Shotgun barrel and bore question

[Joe the Redneck]

I just bought a very cheap 20 ga Mossy bolt gun. My intended use is pig hunting. As I have poor vision, short range hunting with iton sights is fine for me.

Here is my problem. The barrel cane with a "C-Lect-Choke" device. It also has 5 verticle porting cuts on both sides of the barrel. It also has a peep sight intealled at the rear.

Now, the choke device is nice, but useless for me. If I ever want to shoot skeet or hunt with a 20, I wouldn't use a bolt gun anyway. But the porting might be of some use.

I had intended to fut the barrel back to 22 inches and install a front sight. But it seems like such a waste to lose the choke device and the porting.

Now the other half of the coin. The barrel is very long. Here in Florida our woods are very dense and I know a long barrel is goin to be a PITB. I also not the cuts are going to make the gun louder. And to top it off, the bore has a rusty spot in the bore. The rust appears light and should be easily buffed out.

So, if I cut the barrel I can remove the rusty patch, install a nice front sight and have a gun that is easier to manage in the woods and not have increased muzzle blast.

The down side is I will lose the adjustable choke (which I wont really NEED.) and the porting. I will also have to smooth out the rusty spot.

So what do you think?

JTR

 

[machinisttx]

well..20 gauge is pretty limited with regard to ammo selection. I'm assuming you were planning on using buckshot? If so, the largest I've been able to find is #3 buck, which is only .25" in diameter. I wouldn't trust that for use on pigs.

If you're planning on using slugs, go ahead and cut the barrel. The adjustable choke can be reinstalled at some future date if you wish.

 

[spook]

Remington has 20 ga 2 3/4" shells with single 0 buck. The round contains 12 pellets.

 

[rcmodel]

Don't think so.

It would be impossible to get 12 0 buckshot in a 20 ga shell.

Remington does have a 2 3/4" 12 ga load containing 12 0 buckshot though.

The only 20 ga buckshot load in the 2008 Remington catalog is 20 pellets of #3.

rcmodel

 

[spook]

My bad. I had a 12 ga box mixed in with the 20 ga boxes.

 

[Joe the Redneck]

Thanks for the replies.

FWIW, I have no intention of using buckshot so I am not at all concerned about it.

The days of the 20 being a second class shell are long over. You can get almost any slug in 20 that you can get in 12. So there won't be any issue.

Thanks again

JTR

 

[Clemson]

Cut the barrel to the length you want and install a front sight. You are better off with a short barrel than an adjustable choke for your type of hunting. Just keep barrel length over 18" to be legal.

Clemson

 

[Jim K]

If the choke device is soldered on, melt the solder to remove it (rather than just cutting it off). That way you can cut the barrel and re-install the choke device.

Jim