chopping down a .410 single shot.

J

JMac5570

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Hey all.

Picked up a older Baikal single shot .410 on trade the other day. It looks to have a 30" full choke barrel but is not marked. 30" is a bit long and awkward to carry in the bush. I was thinking about chopping the barrel down to between 22" and 24", recrowning and installing a fiberoptic front sight. I do have access to a lathe to recrown the barrel so it wont be a file job crowning. The gun will be used as a bird gun for the most part and maybe for putting holes in some tin cans. Just wondering if anyone esle has shortened a barrel and has any tricks / opinions.

Also, I do understand the legal requirements involved in shortening a firearm barrel and with a 22" to 24" barrel would be well over the minimum 18" length.

Thanks
Jon
 
What crown? If you have a lathe chuck it up and cut it off square, bingo bango ive cut down shotgun barrel with a hacksaw and a file to square up the cut.
 
Crown is important on a rifle, it means very little on a shotgun, as long as no metal is protruding into the bore, there is no issue. The gun will only be of any use for very short distances once the choke is removed, and a bead of any kind will be pretty much pointless.
 
It didn't even dawn on me to cut it and thread it with the lathe. I'm not a machinist so the threading for the choke might be a bit beyond my skill set, but I know a guy that has the knowledge to do so, well it is his lathe lol. Thanks for the replies and further knowledge.
 
If you have enough meat left for screw in chokes that is the way to go but this will cost for a good job. For the money you would have tied up in it after the choke job I think I would sell it as is and buy a shorty .410 with choke bores. Just cutting it off will leave you with a "ditch gun", only useful at very close range.
 
A .410 with Open Cylinder, yes, very close range indeed.

I'd suggest you trade it for a gun already in the configuration you're looking for.
 
The .410 shot looses energy quite fast and does not pattern well beyond 50 feet or so even with a full choke. If you cut down the barrel, you might as well throw the gun in the garbage. The .410 is most often used by farmers on chickens, to dispatch small live stock at point blank on the neck or for critters such as hares and skunks at close range... at lease that what I used it for on my farm. When a coyote or a raccoon ends up in the run, out come the 12 gauge with 00.

If you are to cut down anything, look for a 16 gauge... even a 20 gauge is pushing it. A cut down 16 gauge with a number 4 load through a cylinder bore will do what you want. And the majority of shotgun barrels are not as thick as a rifle barrel so as everyone have already stated, there is not much material on the muzzle so you don't have to really worry about a crown.
 
If you cut off the choke on your shotgun, you might find the spread so bad that its useless for any game past 25 feet. I have several barrels in a pile of parts from other people's mistakes. If you don't re-thread it for a choke all you will have is a short piece of junk.
 
Build a road warrior out of it.........I did.

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