lengthing the force cone on a shotgun.

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flyte1976

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Hey Guys (and ladies)

I was lucky enough to pick up a Benelli SBE2 for a screamin deal off a buddy of mine yesterday (he is leaving the bird scene) its an older shotgun but only has 50 shells through it since he bought it new. I was thinking about lengthening the force cone on it.

My question to you all is "has anybody done that to their bird gun?" "is it worth doing to your bird gun?" and general feelings and comments on the subject.

thank you in advance!!!

Oh wait!!! Also if anyone has any good tips and need to know info about the SBE2, I would sure like to hear about it!!!

Flyte
 
I have no experience with the SBE2 but I'm a big believer in long forcing cones in general. In the last 20 years or so, Beretta has gone from 3/4 inch forcing cones to 4 inch forcing cones, to 14 inch forcing cones and even double that on the DT-11 and the science behind it is quite simple. Pushing shot through a forcing cone is a bit like pouring gas through a funnel, the more gentle the taper in the funnel is, the easier and faster the gas will flow through. Overboring the barrels greatly compliments the long forcing cones as well.
 
I think the SBE 2 that was made in Benellis' performance shop, in conjuction with Rob Roberts, had the forcing cones lengthened. Of course they did a few other things.
 
flyte1976 said:
Hey Guys (and ladies)

I was lucky enough to pick up a Benelli SBE2 for a screamin deal off a buddy of mine yesterday (he is leaving the bird scene) its an older shotgun but only has 50 shells through it since he bought it new. I was thinking about lengthening the force cone on it.

My question to you all is "has anybody done that to their bird gun?" "is it worth doing to your bird gun?" and general feelings and comments on the subject.

thank you in advance!!!

Oh wait!!! Also if anyone has any good tips and need to know info about the SBE2, I would sure like to hear about it!!!

Flyte
Click to expand...

Why are you thinking about lengthening the forcing cone ?
 
flyte1976 said:
Hey Guys (and ladies)

I was lucky enough to pick up a Benelli SBE2 for a screamin deal off a buddy of mine yesterday (he is leaving the bird scene) its an older shotgun but only has 50 shells through it since he bought it new. I was thinking about lengthening the force cone on it.

My question to you all is "has anybody done that to their bird gun?" "is it worth doing to your bird gun?" and general feelings and comments on the subject.

thank you in advance!!!

Oh wait!!! Also if anyone has any good tips and need to know info about the SBE2, I would sure like to hear about it!!!

Flyte
Click to expand...

Not old IMO being max 27 years old off the top of my head thus not one that would really require any forcing cone work from factory
Shoot it as it is and if you are worried about recoil with one of these best sell it and buy a 410 :)
Cheers
 
I have on an 870 barrel and its ported aswell.. its suppose to pattern better .. they say that a longer cone deforms the shot, less

I dunno.. it works ok

Id just shootit as is...i bet youll like it
 
Westward1 said:
Why are you thinking about lengthening the forcing cone ?
Click to expand...

honestly i was just looking at best upgrades and alterations you could make to a bird gun to make it "better". lengthening the forcing cone seemed to be the overwhelming answer. im fine with the recoil of a 12g and all, but maybe more consistent shot patterns and less deformed shot would be worth doing it.
 
It’s all personal preference. I was thinking of doing my forcing cone as well just haven’t gotten around to
doing it. Recoil is way better on the SBE I especially when you can install the Mercury Recoil reducer in the stock. Unfortunately with the Comfortech Stock it’s not possible to use it. I went with a LimbSaver recoil pad and that sure helped a lot.
 
You're splitting hairs, you have a modern gun that will not have abrupt forcing cones from the factory. Lengthening them will most likely not show any measureable improvement in your patterns. Your patterns will vary anyway depending on the specific ammo you use and you can vary it by changing ammo ( and choke tubes of course ).
To determine if you have an improvement ( evenness or density?) you must first find out what your patterns are now, a benchmark. So put in the choke tube you want to test, take your preferred ammo and shoot 10 patterns at 40 yards, count the pellets in 30" on each pattern and then average them. Also note distribution for evenness. If you may want to use more than one brand of ammo, shot size, etc, you need to do this procedure with each one. Then you will know approximately what you have to start with and will be able to determine if lengthening the forcing cones will make a meaningful difference. Next, get the forcing cone lengthened. Then perform the shooting and pellet counting and averaging exercise over again with exactly the same choke tube and ammo and you will be able to see if it has really made a difference. Please report back with your findings in a year or two.
 
