Playing with a Cooey - do you think this will work?

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mmatt

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So first of all, two things; most shotgun barrels are too long for my taste and a full choke is too tight for hunting grouse.

I have a 20 gauge Cooey 84 with a 28" barrel and a pretty tight choke (inner diameter is .590") and I'd like it to be closer to a modified choke (somewhere around .600").

I figure, I'll cut a quarter inch off the barrel at a time until the inner diameter is where I want it and then re-install the bead. Since the choke on the 84s are quite a bit longer than others, I figure I might have to lop off at least 2" to get it where I want it.

That'll give me a much better choke for grouse hunting as well as a slightly shorter barrel which will make tramping through the brush that much easier.

Waddya think?

mmatt
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Get a wooden dowel of the diameter you want and insert it from the breech. when it stops you measure twice and cut once.
 
i agree with the dowel idea. i asked about this same thing before i cut my truck gun down thinking i would just open the choke up some. the idea that came out of it was that it would be very difficult to gadge how much to cut as every kind of shotgun has a different choke. if you have access to a lathe i would just open it up. if not then the dowel is proboly your best do it yourself sujestion.
 
I like that dowel idea. I'll let you know how it works out.

As for why I don't go and get it done by a gunsmith, first, my local gunsmith is currently deployed, second, I've been there and done that before with a previously owned Cooey, and third, why pay to get something done if I can do it myself. The worst case scenario is that I screw it up and end up with a cylinder bore barrel. If that happens, I'll just get it threaded for choke tubes. I can live with that. :)
 
Wasting $150 to put choke tubes in a Cooey is senseless.............the gun only cost $100 to begin with...........if it doesn't work buy a cheap 870 Express and be done with it.
 
Those Cooeys came out of the factory choked tighter than a bulls a$$ in fly season thus making them useless for grouse hunting...short of shooting heads off. They were very light as well and were often purchased with good intentions by fathers for their sons to learn the skills of wingshooting. I like many, suffered with a 16 ga. cooey that was light, kicked like a mule and was way too tightly choked making for a very frustrating experience for a young novice.

You could put a pipe clamp around the barrel, cut it off there with a sharp hack saw to desired length and file smooth to the clamp. This would result in a cylinder bore which would be useful to about 25 yards or so. Or as stated earlier, simply find a local gunsmith and for 50 bucks have him ream out the choke to IC which would make for fine ruffed grouse shooting iron. You would still be plagued by the 30 inch barrel which might be trouble in tight quarters.
 
I've had a closer look at it and it looks as if the choke is much shorter than anticipated. It's only about a 1/4" long. It looks as if the barrel was simply squeezed down in some sort of mold or something.

So if I want my barrel a more reasonable length, I'm simply going to have to figure out how to re-squeeze the right amount of choke back into it. Do you think I'll need to heat it up to get the metal to give? And then should I quench it or let it cool on its own when I'm done?
 
They get pretty thick when then get shorter.

I cut mine (12ga) to 18 5/8, basically a cyl bore and it works fine for grouse. I even shoot the odd raven with #2's and it'll knock them out of the sky too. Shoots "cut shells" really good. I'd just cut it to what you want, I think you're overthinking the choke thing a bit for grouse hunting and cyl will do the job for you.

If you heat it and squeeze it and want to quench it, I use something thick so it's a little slower cool so it isn't too brittle. Wouldn't want to cut it and then split it first shot.
 
Around here, the grouse don't always sit all that tight. I like to be able to pick off the ones out of the air that end up 30 yards away or so before I even get my gun up. I've found that modified works best for what I do. Besides, just cutting it and leaving it is no fun. I might as well try and figure out how to do something new. :)

You're right about it getting pretty thick pretty fast. I'm thinking that I'll end up with something no shorter than 24" to be sure that I don't get into the super thick part of the barrel. the question is though, do I need to quench it and risk it getting too brittle? Or do I let it cool slowly? I have no idea of the original temper of the steel.
 
With plastic wad cups and hard shot, even an Open Cylinder barrel will be IDEAL for grouse hunting. Don't worry about retaining enough choke for Mod or not, just take off 1/2" or 1". OR, you could get a brake cylinder hone and open it up that way, by yourself at home.
 
mmatt said:
How about this?

[youtube]Js2v_q-E1Xk[/youtube]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js2v_q-E1Xk
Click to expand...

Maybe you will get lucky, but I doubt it will work. You would want an inside mandrel to get any sort of concentric reforming of the red hot barrel. I used to play around with bending and reshaping tubing with my oxyacetylene torch, and working thin walled tubing to be anything precise is going to be a real feat, without a mandrel system that assures exacting, distortion free sizing.
 
If you want a test piece I can send you the piece I cut off of my gun. You could see what you can do with the thick end?
PM me if you want it. I think it's around 8 or 10" long. 12 ga cooey 84/840.
 
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