Chopping a SXS
- Thread starter gnmontey
- Start date
Loyalist84
Member
- Location
- Eastern Ontario
The balance would be brutal and you'd be looking at the high hundreds for a good set of choke tubes from Briley or the like. Not really worth the effort IMO.
Add to that the work to make the muzzle end of the barrels look OK, without gaps.
There needs to be (usually) a filler added under the top and bottom ribs, as the are generally sweated on with soft solder and done to be a finished unit at the factory.
Chokes will depend on the wall thickness of the barrel, and whether the Smith has the appropriate reamers and taps. Plus the cost of the chokes, two sets if you want to be able to have both tubes the same choke, otherwise one full set.
Oh yeah. It may or may not still hit the same general location as when it started out, also depending a lot on the make and model, as well as the individual gun. Changing the Regulation of the tubes is...fiddly...
It's kinda a "How Long is string?" question, as it really is going to vary depending on what the expectations are out of the final product.
There needs to be (usually) a filler added under the top and bottom ribs, as the are generally sweated on with soft solder and done to be a finished unit at the factory.
Chokes will depend on the wall thickness of the barrel, and whether the Smith has the appropriate reamers and taps. Plus the cost of the chokes, two sets if you want to be able to have both tubes the same choke, otherwise one full set.
Oh yeah. It may or may not still hit the same general location as when it started out, also depending a lot on the make and model, as well as the individual gun. Changing the Regulation of the tubes is...fiddly...
It's kinda a "How Long is string?" question, as it really is going to vary depending on what the expectations are out of the final product.
Entirely feasible... but the barrels need to be measured to see what tubes could be installed. Many years ago I had tooling for thin wall tubes and did a few SxS's. I charged $350 with two tubes supplied... many years ago...
Shorter shotgun barrels are usually quicker handling and slightly less accurate.
Be careful what you wish for. This work on a lower quality gun won't add as much value as the work costs, therefore poor value, buy a different gun configured the way you want and save some money. On a moderate priced gun like a Beretta or Browning over/under you may enhance the value enough to cover your costs. On a higher value or scarce, rare or collector type gun you will drastically alter the value......down.
30 inches to 26 inches on a side by side... for me it would improve the balance and be much quicker handling. 40 years ago I cut a 30 inch full and full( the chokes were close to 7 inches long) 16 gauge back to 24 inches and altered the remaining choke to improved cylinder and modified and altered the forcing cones longer ... it made that gun so much nicer to use in every way.
The mod is feasible if the barrel walls are thick enough and only the installer will make that decision. Check out the Briley website for info and costs then phone them and discuss what you want done as to costs and time frame. If you proceed with the installation you will have to send the barrels to Briley. Not sure whether Precision or Gunco in Canada can do that work for you but worth a phone call or two to save the hassles of sending your barrels to the USA and paying in yankee $$.
