Cutting off shotgun barrel

I have been paying a gunsmith to do them for me for years but quail season opens in two weeks and i dont have time to wait on him. I want it cut down to around 22 inches and know i have to cut it on a rib support. Any tips or sugestions before i get started. Its a new browning maxus and a new a5. Thanks

Use a new hacksaw blade, and a hand saw. Get your wife or kid to hold it for you....

This is bad advice by the way...

Are you going to hunt without a front bead?

Yes sir. No beads for me. They get in the way

Hacksaw, then smooth, even and square with a file, then de-burr with a light touch of a small file around the outside, a sharp knife around the inside. Then there is the cold blue option to consider.

A drop or so of oil and you are all done.

The way that I do it is a bit more elaborate and requires special tools - but this method will get you by.

When you have time, a gunsmith can pretty it up for you, especially if you cut it 1/16" or so too long - so that he has a little bit of metal to work with.

Rose action sports does quick shotgun barrel work. They can cut it down and thread for chokes for $75. Last few I had done were 1 week turnaround

No issue hunting with no choke? I'd imagine cylinder bore could be a little unpredictable.

When I have hunted quail, ranges have been short and time to react has been minimal at best. That is at least half the fun of it, the other half coming later on when it is time to eat.

The gentleman doesn't care about the bead for example, because it is strictly a point and shoot proposition. Right up close. Shotgunning in its purest form. Using a choke will only insure that you either miss - or tear up the bird if you hit.

The terrain might have something to do with that... Where I have hunted quail, they can ghost off into the brush pretty danged quick.

It is more exciting and fun than dove hunting, in my opinion. - But that's just me.

"Using a choke will only insure that you either miss - or tear up the bird if you hit."

That's ridiculous, Charles. I can't believe a 'gunsmith' would make such a statement. P_102

Add it to the list.

You better do a little research on how shortening the barrel will affect how it cycles, especially lighter loads like are normally used for quail. I knew a fellow who cut a barrel off to 22" and the gun would not cycle reliably while it had never given a problem with 26" factory barrel. He had to send the gun to a place that could open up the gas ports and it helped a lot but it would still not handle 3 dram loads 100% of the time. He sent the gun to a place in Batesville, AR that specialized in shotgun barrel work to get the problem corrected. That might not be an issue with your gun but worth looking into before rather than after.

My wife nailed one at close range with a modified choke, and all we got was a nice cloud of feathers. The bird was ruined.

Sorry, but your opinion does not hold up in the face of observed fact.

With a choked shotgun, your best bet is to hope that you catch the bird with the edge of the pattern. The tighter the choke, the more strongly this applies.

That would be correct with Modified, but your statement was "a choke" and then "a choked shotgun". It is simply wrong to include all chokes in your statement. P_102

Could be a cylinder choke. That would mess up your theory.

Look up "cylinder" for clarification on this point.

I'd be willing to bet that by far the most popular choke for quail hunting is Improved Cylinder. Skeet would be a distant second. I've bird hunted with some deadly gunners over the years and they shot all kinds of guns but I do not recall a one of them that did not shoot Improved Cylinder. I am not a great shooter but do best with IC as well.
Many many years ago I decided to make a bird gun out of a tight shooting 870 by cutting 10" off a 30" full choke. It was indeed a bird gun if they got up in your face and you were a quick draw but I found it to be very inferior to a IC as an all purpose barrel for shooting birds or anything else for that matter. Cutting the choke completely out of a shotgun barrel is probably not going to work out too good for anything in the way of a quail bird gun.

