Barrel Shortening Question

[vintagemc313]

When shortening a shotgun barrel, what steps to I need to take after the bandsaw cut to assure no splitting when shot? Thanks

[TomE]

I'm no expert ,but will be doing the same thing shortly.I am going to cut the barrel off,grind it smooth and square without heating up the barrel,cha**** the inside with a countersink by hand,sand smooth with emery type paper,break the sharp outside edgo also.Touch up the opps spots with blueing

[dramey82]

I'm no expert ,but will be doing the same thing shortly.I am going to cut the barrel off,grind it smooth and square without heating up the barrel,cha**** the inside with a countersink by hand,sand smooth with emery type paper,break the sharp outside edgo also.Touch up the opps spots with blueing
I did all this the same except I used a pipe cutter, leaves a perfect even cut with no need to square off, then smooth the edges so they are round, then you touch up with bluing and of course the bead.

[TomE]

I have a couple of pipe cutters:scratch:

[pkuptruck]

if its a double barrel, then you need to
- square the barrels
- cha**** the inside/outside smooth
- check and reweld the barrels where they join the "joiner" or rib
( silver soldier is the prefered method...)
- reblue as needed.

[vintagemc313]

I did all this the same except I used a pipe cutter, leaves a perfect even cut with no need to square off, then smooth the edges so they are round, then you touch up with bluing and of course the bead.


I thought that would be a problem because of the tapered barrel??

[TomE]

Or if you happen to have one of those pesky vent ribs,which I don't

[JohnS624]

Shotgun barrels are tapered?

[dramey82]

Or if you happen to have one of those pesky vent ribs,which I don't
Hack saw, pipe cutter for non ribbed barrel. Not sure what taperd has to do with it?

[vintagemc313]

Well, I mean the barrel has a larger diameter closer to the receiver, and tapers down. Now at one point (I'll have to do some looking) it has to straighten out, because, of course, it can't taper the whole length.

As far as not knowing what a taper would have to do with it, it seems like the cutter would want to "walk", or not stay in one place.

[esq_stu]

I've used a pipe cutter on several plain shotgun barrels. Tighten a little at a time - do it gradually. Once it's cut off, put barrel vertical in a vice and use a fine flat file to smooth the surface, working around the circu****ence, never twice in a row in the same place. Then finally polishing rouge on a Dremel fiber wheel.

[dramey82]

Well, I mean the barrel has a larger diameter closer to the receiver, and tapers down. Now at one point (I'll have to do some looking) it has to straighten out, because, of course, it can't taper the whole length.

As far as not knowing what a taper would have to do with it, it seems like the cutter would want to "walk", or not stay in one place.
Once you mark the length you want, tighten the cutter ever so lightly until it touches the barrel, it won't move, make one turn and tighten again ever so lightly, keep repeating until the barrel comes off.

[TomE]

The only reason I want to cut mine is I want a open choke instead of full,and Mossberg drilled the hole all the way thru putting the bead on.Maybe because the barrel is so darn thin

[Mike in Michigan]

However you cut it, the important thing is to file the end square with the bore. Cha****ing the inside is OK, but not really necessary. If you look at any factory barrel, the muzzle is not cha****ed on the inside. Shotgun bead holes are usually drilled and tapped all the way through to the bore, sometimes even if there is a rib. I use a saw and put a band of masking tape around the barrel at the cut to protect the bluing.

[BoBBerRider2009]

you can cut the barrel cleanly and efficiently with a sharp bandsaw but make sure you use some warm room temp oil to keep the steel from heating up remember what happens when ya heat steel it loses its original tempered molecular structure..yes use a bit of emery cloth and smooth it out then just reblue it with touchup blue sold at walmart birchwood casey....and finish with some 3 in 1 oil or gun oil same thing...the only problem i had was moveing the sights cause yes the barrel was taperd and you have to have to have a little lengthen more pin..but if your useing it for home defense dont worry bout the sight just use buckshot and point or my favorite Rhodesian jungle shot!!!

[TomE]

My Ridgid pipe cutter worked just fine cutting the barrel off cleanly and quick,I followed with a 3/4" carbide counter-sink to cha**** the inside opening 45 degrees,sanded with 320 wet/dry paper,now will come the blueing part and a new bead