Shorten Barrel cost?

[Django]

I have been out today for the first time with my CZ452 silhouette that I bought last week. The rifle is excellent and achieved some great groups, however I am interested in finding out the cost to shorten the barrel and have it screw thread.

 

I bought the 20inch version second hand as it was a great deal, however I think I may have been better off holding out for the 16inch as it is a little long for moving around inside the truck.

 

Does anybody have a rough idea of cost, and any recommendations around Herts, Beds or Bucks of somewhere to have it done?

[CharlieT]

Prices vary and many smiths will want to send it off for proof.

 

Shorten, re-crown and screw at our local costs £100 inc proof

[silverhawk]

I had my cz shorten re crown and threaded for £70

[ColinF]

I can recommend Chris at UK Gunworks in Northampton, don't know what he would charge, but he's a nice bloke and does good quality work.

 

http://www.ukgunworks.co.uk/contact.php

[Scully]

Thirty odd quid, no re-proof. Do a search as this has done the rounds several times.

[bear-uk]

Mine was £30 cash. No reproof carp.

[simon1979]

i paid 60.00, didnt have it reproofed through

[Django]

Does it require reproofing?

[colin lad]

I can recommend Chris at UK Gunworks in Northampton, don't know what he would charge, but he's a nice bloke and does good quality work.

 

http://www.ukgunworks.co.uk/contact.php

+1 for above this man done my .222 great job would recommend

 

colin

[ColinF]

Does it require reproofing?

 

Depends on who you ask, it's a bit of a grey area I believe. Jackson Rifles have taken Counsel's opinion, which is on the link below:

 

http://www.reflexsuppressors.co.uk/

 

I didn't get mine reproofed when it was shortened.

[Gunman]

RFD's are in a catch 22 position , on one hand whilst agreeing with the ridiculas ,in most cases , idea that screw cutting a barrel will reduce its integral strength and on the other being told by the Proof Authorities that any such barrel is subject to reproof at some time as screw cutting renders the barrel out of proof . [Cut the thread off and the barrel will be in prof again as shortening a barrel has no effect on its proof status ]

There is also the case that they have to be aware of is that prior to the declaration by the Proof Authorities many hundreds of .22 rifles had been threaded and sold on , it is possible that a customer could come back after many years claiming they had been sold an out of proof gun . The police could use this as an excuse to either refuse renewal of an RFD or the dealer could face prosecution from the Proof houses .

This I know and extreme and unlikely event but with compensation lawyers at the ready dealers have to play safe and cover their backs .

So until there is a definitive ruling with legal backing from trade organisations it will down to the individual dealer as to whether he insists on proofing a gun or not .

 

Here is an example of the stupidity

 

A man buys a rifle from a shop . he also buys a moderator and asks the dealer to have the mod fitted , he will pay on completion of the work . The dealer complies with the mans request , the man collects this gun and pays . The dealer has sold an" out of proof gun" according to the Proof Houses .

How ever if the gun is paid for before any work is done then the dealer after warning the customer that any such work could render the gun out of proof and that the work is carried out at the customers request and on his responsibility, there is no problem in law .

 

Stupid !

[moorvale55]

I had a CZ 452 Lux shortened to 17", screw cut and recrowned at Leek Shooting Supplies, Staffordshire. Only took a couple of days and the total cost was £50.00. It's a lot easier to handle now and just as accurate. Did not have it re proofed, there is no need as the rifle had already been purchased. Would recommend having it done.

[CharlieT]

I am told that although it is perfectly legal to own a firearm that has been screw cut it would be an offense to sell it.

If this is correct, then what are all those who don't bother to have theirs proved going to do when they decide to sell or part exchange their rifles. Are they not just putting of proof till another day ?

[welshwarrior]

There was a thread about this not so long ago a guy had bought a guns years and years later went to sell it was told it was out of proof by another dealer.

 

How do you know it's been shortened as factory guns are not proof stamped at the muzzle so you take you 20" cz cut and thread to 16" how does anyone know?

 

Hard question and very open to interpretation the proof house has one a legal guy gave another.

