Cutting a shotgun barrel from 28 inch to 18 1/2 inch.

If you're lucky, one barrel might put slugs more or less on point of aim, and the other barrel might center the buckshot pattern the same place. The likelihood of both barrels grouping slugs to the point of aim is low.
Drill and tap the rib for a front bead. Easy enough to make one.
When you cut the barrels, there are going to be empty spaces between the ribs and barrels. An easy way to fill the voids is to use a mixture of JB Weld and steel wool. Pack the spaces. let cure and file flush with the muzzles.
 
Do I need chokes for a SxS hammer gun?
Just looking for a cool coach gun .
Probably just use slugs and double aught buckshot.
Like tiriaq stated, you may get lucky with point of aim impact with slugs, and buckshot. Once cut off, both barrels will be an open choke, or like an Improved Cylinder if you will.

A cool looking SxS Coach gun should shoot as good as it looks. Otherwise it's spray and pray!.......:ROFLMAO:;):cool:
 
Best to make a jig to hold the barrels firm and flat to get a decent cut. I've free handed a hacksaw and it required alot of filing to square up the muzzles
Yup….or use a chop saw or something of that nature that will help you hold it square. Just remember when you clamp it there is usually some taper so shims may be needed to hold it straight in the vice.

At the very least you wrap masking tape around the barrel to use as guide to help keep it square.


.
 
Use a horizontal bandsaw, much less cleanup than a chop saw. Cut to 19" instead of 18.5" so you have some barrel to salvage if you botch the cut or if you dent the muzzle in the future.

The rib on older SXS shotguns are usually soft soldered or brazed, you're liable to loosen the rib if you feed a steady diet of full powered slugs or buckshot.
 
The trick is to cut it a little long, and file to your finished length… a lathe is a good idea, but not strictly needed.

And remember, the length CANNOT be shorter than 470mm when you’re done.

Barrel length is measured from the bolt face to the muzzle inside the barrel. I would use a cleaning rod and a bit of math to figure out where to make the cut.

Cheers
 
I've done several over the years, and always cut to 19 inches to allow for any future crowning/filing or overzealous law enforcement measuring. Most of the guns didn't shoot well enough for me with slugs and I ended up sending them down the road with full disclosure, to guys who wanted them for use with shot. I pack the space under the rib with SteelBed and steel wool as mentioned above.

I eventually lucked into a Husky that prints some brands of slugs into very acceptable L/R/L/R groups at 50 yards; about 4.5 inch aggregate groups. Slapped a cast-off set of iron sights onto the rib and it's now my Poor Man's Double Rifle. :) It's seen over 300 rounds of full-power slugs now with no visible loosening in the rib.

I've taken a deer with it but it's mostly just a fun plinker. With no choke it's not much of a buckshot gun, but slugs are a hoot. I've been toying with the notion of having the barrels threaded for chokes, as I've usually found that slugs group better out of Modified barrels rather than IC or Cylinder chokes, but that'll cost far more than I have into the whole gun now with no guarantees that I'll see an improvement, so...no. :)
 
Hi
Just wondering if it’s possible to cut a 12 gage barrel from 28 inch to 18 1/2 inch?

Double barrel ,hammer gun
Of course. You can even cut it to 18" (edited - 457mm) if you want before it becomes prohib. Before cutting it, make you sure mark where the new muzzle length will be to see how it looks and if that's what you want. Most coach guns seem to have ~20" barrels, which still makes for a super handy gun with the short action length.

Do I need chokes for a SxS hammer gun?
Just looking for a cool coach gun .
Probably just use slugs and double aught buckshot.
Cylinder choke should be good for both of those, but regulation will be a lottery once the barrels are cut.


Mark
 
Last edited:
The trick is to cut it a little long, and file to your finished length… a lathe is a good idea, but not strictly needed.

And remember, the length CANNOT be shorter than 470mm when you’re done.

Barrel length is measured from the bolt face to the muzzle inside the barrel. I would use a cleaning rod and a bit of math to figure out where to make the cut.

Cheers
OH NO, here we go again! :) {yesterdays thread on this exact same thing!} Your 'CANNOT' is false. It's not a Semi-Automatic shotgun, he can cut it to 18 inches /457.2mm {on the dot} if he wants- That is the legal Minimum for manual action, along with the 26" OAL.
 
The rib on older SXS shotguns are usually soft soldered or brazed, you're liable to loosen the rib if you feed a steady diet of full powered slugs or buckshot.
The rib on modern SxS shotguns are usually soft soldered or brazed. That's usually how it is done. And full powered slug or buckshot do not loosen ribs unless there was a flaw in the process of attaching the rib. Slugs are made to be fired in any choke contriction with doing damage to the barrel.
 
Back
Top Bottom