Tips on sawing off a SxS shotgun?

[Eskimo]

I got a Remington Spartan (baikal) 12ga last week, and I was planning on getting my gunsmith to shorten it to 20". Turns out he is very busy right now and I would be on a 2 month waiting list. So.. what do I need to know to saw this thing off?

Two specific questions:

I've heard that you have to fill in the gap between the barrels with solder. What kind of tools do you need? What keeps the barrels together if there is an empty gap between the barrels?

What can I use for re-blueing?

[baltz526]

Sell the spartan and buy a real coach gun. Sawing off the barrels is stupid

[Eskimo]

Sell the spartan and buy a real coach gun. Sawing off the barrels is stupid

Extremely helpful..

[LaserSpot]

How are the barrels held together now?

[Joat]

I've sawed off many a sxs for cowboy action shooting. And despite the folks that think it is stupid, it is fairly easy and straight forward.

Mark the barrel where you want it cut + a little. use a good quality hack saw or a metal cutting band saw to make the cut. Use a file to square the ends of the barrels. use a round file or a tapered reamer to remove the burr on the inside of the barrels.

Fill the gap between the barrels with either "steel stick" or some of that epoxy stick. You can also use solder Just put a little steel wool in the gap. and fill flush with solder.

Joat

[oneounceload]

Most barrels have a taper from the breech to the muzzle - trying to really cut them square and true is difficult without the right jig and tools. Yes, you can take a hacksaw and bubba the job, take a sharpie and call it good, or you could do it right.

It might be easier and cheaper, in the long run, to have someone do it right or buy one made in the configuration you want. As to the barrels, some are held together by silver solder, some by regular solder. Odds are the cheap Baikal isn't held together with silver solder. Overheating the barrels and not doing it right can result in one barrel shooting one place and the other shooting someplace completely different

Your choice to decide and make

[EdInk]

Find somebody with a stoeger to trade.

[10 MickeyMouse]

I've heard that you have to fill in the gap between the barrels with solder.

Yes, but you may ruin the bluing that way. Get some 5 inute epoxy and black fabric dye.

As for cleaning up the muzzle appearence, cold blue is cheap and easy. You're doing such a small and discreet area, it doesn't really matter if you need to touch it up occasionally.

What kind of tools do you need?

I've used both hack saws and band saws. Bandsaw is much easier. Other than that, some decent files (both flat and round) and some 400 grit wet or dry.

What keeps the barrels together if there is an empty gap between the barrels?

The ribs are soldered or brazed top and bottom. Shortening the tubes wont hurt the integrity (unless you did so with a smoke axe)

I've lobbed more than a couple scattergun barrels, there's nothjing hard about it. Just patience and a good eye for geometry (or a jig). Much more difficult making them longer

The 11-87 is the only one in this pic I didn't shorten:

[darkgael]

I have done this twice. Once to save a gun with a severely damaged barrel - took four inches off. The other was an experiment with an old Savage O/U which worked out very nicely.
It is not difficult to do. After measuring, wrapping a turn or two of masking tape carefully at the mark makes an easy way to make the cut and keep it straight. It also provides a guide for filing. A machinist's square is a good way to check for a square muzzle (along with a level if there is a taper.) Draw filing the muzzle will give you a good finish. Sand off any burrs. Blue with a bluing pencil.
I filled the little gap with JB Weld and colored it with a marker. Reinstalling the bead properly is actually more of a project.
Pete

[EdInk]

You can kinda tell on the coach gun.

[crghss]

Well first you want to make sure your square. So I'd use a miter box or a setup where I'm sure that the barrels are square to saw. This is tough since barrels are tapered. There is space between the barrels. So you're just plugging the hole with lead, basic plumber tools are needed. Heat, flux and lead. Now find real lead, plumber solder isn't lead anymore and will be hard to work with. Put bead back on. Smooth end with emery paper.

Don't know what you want to use gun for but you won't have any choke left any more so its pretty much a very close range shotgun.

[zippy13]

I, like everyone else, initially assumed the Spartan is made in the traditional way: Top and bottom ribs soldered between the barrels leaving a sort of H-shaped void in the middle. Has anyone actually sawed off a Spartan SxS? Who knows, it may be the Baikalenese have a new cost-cutting process, and there's a one-piece rib that's epoxied in place. A magnifying glass at the muzzle might tell much.

IMHO, baltz526 is pointed in the right direction.

[Plenoptic]

I can't believe I'm giving you this information, but if your bound and determined to do it, do it right. Place the side of each barrel up against something with a long corner you can hold it against in a rock solid steady manner, where can i find this? you say, it's called a door jam. Using the edge of the door jam, guide a pencil down the length of the side of each barrel, and if you want it done correctly these lines have to be exactly on the outside edge of each barrel. A little high or low and all the effort you take to do the other steps right won't mean [color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color]. Now that you have your two reference lines make a mark where you want to cut the barrel + plus 1/64th of an inch measuring from the breech end. An exacto blade turned backwards is perfect for making this mark, just through the bluing so you have a very fine, shiny mark. Cut a strip of paper from the edge of a piece of paper 1/4 inch wide and long enough to wrap around both barrels. Now this strip of paper has two long edges, the one cut at the factory, and the one you cut. We want to use the edge that was factory cut to mark our barrel. So wrap the paper so the the paper band is covering the portion of the barrel you want to keep and the factory edge returns on itself perfectly and just covers the marks you made and secure one end of the paper strip to itself where it meets with tape. Now slide the whole band back just far enough to expose your cut marks and put a few drops of elmers glue along the edge you cut so that they are half on the paper and half on the barrel and allow the glue to dry so it doesn't move during the next step. Grab your self a sharpie, silver on a blued barrel, black on a ss barrel and follow the factory cut edge of the paper strip, put half the pen tip on the paper and half on the barrel, the idea is to use the paper as a stencil. Don't press too hard or the sharpie will bleed through the paper and you won't have a sharp line when you remove the paper band. Cut the barrel leaving just a sliver of the sharpie mark, I highly recommend a band saw (go slow and apply a few drops of motor oil every so often to prevent barrel warping and blade wear)for this, but if you can actually summon forth some patience you could do a nice job with a high quality hack saw blade. Now use a fine file that is at least twice the width of the barrel and file until you have just removed the sharpie mark all the way around. You now have two barrels that are "plumb" cut. Finish of with some emery cloth lighty to remove burrs and bob's your uncle.

And may god have mercy on your soul.