The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Skunkworks > The Smithy

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old October 28, 2015, 11:44 PM   #1
Prof Young
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 21, 2007
Location: Illinois - down state
Posts: 2,399
Plug for mag of win 1300 . . .

Shooters:
I needed to put a plug in the magazine of my Winchester 1300 12 ga to make it legal to hunt deer with in Illinois. After doing some internet research I opened up the mag, slid a half inch dowel cut to the right length down the middle of the magazine spring and put it all back together. Seems to work just fine.

Anything I'm missing here or should be concerned about?

Live well, be safe
Prof Young
Prof Young is offline  
Old October 29, 2015, 04:09 AM   #2
Scorch
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 13, 2006
Location: Washington state
Posts: 15,248
That is pretty much what they had from the factory. No reason to complicate it.
__________________
Never try to educate someone who resists knowledge at all costs.
But what do I know?
Summit Arms Services
Scorch is offline  
Old October 29, 2015, 12:11 PM   #3
T. O'Heir
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 13, 2002
Location: Canada
Posts: 12,453
Used a piece of tree branch one time when I got off hunting with the plug left at home. Don't imagine Illinois' CO's would even look to see what keeps that third slug out of the mag tube.
__________________
Spelling and grammar count!
T. O'Heir is offline  
Old October 29, 2015, 02:22 PM   #4
James K
Member In Memoriam
 
Join Date: March 17, 1999
Posts: 24,383
I suggest you make/buy a plug with some kind of wide part at the end. The commercial ones have a "ring" at one end that is the size of the inside diameter of the magazine. You install the plug so the spring bears on the wide part and pushes it forward, while the narrow part fits inside the spring. That way the spring retains the plug and keeps it from rattling around, which a single diameter dowel will do.

Jim
James K is offline  
Old October 30, 2015, 09:42 AM   #5
natman
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 24, 2008
Posts: 2,604
Be sure to bevel the edges of the dowel somewhat. I once had the factory dowel in a Mossberg 500 entangle itself in the mag spring, which turned my pump repeater into a single shot. Fortunately, the turkey was already on the ground when it happened.
natman is offline  
Old October 30, 2015, 11:19 AM   #6
Prof Young
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 21, 2007
Location: Illinois - down state
Posts: 2,399
Thanks . . .

Thanks for the info.
Special thanks to Natman and James. Good thoughts.

Live well, be safe
Prof Young
Prof Young is offline  
Old October 30, 2015, 11:20 AM   #7
James K
Member In Memoriam
 
Join Date: March 17, 1999
Posts: 24,383
If the plug is made right, it won't be possible for it to get tangled with the spring, because there won't be enough room for the spring to get between it and the inside wall of the magazine tube.

FWIW, another way to run the railroad is to simply cut a piece of metal or plastic to the right size disc and tack or screw it to the end of the dowel.

Jim
James K is offline  
Old October 30, 2015, 12:51 PM   #8
Dixie Gunsmithing
Moderator Emeritus
 
Join Date: April 27, 2013
Location: Ohio
Posts: 1,923
It is according to how the gun is made, internally, in the magazine tube, but I think a dowel will work on a 1300, as long as you put about a 1/8" bevel on each end. The bevel keeps the end from hanging up on the spring or the follower.

The Winchester Model 97 and Model 12 came from the factory with wooden dowels for plugs, and all they did was put a bevel of about 45 degrees on each end in a lathe, or just used a belt sander. To make it fancy, they put a Winchester sticker on it.
Dixie Gunsmithing is offline  
Old November 1, 2015, 07:12 PM   #9
Clark
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 4, 1999
Location: WA, the ever blue state
Posts: 4,678
When I was a little boy, my father said he had a plug inside his shotgun to reduce the number of rounds it would take.
I could tip the shotgun and hear it fall inside.
Years went by.
I imagined a finely made factory part with special cuts.

The gun was disassembled and I saw it.
It was a small stick that was hand whittled, crudely.
I was shocked.
__________________
The word 'forum" does not mean "not criticizing books."
"Ad hominem fallacy" is not the same as point by point criticism of books. If you bought the book, and believe it all, it may FEEL like an ad hominem attack, but you might strive to accept other points of view may exist.
Are we a nation of competing ideas, or a nation of forced conformity of thought?
Clark is offline  
Old November 3, 2015, 01:04 PM   #10
James K
Member In Memoriam
 
Join Date: March 17, 1999
Posts: 24,383
Just a plain dowel with the ends tapered will work fine to reduce magazine capacity. My suggestions are only to keep it from rattling around, which some users find annoying.

Jim
James K is offline  
Old November 3, 2015, 04:26 PM   #11
FITASC
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 6, 2014
Posts: 6,432
Plain wood dowels absorb moisture and can cause rust issues. I would use plastic like Delrin or nylon to avoid that possibility. Many times the plugs absorbs moisture and folks forget to remove it after hunting and issues develop.
__________________
"I believe that people have a right to decide their own destinies; people own themselves. I also believe that, in a democracy, government exists because (and only so long as) individual citizens give it a 'temporary license to exist'—in exchange for a promise that it will behave itself. In a democracy, you own the government—it doesn't own you."- Frank Zappa
FITASC is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:59 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.07302 seconds with 10 queries