Shortening a barrel

[Fatcatsplat]

I have a bolt action .410 made by Manuarm that i got very cheaply and have adjusted the stock to fit my daughters (8 and 9) - It's got a fairly long and heavy barrel and seems very tightly choked, so what i would like to do is to knock a couple of inches off the barrel to lessen the weight and also to open up the chokes.

 

Rather then enduring the wrath of the old bill, can anyone tell me whether it is legal to chop the end off the barrel and if it is,what is the shortest legal length i can take it to?

 

The gun will be used for the odd clay or two by my daughters (under supervision) to see whether they like it or not before i lash out on anything expensive for them.

 

Anyone got any ideas please?

[webber]

I've had a quick read of the Firearms Guidance for Police via the BASC website.

 

I make out that the barrel must be no shorter than 24" and that the guns overall length shall be no less than 40"

The gun would need to be re proofed before you sell it on at some point.

 

Check it out for your self. I may have dropped a clanger.

 

webber

 

http://www.basc.org.uk/media/ho_guidance.pdf

[Fatcatsplat]

Thanks Webber. Doubt if i will ever sell it on as it will only be useful for midgets!!!

[Newsportshooter]

Sorry to state the obvious here but, legality aside as its already been mentioned, if its for your 8 and 9 year old daughters wouldn't you feel a little more secure in the knowledge that you have had the work carried out by a professional - I would suggest you at least seek the advice of a gunsmith - I'm a Mech engineer by trade and as far as I'm concerned, as guns are not your average mechanical devices, I wouldn't consider doing the work myself..

[MC]

When I left school I worked for Budget guns and Tackle working on Baikal shotguns. The way they altered chokes on their guns was to shorten the barrels

 

Unless you own a Baikal with 1/2 and full chokes and it isn't a multichoke the chances are that I may have cut it down for you.

 

These guns were never reproofed as it is not necessary. They were just sawn off, resoldered and the bead refitted job done in about 15minutes.

[utectok]

My dad has an old Baikal and wants to open shorten the choke how much do you saw off to go from full to say cylinder? or imp cylinder?

Cheers

[MC]

I cannot remember exactly

 

but the figures that seem to jump out are,

 

1/2 and full were 281/2" long

 

1/4 and 1/2 were cut to 27 5/8"

 

cyl and 1/4 were cut to 27 3/8"

 

And a skeet gun was cut down to 26" and gave true cylinder in each barrel

[Fatcatsplat]

Sorry to state the obvious here but, legality aside as its already been mentioned, if its for your 8 and 9 year old daughters wouldn't you feel a little more secure in the knowledge that you have had the work carried out by a professional - I would suggest you at least seek the advice of a gunsmith - I'm a Mech engineer by trade and as far as I'm concerned, as guns are not your average mechanical devices, I wouldn't consider doing the work myself..

 

On the basis that i'm taking probably no more than 3 inches off the end of the very long barrel of the gun, i feel very confident of my ability here - Purely questioning the legality.

 

The barrel is incredibly thick (probably 5-6mil), so i have no worries regarding pressures.

[Newsportshooter]

On the basis that i'm taking probably no more than 3 inches off the end of the very long barrel of the gun, i feel very confident of my ability here - Purely questioning the legality.

 

The barrel is incredibly thick (probably 5-6mil), so i have no worries regarding pressures.

 

I'm sorry. The fact that your forum name refers to fat cats and you are from south Essex 'innit' - really doesn't reflect competance in engineering of firearms... I guess I'm wrong or at least I really really hope so.

 

And I really doubt the barrel is 5 - 6 mill thick 'wall thinkness'

Edited December 13, 2008 by Newsportshooter

[libs]

Handbags at dawn. Give the guy a chance!

[fortune]

Sorry to state the obvious here but, legality aside as its already been mentioned, if its for your 8 and 9 year old daughters wouldn't you feel a little more secure in the knowledge that you have had the work carried out by a professional - I would suggest you at least seek the advice of a gunsmith - I'm a Mech engineer by trade and as far as I'm concerned, as guns are not your average mechanical devices, I wouldn't consider doing the work myself..

 

One would have to pay for entertainment such as this.

JeeEEZ!!! What sort of mech eng are you that you can’t do a simple little job like this?

I have never seen so many people so scared of their own shadow as exist on this site. “Ooh, Ooh perhaps the sun might come up tomorrow and be so bright that by a million, million to one chance I might get sun burnt. I’d better walk around in a silver reflective suitâ€.

 

Fat cat >> Been here with my daughters. Depending on your DIY ability and the tools that you have available the job can be easily done with a bit of care and fore thought. 1. How much weight do you recon that you need to lighten the gun by? Find the point of balance of the gun and get a bit of string and tie it in a loop big enough to go around the gun at this point and over some sort of a weighing scale (kitchen). Get the kids to hold the gun to their shoulder and you take some of the gun weight up by lifting the scale. When they say that it is light enough to hold then read the scale. This is how much you need to lighten it by. Some could be removed from the barrel and if that is not enough you could take some wood from the stock if necessary. I’ve got a folding 410 that has a skeleton stock as the barrel is so light that the stock would have made it stock heavy. When you’ve decided where and how much to cut, re-measure what the new barrel length and the overall weapon length will be, BEFORE YOU CUT IT OFF.

Carefully measure from the muzzle and mark the cut line around the barrel so that you achieve a square cut off. Take off any irregularities and round the edges with a fine file.

The end result that you require is a gun that is light enough for a child to safely hold and one that is balanced so that they can hold it steady enough to knock down those tin cans ECT. Use the 410 shorts to start with and keep right up tight to the shooter, to make sure that the gun is pointed down range. It is very easy for them to turn around with the gun to ask a question. And I would hate to hear that the littlies had shot you or worse still your dog.

Happy days.

[webber]

Fortune

 

Well said. I had thought exactly the same, but couldn't be bothered to post in case it turned into a slanging match.

 

I'm also a mechanical engineer and have found that the vast majority of gun that I have come across, I could not describe as mechanically complex. Many are interesting, in so far as the manner in which the same problem has been tackled, solved and improved over several centuries. The true gunsmiths trade is highly skilled, and one that I can appreciate.

 

I enjoy doing small jobs on my own gun, but do posses the ability in advance if special tools or equipment will be required. Assuming that the gun being discussed I would use one of my lathes, and then part off the desired length, the outside diameter and bore are then easily dressed up. I agree that the job could also be done with a hacksaw (fine teeth), and then dressed up with files.

 

Quite why anyone who claims to be a mechanical engineer would fight shy of such a task baffles me. However, we should not forget that many engineering decisions today are made by commitee, maybe our fellow poster has been nurtured within such a culture.

 

webber