Winchester 1300 Defender mods for hunting ???

[yorgi]

So my buddy who moved overseas to Europe a number of years ago also took his Winchester 1300 Defender with an 18" cylinder barrel with him.

Now that his son is old enough to hunt he wants me to send him a 28" Vari Choke barrel so the kid can hunt upland game and/or wild boar.
I've already posted a WTB ad on the EE and hopefully will find a barrel for him soon.

Now, with regards to fitting a standard barrel to a Defender action... I understand that some years ago Numrich sold a conversion-tube that allowed
a standard barrel to be fitted to a Defender action, I have been unable to locate such a tube.

What if I were to send him a sporting barrel plus a new standard magazine tube to replace the Defender's? Does anyone know if the barrel
would then fit?

 

[Applefarmer]

It would work, but it would be cheaper to just have the 18" cylinder barrel install a variable choke system. 18" is fine for upland and boar. Another route far cheaper is just buy a Mossberg Maverick or 500. Sending parts to the UK without an export permit might find you in a heap of trouble, they have some weird laws.

 

[Jonny_Cannon]

I hope you find something. I looked for a longer barrel for my Defender, and found them, but the only ones I found were set up for 5-round magazines, not the standard 7-shot mags.

Cannon

 

[yorgi]

It would work, but it would be cheaper to just have the 18" cylinder barrel install a variable choke system. 18" is fine for upland and boar. Another route far cheaper is just buy a Mossberg Maverick or 500. Sending parts to the UK without an export permit might find you in a heap of trouble, they have some weird laws.

Thankfully my friend lives in Southern Europe (Greece) where the tax and firearm laws aren't that strict... The cost of adding a variable choke system by a local (to him) gunsmith is quite expensive, almost better to get a complete gun.

I hope you find something. I looked for a longer barrel for my Defender, and found them, but the only ones I found were set up for 5-round magazines, not the standard 7-shot mags.Cannon

This is my issue... What if I were to find a barrel and send him a 5-round magazine assembly? Can you just switch the 7 for the 5 in the Defender?

 

[Applefarmer]

As I said, yes, they are the same action so swapping out both the barrel and the magazine tube works.

 

[JamesM]

If I remember correctly that adaptor was just as piece of stainless or aluminum tubing that ran from the magazine cap to the barrel lug that goes around the magazine tube. It should be possible for anyone with a tape measure to find/ make a suitable replacement, say a piece of whatever tubing material you like with an inside diameter of whatever the outside diameter of the mag tubes is as long as it has to be to make up the difference from the barrel lug to the threads for the mag cap. A plumbing supply store immediately comes to mind. You may also need the appropriate tubing cutters.