Shooting cylinder (no choke) is fine out to about 25 yards provided you have enough shot in your pattern. I shoot light 1 oz. loads through cylinder on the skeet range with no problems, BUT, it's through a cylinder choke that ensures a good even pattern, (and yes I'm fully aware that "cylinder choke" is nonsensical but that's what they're called, probably better to call it a thread protector). However, that doesn't mean that blanket statements like above are in any way correct. If I were to settle for one choke only it would be Improved. P_102

Shot skeet leagues with M12 Winchester that started life with a 30 inch full choke and when I got it the barrel had been cut to 22 inches. It was a good skeet and quail gun at least for close shots. 25 yards and in the patterns with reloads at a mild 1050fps there were no holes in the pattern where a clay would not be hit due to lack of pattern density. Go to faster loads and holes would develop but at the slower speeds those loads still broke clays well and dropped quail as well

I totally agree with you arandy. By the way what part of SW Arkansas are you in? My family owned land outside of Nashville and another place outside of Mineral Springs from the 50's until my mother sold the land in 2003. Killed a lot of quail there in the 70's.

[quote=P_102]"Using a choke will only insure that you either miss - or tear up the bird if you hit."

That's ridiculous, Charles. I can't believe a 'gunsmith' would make such a statement. P_102 [/ quote] +1 this is the best place on the internet to get misinformation

seems pretty evident to me that using a modified choke on quail at 25yd, is just plain stupid.

+1 P_102

I killed close to 300 quail last year with a new a5 that had barrel cut down to 22 1/2". No choke. It works and works well..

You are just going to confuse and offend some of these experts on quail hunting if you keep bringing up facts, and real-world as opposed to theoretical experience.

As opposed to the incredibly stupid comment above, Charles? In one statement you just implied that you are more knowledgeable than almost every shotgun manufacturer in the world and that they are wrong to choke or put chokes in a shotgun. BTW, did you inform your wife about this FACT before she took that gun out to hunt with? Did you saw off the barrel or otherwise remove the choke afterwards so she wouldn't miss or tear up any more birds?....and have you done that to any other shotguns you own? Inquiring minds want to know. P_102

P_102,

How many shotgun matches have you competed in again? How many bird hunts have you participated in?

Geez, JG, thanks for reminding me how old I am!

1988: (skeet)

Pan American Open, Dallas: 12 ga. Champ
Great Western, Chicago: 28 ga. Third (behind Mayes and Bender)
Midwestern Open, Chicago: Doubles Champ
World Championships, Savanah: 28 ga. Third, 2-man 20 ga. Champs.

Been bird hunting since 1966.

what, no response

The inquiring part I'll grant, but I'd have see some evidence about the "mind" claim.

Typical of Charles.

On the other hand, I've pretty much decided the OP is trolling. Who buys 2 new shotguns valued at over $2,700 (total)
and saws the barrels off, particularly when: A; he already has several and, B; from a later post, he just did it last year with another new A5. P_102

charles,

cylinder works fine for quail up close without a doubt, been there and done that. But to say chokes are a negative factor is plainly wrong - 100% objective, verifiable scientific fact wrong.

I'll give my personal observation for saying that.

Back in the mid-70's, I really learned to shoot a shotgun for real from Grant Ilseng, (google him if you don't know him) then based at the Greater Houston Gun Club. He had been on national tours for Winchester doing demonstrations of their shotgun products. He was a zen master of the shotgun and could make shots that still leave me in awe.

At the same time at the GHGC, I had the incredible fortune to also shoot skeet with a budding and innovative gunsmith, Jess Briley, who was experimenting heavily with choke patterns especially for the 410 to improve scores. Bob Brister, then a sports writer, came up with the idea to haul a 20 foot long paper target behind a Suburban at 55 mph and shoot patterns with shotguns to see what was really happening on birds and clays in flight as compared to a static pattern board. Turned out there was a world of difference between a static pattern board and the 20 foot long target in motion. That simple idea really advanced understanding of shot strings, the density of patterns, and the science of chokes to improving patterns. Jess would cut lots of chokes and alternate screwing them in to speed up the tests and from that screw in chokes became a mainstream idea.

