Stevens 311 Questions.

[Tyril]

Hey everyone,


I've got a 1951 Stevens 311A 12 Ga that I purchased about a year ago, for trap and slugs. It's definately a favorite of mine, not to mention my girlfriend (who loves all doubles).

A couple of times she has mentioned wanting to use it for self-defense, kept under the bed as an added security measure. I've showed her a couple of pump-action shotguns, but she prefers the simple controls of the double trigger 311. Unfortunately, the 30" trap/hunting barrels are a bit much for indoors manuvering.

I would ideally like to pick up a second set of barrels, in the 18.5-20" range. I'm never going to cut down the existing ones, but I was able to find several extra barrel sets on ebay.

*My question is thus:* Can I simply buy a new set of barrels, cut them down (to a legal length, of course), and swap them out at will? Or is fitting required by a gunsmith?

On a side note: Could 20 ga barrels be installed on the existing 12 ga frame? Not particularly interested in this, but just curious.




Thanks!


-Mike

 

[zinj]

IIRC extensive fitting is required to match a new set of barrels to a reciever. You could probably buy a whole new gun for the price of such fitting. Remington (under the Spartan line) and Stoeger import Coach Guns that are well regarded and very affordable.

 

[Upriver]

As someone who's spent a lot of time looking for a reasonably priced set of barrels for a stevens 311 that haven't been "shortened," it would likely be cheaper for you to buy a stoeger coach gun brand new, or slightly used.

If you've got a set of intact 20 ga barrels that haven't been modified, I'd gladly swap you for the ones on my stevens 311 20 ga that are already shortened (but well within legal length).