Which barrel to keep, and which to cut

mikeystew

mikeystew

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Looking at pickin up a used pump with 2 barrels, a 30" ribbed fixed full choke, and a 28" regular fixed modified.
 Id like to cut the barrel shorter on one and move the bead back for a slug barrel, but am not sure which one. I see there are available sights and base options for ribbed barrels which could be nice for the slugger. But not sure how durable/useful those are. Before this i was going to just get a maverick 88 so I'm honestly fine just using the bead sight on both barrels. Slugger would be mostly for deer at close range and to have for bear protection in Northern BC.
The long barrel will eventually be used for duck or pheasant. Neither will be for sporting, hunting only. Maybe the odd clay while camping but nothing serious.

Which would you prefer? A cyl bore and a fixed full 30" vent ribbed? Or the cyl bore and a 28" regular modified.
 
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mikeystew said:
It's more for the handiness of it. A 28" barrel shotgun on a canoe or kayak trip is a bit much.
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I thought you were talking to just cut behind the choke to remove it, I didn't think you were wanting to go shorter, that being said I don't know which of the 2 I'd cut down in your shoes.
 
mikeystew said:
Looking at pickin up a used pump with 2 barrels, a 30" ribbed fixed full choke, and a 28" regular fixed modified.
 Id like to cut the barrel shorter on one and move the bead back for a slug barrel, but am not sure which one. I see there are available sights and base options for ribbed barrels which could be nice for the slugger. But not sure how durable/useful those are. Before this i was going to just get a maverick 88 so I'm honestly fine just using the bead sight on both barrels. Slugger would be mostly for deer at close range and to have for bear protection in Northern BC.
The long barrel will eventually be used for duck or pheasant. Neither will be for sporting, hunting only. Maybe the odd clay while camping but nothing serious.

Which would you prefer? A cyl bore and a fixed full 30" vent ribbed? Or the cyl bore and a 28" regular modified.
Click to expand...

I’d keep the modified choke - more useful for grouse/pheasant - and cut the full choked barrel.
 
I wouldn't cut either Ithaca barrel due to how hard they are to find. This sort of thing would be better suited for an 870 - plus you have a closed action for those kayak trips of yours.

If youre gonna be a weenie, shortening the unribbed one should be easier.
 
Jahnj0584 said:
I wouldn't cut either Ithaca barrel due to how hard they are to find. This sort of thing would be better suited for an 870 - plus you have a closed action for those kayak trips of yours.

If youre gonna be a weenie, shortening the unribbed one should be easier.
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I have been known to be a bit of a weenie... sometimes regretfully, but usually I'm ok with modifications to guns I plan to keep.

Are the barrels hard to find? I've never paid much attention to the demand for used 37 barrels.
I've always been a fan of the 37 for the fact that it eats and ####s out of the same hole, and the 870 isn't waterproof, i can see pros and cons of each design.
 
SigWig said:
I'd cut the full choke if it was me but our uses could be different.
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morp said:
I’d keep the modified choke - more useful for grouse/pheasant - and cut the full choked barrel.
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This is how I was leaning also, for a couple reasons. 30" barrel is soo long, full choke is limiting.. id feel a bit bad about cutting down a vented rib barrel. But not that bad. And it might be a bit easier to shoot slugs accurately with the flat rib for a sight line. And would allow for mounting sights or a reflex to it at some point if I want to go that route.
 
Potashminer said:
You might read that a full choke is not so great an idea with steel shot - but you might be okay with a Modified Choke - your earlier post said that you were considering "ducks", which will require steel shot.
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Yeah full choke seems limiting, and for no reason that will be practical to me. Keeping one modified and one cyl would make both barrels fairly practical for most intended applications. Only thing I can see using a 30" fully choked barrel for is lead target loads shooting trap or something.

I think I've made my decision.
 
Cut the full
I use a 26" mod barrel on my 37 for water fowl and steel loads. It works great.
A 37 with a 22" cylinder barrel is a great option as well and wish I hadn't sold mine my buddy now owns it and I can use it whenever I want but it was a great handling gun
 
brybenn said:
Cut the full
I use a 26" mod barrel on my 37 for water fowl and steel loads. It works great.
A 37 with a 22" cylinder barrel is a great option as well and wish I hadn't sold mine my buddy now owns it and I can use it whenever I want but it was a great handling gun
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Did the 22" just have a bead? Or sights?
I'm still not sure how short I want to cut it. 18.5 or 20, maybe 22"... definitely no longer than 22"
 
Cut the 28. A 30" full choke is fun to hunt with. It's amazing to hit something far out. My grouse gun is 20" mod and improved and my 30" full has like 20 yards on it on ducks. When I was a teenager I worked for a winery keeping the starlings out and that 30" full got about 5000 rounds through it so I got to know it well.
 
If you want to
unstableryan said:
Cut the 28. A 30" full choke is fun to hunt with. It's amazing to hit something far out. My grouse gun is 20" mod and improved and my 30" full has like 20 yards on it on ducks. When I was a teenager I worked for a winery keeping the starlings out and that 30" full got about 5000 rounds through it so I got to know it well.
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Wouldn't a full choke require expensive non-toxic for waterfowl? Generally full choke is not recommended for steel?

If that is not an issue for OP then I agree, I'd keep the one with a rib as the long barrel. Maybe open the choke up or get it threaded for choke tubes to make it more suitable for waterfowl.

But if OP doesn't want to deal with all that, then keeping the mod choke gun and cutting the full makes the most sense.
 
mikeystew said:
Looking at pickin up a used pump with 2 barrels, a 30" ribbed fixed full choke, and a 28" regular fixed modified.
 Id like to cut the barrel shorter on one and move the bead back for a slug barrel, but am not sure which one. I see there are available sights and base options for ribbed barrels which could be nice for the slugger. But not sure how durable/useful those are. Before this i was going to just get a maverick 88 so I'm honestly fine just using the bead sight on both barrels. Slugger would be mostly for deer at close range and to have for bear protection in Northern BC.
The long barrel will eventually be used for duck or pheasant. Neither will be for sporting, hunting only. Maybe the odd clay while camping but nothing serious.

Which would you prefer? A cyl bore and a fixed full 30" vent ribbed? Or the cyl bore and a 28" regular modified.
Click to expand...

Well you would probably be better off with the mod choke for birds. Shortening a barrel for slugs has never worked out well for me, accuracy did not do well. As for bear protection, how many times have you been attacted?








well
 
threecentsolution said:
Shortening a barrel for slugs has never worked out well for me, accuracy did not do well. As for bear protection, how many times have you been attacted?








well
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Ive cut 2 shotgun barrels down that both shot slugs better with no choke. Sounds like whoever cut yours down messed something up in the process, didn't square off the muzzle or de-burr and crown properly, squished the barrel in a vice or something.

And how many times have I been attacked by a bear?
You must be real fun at parties.
 
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