Ashcroft said:
You're splitting hairs, you have a modern gun that will not have abrupt forcing cones from the factory. Lengthening them will most likely not show any measureable improvement in your patterns. Your patterns will vary anyway depending on the specific ammo you use and you can vary it by changing ammo ( and choke tubes of course ).
To determine if you have an improvement ( evenness or density?) you must first find out what your patterns are now, a benchmark. So put in the choke tube you want to test, take your preferred ammo and shoot 10 patterns at 40 yards, count the pellets in 30" on each pattern and then average them. Also note distribution for evenness. If you may want to use more than one brand of ammo, shot size, etc, you need to do this procedure with each one. Then you will know approximately what you have to start with and will be able to determine if lengthening the forcing cones will make a meaningful difference. Next, get the forcing cone lengthened. Then perform the shooting and pellet counting and averaging exercise over again with exactly the same choke tube and ammo and you will be able to see if it has really made a difference. Please report back with your findings in a year or two.
Click to expand...

Amazing thank you!!! this is why I checked here first!!!
 
3macs1 said:
Not old IMO being max 27 years old off the top of my head thus not one that would really require any forcing cone work from factory
Shoot it as it is and if you are worried about recoil with one of these best sell it and buy a 410 :)
Cheers
Click to expand...

Good advice, it would be almost impossible to quantify how many birds have been shot with SBE’s with stock forcing cones and the only difference in felt recoil will be you trying to convince yourself your money was well spent.
 
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I think of it more of an option for "tactical" shotguns. Tac-Ord offers the Vang-Comp mod:

"Mr. Vang devised a system of lengthening the forcing cone of the shotgun barrel to allow a smoother transition of the shot column from chamber to bore, thus decreasing recoil and shot deformation. He would then further back-bore the barrel so that the shot column gradually tapered and squeezed together as it traveled down the bore towards the muzzle. Before they get to the muzzle, the hot expanding gasses which account for the muzzle flash are jettisoned through a precisely-calculated and rigorously-tested array of compensation ports. This hot gas is discarded through 62 holes, 31 on either side of the front sight which contributes to the flat shooting, reduced felt recoil, eliminated muzzle flip and diminished muzzle flash characteristics of the Vang Comp System"
 
Thank you everyone!! Great responses from all! I have decided just to let it be what it be! Lol. The more research I do the more I’m learning that out of the box it will be more shotgun than I will probably ever “need”

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!!!!!
 
To the average guy shooting a few ducks and partridge each fall lengthening a forcing cone is not really going be of benefit. But to a shooter who is really into clay target shooting the pattern improvement and slight reduction in recoil will be of benefit as at that level every bird counts and you need every edge. But to really get the advantage of any pattern improvement extensive patterning of the shotgun must be performed with various brands, loads and shot sizes to find out which is optimum in that barrel as each barrel will have it's own preferences.
Many gunsmiths will lengthen a forcing cone from factory to 2" as they will state that there is no discernible improvement in lengthening over 2". That is a very arguable point, as many others have shown that the longer the forcing cone the better. More like many smiths only have the reamer to lengthen 2". Regardless 2" is an improvement over the standard factory 1/2".
I played and experimented with lengthened forcing cones and over bored barrels in the early 80's. It does make an improvement in shot performance, but one has do a lot of shooting and know his particular shotgun and loads to appreciate the difference. There are many skills and factors that all come into play to consistently hitting targets with a shotgun. A Lengthened forcing cone is only one.
 
mrgoat said:
To the average guy shooting a few ducks and partridge each fall lengthening a forcing cone is not really going be of benefit. But to a shooter who is really into clay target shooting the pattern improvement and slight reduction in recoil will be of benefit as at that level every bird counts and you need every edge. But to really get the advantage of any pattern improvement extensive patterning of the shotgun must be performed with various brands, loads and shot sizes to find out which is optimum in that barrel as each barrel will have it's own preferences.
Many gunsmiths will lengthen a forcing cone from factory to 2" as they will state that there is no discernible improvement in lengthening over 2". That is a very arguable point, as many others have shown that the longer the forcing cone the better. More like many smiths only have the reamer to lengthen 2". Regardless 2" is an improvement over the standard factory 1/2".
I played and experimented with lengthened forcing cones and over bored barrels in the early 80's. It does make an improvement in shot performance, but one has do a lot of shooting and know his particular shotgun and loads to appreciate the difference. There are many skills and factors that all come into play to consistently hitting targets with a shotgun. A Lengthened forcing cone is only one.
Click to expand...

Great read!!! Thank you very much for your time!!!
 
flyte1976 said:
honestly i was just looking at best upgrades and alterations you could make to a bird gun to make it "better". lengthening the forcing cone seemed to be the overwhelming answer. im fine with the recoil of a 12g and all, but maybe more consistent shot patterns and less deformed shot would be worth doing it.
Click to expand...

It was in 1970 not so much in a gun that was more than likely made in the 90's or later
Cheers
 
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