Cutting down barrels

[dak0ta]

Hi,

I was wondering if one cuts down a plain non-VR mossberg 500 full choke barrel that is 28" long to 18.5", would the bore now be cylinder bore or would it be tighter? After cutting, does the muzzle end need to be strengthened somehow? Or just filed so it's even?

 

[ReloaderFred]

It becomes a cylinder bore shotgun when it's cut off. The muzzle doesn't need to be strengthened in any way, but it does need to be trued and polished.

If you do decide to cut it off, put masking tape around the barrel and align where the sight bead will have to be located before you cut the barrel. Use a straight edge and make a mark on the tape where the bead will need to be, so it will be properly located after the barrel cutting. It's much easier than trying to figure out where to drill the hole after the barrel has been cut off.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[oneounceload]

Is that a straight barrel or does it have a slight taper? If a taper, then cutting square to the bore might present an issue without a jig.

You WILL need to pattern it afterwards to see if you changed the POI/POA by not making it square.

Good luck

 

[dak0ta]

How much would it cost to get a local gunsmith to do it? Also is it better to cut down a VR barrel or non-VR barrel? I feel like cutting down a VR would give a nice sighting plane for slugs and for ease of alignment. However they are probably more expensive than older non-VR mossberg barrels kicking around. Suggestions?

 

[oneounceload]

Call your local smith and ask him. As to VR or not - you would need to leave one support near the end, so you may have to leave it a little longer - depends on where the support is.

 

[porterdog]

IIRC I paid ~$40 to have a shotgun barrel shortened, recrowned, and drilled/tapped for a new bead.

 

[Sebastian the Ibis]

I bought a factory 18.5 in barrel for my mossberg and the bead is way off (several mm lower) compared to the bead on my VR barrel. If you have the option to buy an old barrel to cut down, I'd go VR. Someone was selling one in the TP here for $60ish a couple of months ago, you may want to search for that.

 

[dak0ta]

If I got a VR barrel, maybe it'd be worth getting it with choke threads put in.

 

[oldbanjo]

A new barrel is $89.99 at Cabela's.

 

[Red Cent]

If you cut that barrel down to 18.5", the bead ain't gonna make any difference.
At 18.5" the taper won't be that much.Take a pipe cutter and make a few turns to mark the barrel. You can actually cut the barrel off with the pipe cutter. When through, the inside of the barrel lip needs to be reamed a tad. Dowel rod and sandpaper will work.
Oneounceload, do ya think a cylinder bore at 18.5" will pattern? Maybe 10 yards.
Have cut, reamed, chamfered, chambered, sanded, drilled, tapped, and installed the beads (that gunsmith was too cheap) on cowboy guns. I can tell you at 30 feet it will have a spread about, aw, say as wide as a man. All the ones I cut shot where the bead was and the steel plate fell over.

 

[dak0ta]

How do you think rifled slugs would fair accuracy wise in a cut down barrel? Do factory 18.5" barrels have better accuracy?

 

[ArchAngelCD]

How do you think rifled slugs would fair accuracy wise in a cut down barrel? Do factory 18.5" barrels have better accuracy?

When done correctly a cut-down barrel is no less accurate than a factory barrel.

 

[dak0ta]

Also another question is... 18.5" or 20". Does that 1.5" extra make a difference in terms of forward weight and swinging of the gun?

I also have a scabbard, so would the 20" barrel make it not fit?

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Barrel length is something you will need to decide on. What's comfortable for me to shoot may not be to your liking. Usually, but not always, a manufacturer will use the longer 20" barrel to match an extended ammo tube. Some just prefer a 20" barrel...

 

[whitecoyote]

Try this from Brownells.
http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/cid=538/k=/t=S/mfg=/Products/Shotgun-Barrel-Facing-Tools

 

[dak0ta]

Another question regarding a front sight. Instead of drilling and tapping for a bead, would those fiber optic sights that clip onto the barrel work?

 

[rcmodel]

They will till they fall off.
And they will sooner or later.

All the ones I have used for turkey hunting depend on the front bead being there to keep recoil from slipping them off the muzzle the first shot.

rc

 

[highorder]

Drilling and tapping for a bead is easy work. It's a thin section.

Do it correctly, once.

 

[dak0ta]

I haven't used a FO sight before. Does it look like a glowing bead sight when looking down the barrel?

 

[rcmodel]

Yes.

More so in bright light then in shade, but still a glowing dot or bead is what you see.

rc

 

[dak0ta]

With regards to a pistol gripped shotgun. Does having a 2 point sling as opposed to a single point sling reduce more recoil if the shotgun is in a thrust-forward position?

 

[rcmodel]

Yep!

Unhook the back end, and stand on the front end.

That will at least keep it from hitting you in the face.

rc

 

[oneounceload]

With regards to a pistol gripped shotgun. Does having a 2 point sling as opposed to a single point sling reduce more recoil if the shotgun is in a thrust-forward position?

Recoil is a product of physics and the sling has nothing to do with it - either actual or felt.

 

[dak0ta]

Well I was thinking that there are two points on the shotgun exerting a forward force as opposed to just the rear sling point of a single-point sling.

And just thinking it over, exerting a greater force forward with a sling should reduce felt recoil as opposed to just holding the shotgun in front without a sling at all. Rationale being instead of just your hands as the two points adding forward force, you have the trunk of your body as a 'pillar' and the sling (single or 2 point) using your body as a basis to exert tension via the sling in the forward direction. So you have 2 points of mechanical force (your arms) being generated forward and depending on the sling, 2 tensile forces being exerted forward being based off your body. But you are right in the terms of actual recoil, the shotgun's actual recoil is the same regardless of sling or no sling. The forces forward just negate the rearward energy using the body and arms. In other words, sling doesn't do anything, it just allows you to use your body as another point of force helping to prevent the shotgun from flying backwards violently.