Correcting "sawed off" shotgun patterning

[albertaoutlaw]

I have a Yilditz sxs shotgun, with long barrel. I had the barrel cut to 18" for the shotgun to be my bear defence gun on horseback/hiking.

However I was not thinking straight when I did so and now of course the patterning is very bad. I realized later that the ends of a shotgun barrel are very important in maintaining point of aim and I seem to have ruined the utility of the shotgun.

At 25 yards, shooting buckshot, the left barrel shoots patterns about 2-8 inches left and the right barrel shoots patterns 2-8 inches right. Slugs shoot about 3-4 inches left and right of point of aim respectively.

My question is this: can the barrel after it has been sawed off be gunsmithed or repatterned to correct and re-centre the point of aim ? If the answer is yes who does such work ?

 

[Can-down]

Could you modify the front sight so there was a left and right bead?

Chokes are available to dial in POI but I think it might be easier to customize your sights....

 

[albertaoutlaw]

Ya, I guess. But does that not look lame ? Also will that not tend to cant the pattern waaay over to the opposite side unless you also install cooresponding rear sights ?

 

[Can-down]

I don't know I guess you would have to experiment and see where the aimpoints are for each barrel.

 

[Longwalker]

The problem you have is pretty much a fact with all bubba'ed side by side shotguns. the barrels have to have a parallel section in order for them to shoot to point of aim. You cut the parallel section off, like so many others have done before. The gun is now pretty much junk IMHO, just like all the other sawed off doubles that people keep butchering.
It's kinda sad, but people who are into blowing up milk cartons seem to like shortened barrels, even though they don't shoot worth crap. I'd sell it to one of them if I were you.

 

[Win/64]

Ya, I guess. But does that not look lame ? Also will that not tend to cant the pattern waaay over to the opposite side unless you also install cooresponding rear sights ?

"Lame" Is cutting off the barrels of a perfectly good SxS without knowing the consequences.

 

[Claybuster]

My question is this: can the barrel after it has been sawed off be gunsmithed or repatterned to correct and re-centre the point of aim ? If the answer is yes who does such work ?

Yes it can and there are smiths who can do it but the cost of doing so would be well in excess of the original cost of the gun.

Consider it one of those life lessons and sell the thing to someone who cares more about looking badass than actually hitting anything.

 

[REM3200]

However I was not thinking straight when I did so and now of course the patterning is very bad. I realized later that the ends of a shotgun barrel are very important in maintaining point of aim and I seem to have ruined the utility of the shotgun.

You gotta lay off the firewater and do your homework before you get out the hacksaw.

 

[Grouse Man]

So, just use buckshot and don't worry about it until the bear is breathing down your neck.

 

[Ahsan Ahmed]

However I was not thinking straight when I did so and now of course the patterning is very bad.

Well, you were at least straightforward in admitting that error in judgement and that in itself is admirable .

While not entirely cost efficient, it'd still be best to sell the sxs or perhaps trade that for something like an 870 with 18in bbl or one of those factory coachguns in the market today.....you may or may not need to tweak that scabbard (or the type of guncase) that you presently use.

 

[BabySeal]

I was wondering earlier how double barreled guns are co-witnessed. Seems to be a fair bit of magic involved as nobody outside of the manufacturer seems to be able to do it.

I do believe however that the barrels are silver soldered to the centre rib. That should mean that you can clamp the barrrels, heat it up, and re-solder them.

Of course, things could just be worse when you are finished unless you have some sort of index for setting the barrels at.

Would it bee too hard to just aim off, remembering the point of impact for each barrel? I dont imagine that this would be too hard given that your average bear defense range is something like 25 yds right?

 

[MauserMike]

Of course everything could be separated and silver soldered but you'd be in for 10x more than the gun is worth. At the temperatures required you'd also be in for re-blueing.

I've seen photos of barrels prepped for soldering in Spain. Stacks of them held with wire, shims and lumps of silver solder.

 

[straightshooter]

Sticky this thread, please.

Too bad about the gun. But, I gotta give you credit for having the nards to fess up here - this isn't exactly a support group for bubba's.

You now have two issues with this gun, not one. The chokes are eliminated, leaving cylinder bore. And, the regulation of point of aim has been compromised. Those who say it can be fixed, but not economically, are right.

You should sell the gun to someone who wants it for chronographing short barrel metrics, and remember never to try that again.

Better yet, this thread should be stickied somewhere, so other's who get the notion it might be fun to hack barrels might benefit from your experience.

 

[Ahsan Ahmed]

You should sell the gun to someone who wants it for chronographing short barrel metrics, and remember never to try that again.

LOL! SS - I realize that your suggestion made was in earnest......but that that didn't help prevent me from spewing tea on the keyboard

 

[diananike]

A lot of people do the same thing expecting to get a short range home-defense gun out of it. And guess what...
That's exactly what you have.

No good for Outdoor use for bear defense but neither is an Dominion arms Outlaw.

It seems to me that sawing the barrels down is like playing the lottery because the POI/POA adjustments at the factory are made at the ends of the barrels with shims and the like. Sometimes it works to cut down, sometimes not.

That being said I had a poorly regulated Spanish sxs that one barrel was dead on and the left one shot left, so what does it hurt to change something like that into a coach gun? Stick with buckshot and keep the ranges short, it'd really only be a toy but half my guns are anyway.

 

[albertaoutlaw]

Ya ya I get it. Don't chop off the barrel. Got it.

Sell the gun. Got that too.

Who's looking for a shotgun ?


Babyseal - you say resolder the barrels meaning widen the distance between the barrel and the rib at the chamber end, narrow the distance at the muzzel and voila....you get get a more centred trajectory ?

 

[REM3200]

Babyseal - you say resolder the barrels meaning widen the distance between the barrel and the rib at the chamber end, narrow the distance at the muzzel and voila....you get get a more centred trajectory ?

Right now you have a bubba shotgun that may have some use but if you loose your senses again and heat those barrels up and take them apart you have a piece of rebar.



.

 

[Ahsan Ahmed]

Babyseal - you say resolder the barrels meaning widen the distance between the barrel and the rib at the chamber end, narrow the distance at the muzzel and voila....you get get a more centred trajectory ?

Folks who successfully perform that kind of work are usually highly qualified gunsmiths specially adept at working on double bbl'd breech loading firearms (shotguns or rifles) .

 

[easy]

Folks who successfully perform that kind of work are usually highly qualified gunsmiths specially adept at working on double bbl'd breech loading firearms (shotguns or rifles) .

They're adept at taking you for a lot of money too.

Since you can't really do too much more damage to the gun and it doesn't sound like you're too far off POA, why don't you try to squeeze the barrels out of round slightly at the muzzle in a vise and see what you get. You can always cut them down another 1/2" to get back their concentricity.

I have seen some barrel bending in my better days where the smith used a home made press to get to the correct POA, but that was on a bent single barrel.

 

[Ahsan Ahmed]

Since you can't really do too much more damage to the gun and it doesn't sound like you're too far off POA, why don't you try to squeeze the barrels out of round slightly at the muzzle in a vise and see what you get. You can always cut them down another 1/4" to get back their concentricity.

I suppose there isn't much to loose under the circumstances.

However, , this reminds me of a story (Aesop's Fables I think) of two cats that stole a hunk of cheese and was having a hard time dividing it properly among themselves....a monkey passing by took on the role of arbitrator and started by breaking the cheese into 2 pieces.....he then proceeds to attempt to make those two uneven pieces equal in size/weight by taking bites out of each and measuring those on a scale time and again. Well, he eventually ended up eating the whole cheese and walked away happy leaving the two hungry cats dumbfounded!