sawn off .410

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DilboFlaggins

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So last weekend out of boredom I chopped and dropped my .410 nef pardner. I shot it this weekend, it takes out milk jugs at surprisingly farther range than I expected. At about 40ft it was still lethal to anything milk jug sized.

I used a metal cutting jigsaw blade, I warped the end in leather so id have something to hold. I had a few very small jewelers files, some large grit sandpaper. I sprayed the crown with black spray paint to keep off rust (after degreaseing of course), ill re-blue it next time i get paid. I also fashioned a brass butt plate to hide the sock bolt, using some tin snips and lots of filing, and a hammer and nail to punch the screw holes.

As you may can tell I had quite some fun, doing what i could with the limited tools i had.

Id also like to take this time to state, that the barrel is greater than 18.5 in long and the overall is greater than 27in

 
It's a fairly silly project, but that's perfectly fine.
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I feel the same about hanging as much crap as possible on an AR-15. To each his own. All of my weapons are boring and stock, for the simple reason that the designers knew a lot more about them than I do.
 
Those NEF and H&R single shots aren't exactly heirlooms by any means, most around here can be had for a very fair price second hand, and I really think yours looks pretty nifty, so I wouldn't worry about the modifications. Everybody has the right to have at least one superfluous, not necessarily useful or practical firearm. If you can make it work well more power to you.
 
I cut off my NEF parder to look almost exactly the same as this one. But mine was a 10 gauge, Hahahaha!

-Dan
 
I've got a 12ga Topper that was circumcised back to 18.5 inches. I left the stock 'stock'.

The result is the handiest little truck and fishing gun a guy could ask for, and the price was ridiculously cheap. Being a 12ga, I didn't cut the stock back as it would be a handful and accuracy at short range was my ultimate goal. It definitely handles reptilian pests handily.

So good for you OP, neat little project!
 
H. Koon Inc. of Dallas introduced the "Snake Charmer" commercially in 1977. This was a single shot, stainless steel 18.5" barrel .410 shotgun with an abbreviated stock that brought the overall above 26" that included storage for four .410 shells. Later NEF made a version of their own, including a rifled barrel version that handled the .45 Colt revolver cartridge as well as the .410 shotshell (screw in choke tube with straight "rifling" to stablize the shot charge was included for use as a shotgun).

Very short .410 shotguns, often with pistol grips, were actually factory made in the early 20th Century, often with barrel lengths as short as 12". The southern states' restrictive pistol laws often exempted single shot "handguns" with barrels 12" or longer or defined a restricted handgun as having a barrel length less than 12". These "handguns" were recognized as a legitimate tool for farmers and trappers.

Then the 1934 National Firearms Act classified all the short shotguns as "gangster weapons" if the barrel was shorter than 18" or overall less than 26".

In the South, it was not uncommon when a used but shootable shotgun was retired from hunting duty (usually when a new shotgun was purchased), it would be cut down as a "snake gun" to have around when it was not convenient to take a full sized shotgun, as when fishing in snake infested waters.
 
jon_in_wv said:
Its just the stock guys. It can easily be replaced.
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Care to post a source on replacement stocks? I just picked up a NEF receiver today and It looks like I will be needing a stock/foregrip and eventually some barrels.

Looks like a fun project. Nice work.

capdaddy
 
The last time I checked, if you had the recent NEF steel receiver the factory (H&R 1871) was installing barrels fitted and certified, including centerfire rifle calibers. They asked you check with them and send the receiver and forearm for precise fitting. If I had a spare NEF reveiver, I would check to see if the program is still available.

If I had an old .410 to modify as a snake gun, I would go with a 18.5" barrel and reduce the stock length to 11" or 12" (trigger to butt). I think the balance is better and with .410 allows one-handed use if necessary. The pistol grip only puts too much weight forward, making it a two-hand gun.

Sights are another consideration when shortening a shotgun barrel. The original Koons Snake Charmer did not have a front sight. Down on the mountain one afternoon, shooting my 18.5" barrel H&R 12ga single shot at tossed clay pigeons, I shot it with and without a front bead. I broke more clays without the front sight, aiming just using the end of the barrel as a reference point.
 
Could be useful as a snake gun or even a small game getter for thick brush hunting, but you've likely reduced its effective range to about 10-15 yards by removing the choke. You'd certainly want to avoid any longer shots with it now, however.

The availability of 3" shells with 5 00 or 000 pellets would also make it potentially an effective HD weapon for small or disabled adults or even children due to the fairly mild recoil.
 
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