another woods gun thread- modding a 12ga

[chewbacca]

Thanks for the link.

Now that I have looked at it, I might be better off just going with an H&R SC1-324. It comes with a 20ga barrel, and a .357 barrel, and based on the online prices, it can be had for under $300.

 

[koyote]

not bad prices..... it's vaguely possible I'd go for a .38 special insert to match my k frame smith. way cheaper than tracking down a .357 carbine.

 

[Shotgun]

Sounds good to me. I've tossed around the idea of getting an H&R 20 gauge. Just haven't gotten around to getting it.

 

[12345678910]

I do want to ask anyone who might know before I get the pipe cutters out----

I'd hold off with using pipe cutters.

Have you ever looked at a piece of pipe after it is cut?
It will not give you a cylinder bore like you mentioned in the origional post.
It squishes down the pipe into a taper and the hardened yet very thin steel barrel will be even more resistant to cutting than pipe is.

Hacksaws work much better.

...now if you pulled the cutting disc out of the pipe cutters and just used the rollers to swage it down into a modified choke before you used the hacksaw to cut it off, that I would understand.

 

[Kismet]

I used a hack saw and a chain saw file to round off edges when cut. I put it at 21in because that was the longest usable barrel I had left on it. The weight will center in action. Not a huge difference, and the bore will be "open." I'd go with a length that will be well beyond minimum legal, just to avoid discussions about illegal mods.

Have fun.

 

[koyote]

I can use a cutoff wheel and a belt grinder if I want I might just use the hacksaw. I've used pipe cutters on crosman barrels fine- just light pressure and many turns. But a nice fresh hacksaw blade will be fine.

 

[6shooter]

I think you are BRILLIANT !!!



For front bead on this old 20 ga Stevens 94, I just drilled a shallow hole and screwed in a brass screw. Hole in pistol grip holds a shell. Light, easy to carry, and no worries. This has ...er...21 in barrel.

I rescued it from a dairy barn without forestock and with crumpled end of barrel.

That's cool as hell. What holds the shell in the pistol grip? That's a genious place for an extra round.

 

[Iboschi]

Totally inspired by this thread. Thanks! I'm going to start my own project now. Looks like I can put together something really cool for under $200!

 

[shelbysguns]

i have a old single shot savage 20 gauge that this thread has inspired me to modify lol i want put slots in the stock to hold extra shells and put either elastic or ruber over it. Thank you guys!

 

[koyote]

okay, photo time.

as I got it-

 

[koyote]

Preliminary cut. 19.5 inches with a dropped stick after cutting. I went ahead and decided that 22 was still a bit long, this feels fine for a brush gun. going to test patterning this week, possibly beofre I get the wood all off for reworking.

I'm considering a mannlicher style forearm.... but I might keep things in character with the minimalist nature of things and just repair and rework the existing forearm. I could easily build a clamp mounted sling swivel if I feel I need more length than the forearm provides.

I've been thinking about shell holding, and I think I'm just going to make a sock for the butt that will hold 4 or 5 shells. possibly a set of vertical pouches on the sling holding 3 sets of 2....not sure how I want to do that yet.

 

[lukus]

TitebondII and a couple of dowels will have that forend as strong as original. I think the forend would look a LOT better thinned down. It just looks clunky like it is.

If you're going to solder a bead on it, why not also solder a buckhorn or express style rear leaf sight near the base of the barrel, somewhere just foreward of where the wood starts. You could make it out of brass and file the notch after it's on. It wouldn't be enough to slow you down on bird hunting, but would give you better alignment for slugs.

 

[Old CW4]

I've drilled and tapped any number of shotguns for two beads. One centered at the muzzle and one to the rear wherever the customer decided he/she wanted it. The two beads of course act as sights and you can adjust for elevation by changing the size of the beads (they do come in varied sizes) or filing one or the other down. Works really good. Brownells sells bead kits for a reasonable price, also the necessary drills and taps. BTW, the old timer gunsmiths (of which I am one) adjusted shotguns for elevation by rapping the barrels on a sandbag atop the bench. I don't recommend that unless you really know what you're doing but if you have an old junker you want to experiment with, try it. It is a 'rap and try' process but you can adjust a gun up/down or left/right.

 

[Kismet]

That's cool as hell. What holds the shell in the pistol grip? That's a genious place for an extra round.

Just friction.

Hardly genius. Just made a hole.

 

[6shooter]

Interesting, I'm impressed just friction against the wood holds the shell in. I'd say it's a pretty clever spot for an extra round, I've never seen it done before. Right by the hand and easy to grab for a quick follow up shot if necessary.

 

[vector001]

is there an "ideal" length to cut to? I've got marks at 20, 21, and 19 right now and am trying to see where I want it at.

i really like 22-inch for a close-in slug gun, or a barrel for the grouse sometimes.

might be good for turkeys too - a true woods-bummng gun.


if ya made it too loing, nothing would prevent ya from shortening it - not true the other way around, if ya made it too shirt, and wished you'd left it longer.

go for the 21" at least, brother.


now look what ya did - i want to go bumming with my shotgun...:thumbup:

vec

 

[koyote]

Here's the final.

First, I cut her down to 20 inches, then went out and shot with a bunch of tape on the cracked forearm. Bit of a mule, but shoots fine. Without installing a new bead, I'm handily blowing up 3 pound coffee cans at 25 yards with 00. I'll have to wait a bit to see what I can really do, but I may not install a bead at all.

This week I finally got around to figuring out how to take the forearm down (it's a pretty bizarre system) and finished her up. I decided to keep the existing forearm. cleaned up, gorilla glued and clamped for 24 hours, then I epoxied some screws through the cracked areas and it's all solid. The foream and stock were a horrible match and in need of refinishing anyway, but since I was approaching my budget limit of $50 after spending $3 on a shell holder and another $2.72 on replacement screws and an eye for the rear sling mount, I decided to see what was in the paint cabinet. Rustoleum Olive . flat. Perfect!

Sling is an old strap laying around from some shoulder bag or another. The elastic sock type shell carrier would ride forward with the mule kick, so I cut it off and used blued tacks to put it on the stock. I may eventually replace that with a leather case, who knows.

 

[Kismet]

And Bob's yer uncle.


nice work.

Oh, folks forget that shooting target-type thingies is very different from hunting. You won't even notice the recoil if you are single-shotting a rabbit, pheasant, whatever. You may notice slugs--sumbiches come back like a train.

have fun, be safe.

 

[Bruce Culberson]

I think you did a great job matching the colour of the stock to your shirt

Seriously that's a cool project and it looks good Christof!

 

[Halfneck]

And Bob's yer uncle.


nice work.

Oh, folks forget that shooting target-type thingies is very different from hunting. You won't even notice the recoil if you are single-shotting a rabbit, pheasant, whatever. You may notice slugs--sumbiches come back like a train.

have fun, be safe.

I have a old NEF single shot 12 gauge that I sent off to Karl Sokol for some work. He shortened the barrel to 20", threaded it for chokes, installed a weaver rail with a AO peep sight, and a AO front rifle sight. I wanted something I could use a Red Dot on yet still retain sights. When he called to let me know it was ready he asked if I wanted a buttpad of some sort - should of taken that as a hint. Damn thing kicks like a mule. I only fired 8 slugs from the bench & had to call it quits. Thankfully it was on target at 50 yards. Shooting it standing is not so bad because you can roll with it. I dread when I do decide to install a Red Dot. The thought of turkey loads makes me cringe.

Not even going to go into how much I spent on my gunsmithing project gone awry. If I had it to do over again, I'd still do it, though probably not had the weaver rail installed as it's accurate enough with the peep sights.