[deershooter]

I got a local machine shop to do mine £20

 

Deershooter

[Gunman]

The time taken is to strip down and reassemble some times take longer than the threading , That's assuming the work is carried out correctly . A local machine shop is fine if you stand over the man doing the work . If not then they are in illegal possession of a firearm and you could be charged with supplying firearms to an unlicensed person . Petty I know but beware the pettiness of Mr Plod and his anti attitudes .

[Dekers]

I am told that although it is perfectly legal to own a firearm that has been screw cut it would be an offense to sell it.

If this is correct, then what are all those who don't bother to have theirs proved going to do when they decide to sell or part exchange their rifles. Are they not just putting of proof till another day ?

 

Not so in my experience, and to my knowledge nobody has ever been to court on this, see Jackson rifle link above #10.... ...on top of which I bought a WMR from one RFD that had been cut and rethreaded with no proof, and sold it to a different RFD a couple of years later, still no proof, (about 2 years ago now) no problem at all.

 

If an RFD does not want to buy/sell a gun that has been cut but not reproofed, that is a different matter, but no legal requirement has been demonstrated by anyone!

[Django]

There was a thread about this not so long ago a guy had bought a guns years and years later went to sell it was told it was out of proof by another dealer.

How do you know it's been shortened as factory guns are not proof stamped at the muzzle so you take you 20" cz cut and thread to 16" how does anyone know?

Hard question and very open to interpretation the proof house has one a legal guy gave another.

This was exactly my thoughts, how would anybody know that it had been shortened?

[Paddy Galore!]

i paid £40 ish for mine to be done inc screwcut.

to be honest, cutting the barrel down is the easy part, but cutting the thread for the moderator isn't exactly rocket science with the right equipment and takes no time at all.

[rtaylor]

£25 no reproof

[JonathanL]

 

Not so in my experience, and to my knowledge nobody has ever been to court on this, see Jackson rifle link above #10.... ...on top of which I bought a WMR from one RFD that had been cut and rethreaded with no proof, and sold it to a different RFD a couple of years later, still no proof, (about 2 years ago now) no problem at all.

 

If an RFD does not want to buy/sell a gun that has been cut but not reproofed, that is a different matter, but no legal requirement has been demonstrated by anyone!

 

You are quite correct on this. There has never been a prosecution and there never will be. I cannot see any way in which you can read the Proof Act in such a way as to conclude that there is a requirement to re-prove upon chopping or threading the muzzle. The expception being if you started with an already very small diameter barrel and reduced it a lot.

 

Given that any prosecution is highly likely to fail I think there is virtually no chance of one ever coming to court. The Proof Houses will never pursue one because when the guy was acquitted it would totally destroy their little money making scheme of intimidating people into getting chopped or threaded barrels re-proved. In fact, a successful prosecution would actually result in them making a great deal of money so why don't they do it? Because they know they won't win.

 

If it were indeed an offence then it would be an extremely easy prosecution to win because RFD's and importers are openly advertising chopped and threaded barrels without new proof marks. Contrary to what people are saying here it isn't difficult to prove that a particular rifle left the factory unthreaded and certainly not with a longer barrel. Very few rifles were sold in the UK with threaded muzzles (apart from .22's) until quite recently. It would be easy to prove that say, a particular Remington 700, left Remington with a 26" unthreaded barrel. That would be an especially easy one to prove because Remington don't do this (or at least apart from a tiny number) because moderators are highly restricted in their home market so there's no call for it.

 

It would be even easier to bring a prosection regarding an unproved moderator because nearly all the importers and a lot of RFD's advertise them either proved or unproved. That alone would be an offence before it was even sold!

 

J.

This was exactly my thoughts, how would anybody know that it had been shortened?

 

See my post above. You contact the manufacturer and ask what length of barrel it left them with and whether it was threaded.

 

J.

[Django]

Thanks for the info JonathanL, very informative and interesting

[Alpha Mule]

I was quoted £80 in Sportsmans in South Wales last week, was told to expect it to take up to a month.

Edited January 1, 2014 by Alpha Mule