Brister's test idea with Jess shooting various test chokes with patterns that opened, constricted, opened again and constricted again and John Hall taking turns with trap guns really advanced the understanding of how chokes could significantly improve shot string density, and thus, scores, especially in 410 where even the very top tier would routinely leave points behind. Jess worked out how to put full length tubes in 12 gauges in over/unders and then screw in chokes. The same cast of characters in the '70's decided they needed "Dove Towers" to practice simulating higher and longer shots for hunting. That idea evolved into what would later become sporting clays. Another interesting aspect of the testing was the differences in quality of shot made to patterns, as well as differences in wads. Just like with rifles, lots of little details make small differences that add up to additional points at the highest skill levels.

It was a magic time of a handful of people who really applied science and testing to shotguns in a new way that moved knowledge forward in a big way. I had nothing to do with it other than be a witness to a magic combination of people intersecting at a moment in time.

All of that is to say, P102 is on the right line of thinking and charles you would do well to keep an open mind. You seem like a guy I'd enjoy having a beer with on occasion, but you say some of the darnedest things on here.

fyi for FJG for my background with a shotgun, hard to believe it was almost 40 years ago, but I started very young. Had some luck in my class.

Shot a 28 in the 12 gauge class much to the dismay of a few, and had some luck in local tournaments as well.

jeffbird, I shot with Jess a few times at various shoots in Austin, it was always a pleasure. I remember him having 90 penny roofing spikes taped to the sides of his barrels for weight before he came out with his own gun...sure would like to have one of those guns now. I can't think of a company that carries the reputation for customer service like Briley. Over the years I sent my tubes back twice to be 'tightened' and there was never a charge, not even return shipping. I recently learned that, 28 years later, the person that bought that old tube set sent the tubes in and they replaced them with a new set...FREE! P_102

He talked me into putting lead tape on my first real comp gun, a Remington 3200 set, so that each barrel would weigh the same. Then, I sold that and bought a tube set and had change left over and a much better combo.

Nice to hear things are still going well for him and his business. I was just in my teens at the time, but he would always take time to answer my many questions and give me pointers during practice and even during tournaments. Really a top notch person all around. Grant was a living legend and one of the kindest people I ever met. One of his best bits of guidance - "try to miss in front of the bird, it's hard to do." And he was right.

A very good and very wise piece of advice! I also shot a 3200. I sold it after I stopped competing but missed it and when I was asked to start shooting leagues i was lucky enough to find one in pristine condition at a very low price...had it shipped straight from the seller to Briley so they could do their magic. P_102

P_102, and jeffbird drop the mics, and walk off.

I always knew chokes were pointless too Charles. Every competitive shooter and shotgun manufacturer using them on their shotguns doesn't sway me one single bit, they're stupid and need to be eliminated

many years ago, I hunted S.W. Mo., S.E. Ks. our guns of choice, remy 870's 26" barrel, didn't matter the choke, mod., full, as we cut 2" off, we hunted hedge rows and lots of timber land, worked very well for us.

My favorite 12 ga quail gun (I call it my meat gun) is an O/U with the chokes cut out and a lighted bead on the vented rib. BTW - Blaze orange cerakote too. I call it my meat gun. Throw some nice magnums in it and it does a great job with pheasant as well (at least early in the season). I have guns with chokes as well, and hunt plenty with both. I'm just happy to have a gun and a country I can hunt in! Doesn't matter to me if it does the job, which they all do, and about equally as well I would say.

Since I never said anything about chokes being pointless in a general sense, I can only assume that you are arguing with yourself - on a public forum.

Have you considered seeking professional help with this problem?

"Using a choke will only insure that you either miss - or tear up the bird if you hit."

This seems pretty danged general to me. P_102

"To each his own"

A man I had the pleasure of hunting with many times was a legend around here when it came to quail hunting. That was his only hunting sport, and he did it until he passed.

He was witnessed on many occasions dropping five on a covey rise. He hunted with a 12 gauge Remington 1100, cut off at the 21" mark right under a rib support. It was open cylinder, with no bead. It simply had a long strip of Johnson & Johnson bandage tape running from about the front and back down the rib for about six inches or so.