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So, for a couple of years I've been working on piecing together the parts to make a "mini-defender" out of a spare winchester 1300 Youth model, 20 gauge. I got the Defender barrel in 20 gauge for a good price, eventually found a long magazine tube (for those who don't know the 12 and 20 gauge have the same magazine tube; the throats are different). Today I was able to use the "standard" method to drive the short mag tube into the receiver, remove the mag tube throats, make a slide hammer out of a 6" section of 1" steel pipe, and use it to pull the short tube from the receiver.
The new longer mag tube didn't enjoy being driven into the receiver, so much so that I broke my rubber mallet, and despite several layers of cardboard and tape to protect the mag cap from a steel hammer (which was the only thing that transferred sufficient force to drive the tube into the receiver), I deformed the cap and bent the end of the magazine tube a little before it would go into the receiver. Got the new throat threaded on, was able to muscle the mag cap off to slide on the slide hammer, got the cap on, and was able to slide hammer the new magazine tube out far enough to seat the mag tube throat. Perhaps a smarter person than I would have stopped there, driven the tube back in, removed the throat, and pulled the ruined tube out. I didn't.
PROBLEM: End of new mag tube is out of round and/or buckled enough to not be able to install new barrel. I tried to sort of mandrel the buckled portion out with the handle of a socket extension, and it worked, but now there's a slight funnel shape at the end of the tube and the cap won't thread on, nor will the barrel ring fit over. So now I have installed a tube but have no way to give up and go back to the original mag tube, nor use the defender barrel and the new mag tube.
You can chide and laugh all you want, but I was hoping to complete this install myself, I enjoy solving mechanical puzzles, and I did follow the recommended procedure.
So: is there a way to reduce the diameter of the end of the mag tube without destroying it, or rendering the threads useless? I need a tapered 1" ID forming die or something.
I tried carefully squeezing around the OD with a padded vise and an almost 1" steel die inside to prevent me from really crushing it, but I either wasn't aggressive enough or it didn't work. The OD of the tube needs to be 1.00". Barrel ring is approximately 1.02" ID but that's not using pin gauges, just a caliper. The end of the mag tube measures 1.012 at the widest and .998" at the narrowest but the barrel ring will not slip over nor will the mag cap thread on so obviously I've ovaled it somewhat. I feel if I could get it tot he point where I could catch the cap threads I might be able to muscle it back on and hopefully squeeze it back to round or at least to the point where it will hold and I can either use it as is or give up, drive it back in and out and go back to the standard tube.
Long and boring story but what would the smarter (than I) guys here do?
I'll save the wags the trouble:
1. throw away that POS 1300 and get a real shotgun
2. just mash the tube flat in a vise and turn it into an expensive screwdriver
3. haw haw you're an idjit! You should have used a 2-ton press to install that thar mag toob
The new longer mag tube didn't enjoy being driven into the receiver, so much so that I broke my rubber mallet, and despite several layers of cardboard and tape to protect the mag cap from a steel hammer (which was the only thing that transferred sufficient force to drive the tube into the receiver), I deformed the cap and bent the end of the magazine tube a little before it would go into the receiver. Got the new throat threaded on, was able to muscle the mag cap off to slide on the slide hammer, got the cap on, and was able to slide hammer the new magazine tube out far enough to seat the mag tube throat. Perhaps a smarter person than I would have stopped there, driven the tube back in, removed the throat, and pulled the ruined tube out. I didn't.
PROBLEM: End of new mag tube is out of round and/or buckled enough to not be able to install new barrel. I tried to sort of mandrel the buckled portion out with the handle of a socket extension, and it worked, but now there's a slight funnel shape at the end of the tube and the cap won't thread on, nor will the barrel ring fit over. So now I have installed a tube but have no way to give up and go back to the original mag tube, nor use the defender barrel and the new mag tube.
You can chide and laugh all you want, but I was hoping to complete this install myself, I enjoy solving mechanical puzzles, and I did follow the recommended procedure.
So: is there a way to reduce the diameter of the end of the mag tube without destroying it, or rendering the threads useless? I need a tapered 1" ID forming die or something.
I tried carefully squeezing around the OD with a padded vise and an almost 1" steel die inside to prevent me from really crushing it, but I either wasn't aggressive enough or it didn't work. The OD of the tube needs to be 1.00". Barrel ring is approximately 1.02" ID but that's not using pin gauges, just a caliper. The end of the mag tube measures 1.012 at the widest and .998" at the narrowest but the barrel ring will not slip over nor will the mag cap thread on so obviously I've ovaled it somewhat. I feel if I could get it tot he point where I could catch the cap threads I might be able to muscle it back on and hopefully squeeze it back to round or at least to the point where it will hold and I can either use it as is or give up, drive it back in and out and go back to the standard tube.
Long and boring story but what would the smarter (than I) guys here do?
I'll save the wags the trouble:
1. throw away that POS 1300 and get a real shotgun
2. just mash the tube flat in a vise and turn it into an expensive screwdriver
3. haw haw you're an idjit! You should have used a 2-ton press to install that thar mag toob
