let them retain their barrels and go buy a Maverick or something for defense.
On doubles, it's usually not a good idea. Barrels can become deregulated and POIs go south big time. And there's probably not a 26" barreled grouse wand hiding inside great uncle Zeb's duck gun anyway.
Internal barrel work can be beneficial or just a waste. Let's look at a few processes.....
Chokes can be opened if they're too tight or in many cases replaced with interchangeable tubes. Making a choke tighter is like cutting something longer.
Not every person with a choke hone is qualified to work on even an inexpensive barrel and choke. But, good people are common enough that you can get your money's worth with some research and googling.
Same goes for tubes. If I were getting tubes installed or fixed chokes opened, I'd send the barrel to Briley, Carlson's or Mike Orlen. These firms have plenty of experience and good reps. Good things don't come cheap, but botched work can be very expensive.
You see a lot of ink these days on overbored barrels. These are barrels made larger than the standard bore. Supposed bennies include better patterns, less kick, higher velocity, world peace and the cure for cancer.
Backboring is reboring barrels larger.Overbores are from scratch.
Bores on these run as big as .750", with a few up to .800". The standard 12 gauge is .729"
I remain unconvinced.
The big money in Shotgunning is in live Pigeon shooting. Thousands of bucks can ride on a single shot. The pros in Europe tend to like tight bores, down to .720". If a bigger bore helped, they'd be swinging what looked like 10 gauges.
Another mod ballyhooed by many is porting. This involves making lots of tiny holes in the barrel to pipe gasses off and reduce kick and muzzle jump.
Still unconvinced. It may reduce muzzle rise a bit, but shotgun velocities are not high enough for the vented gasses to make much difference.
Porting does make the shot much louder. It complcates cleaning also.
The third common mod for barrels is to give a slower taper to the forcing cone. This cone is the funnel between the chamber and bore. This is supposed to give the same benefits as overboring.
In fact, this does work. The gentler taper eases the pellets into the bore with less deformation. The pressure spike is a bit lower and recoil is spread out just a hair. I defy anyone to tell the difference in kick at the shoulder, but the patterning board never lies.
One cylinder bore 870 barrel here was patterned with a favorite load of 00 before and after a cone job. About 4" less spread at 25 yards.
Results with smaller shot are not as dramatic, but more pellets staying in the pattern are almost always good.
As with all barrel mods, the concentricity of the cone in relation to the bore is important. Were I getting a cone done, I'd want the smith to set it up in a lathe, work slow, and polish it slick afterwards.
Moving on.....
Other smithing includes anything done to improve fit and comfort.
Stock work done by someone who is fecally cognizant can improve one's shooting incredibly.
Adding a good pad is also a very good idea on anything bigger than a 28 gauge.
As for sights, the plain bead works for many folks. Mid beads can do some good when shooting a premounted shotgun, but I doubt they help much when shooting low gun.
The newer and increasingly common Fiber Optic "Green Worm" sights may help also, provided one stays focussed on the target and is not distracted. The three shotguns I shoot the most are a Beretta O/U and two 870s. All three have F-O front beads and mid beads. I can do without the mid beads, but I don't feel strongly enough about it to remove them.
My F-Os are from Hi Viz and come with user friendly instructions. They were easily installed.
Open and Ghost Ring sights are popular with both slug shooters and the black BDU folks. For home defense, the single bead works well and is faster than anything elsel though not by much. I'd work with a bead lots before trying out other styles and that's exactly what I did.
To summarize, here's my answers and opinions on what smithing and mods to do.
Triggers, yes.
Chokes, yes if needed.
Bobbing barrels, probably not.
Overboring, the same.
Porting, heck no.
Long cone, heck yes.
Stocks, yes.
Pad,certainly.
Sights, maybe.
HTH.....
, I pulled the trigger (twice), checked the safety, and finally took it off my shoulder and inspected it, thinking that I'd had a malfunction.