# First Project - Tactical Shotgun



## Sagan (May 16, 2010)

I am fairly new to shotguns (shot a few, but never worked on any), and I was wondering if I could get some advice or pointers from some of the experts.  I recently traded for a Maverick 88 20 ga.  I know that they are fairly cheap shotguns, but should be compatible, part wise, with a Mossberg 500.  My goal is to shorten the barrel (to the minimum legal length) and to replace the stock with a Knoxx recoil reducing pistol grip/extendable stock.  I don't really care about keeping the 26" barrel that is on there now.  My two basic questions are:

1.  Does anyone know if the 12 ga and 20 ga stocks are interchangeble on the Mossberg 500?  I have seen several posts that say they are with a little Dremel work.

2.  Thoughts about attempting to cut the barrel down?  Don't really want to waste the $90 for a shorter barrel, if I can avoid it.

Any thoughts and/or ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Joe


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## mikey1297 (May 16, 2010)

i made a bracket out of a piece of L channel and hose clamped it to the barrel where i cut it and cut it with a hack saw up agianst the channel to keep my cut strait then used a file and cleaned it up. thats how i did it on my shotty and my ak and on the ak i used a round headed brass screw and lapping compound for a auto store and re-crowned the barrel and then put white out on the end of barrel and shot it to make sure it was strait. but of course you aint gotta do that with a shotty


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## Sagan (May 16, 2010)

Sounds good.  May have to go that route, since it appears that Mossberg does not sell the 18 1/2 " barrels for the 20 ga.  They sell the Persuader with a 18, but not the barrel by itself.  Does anyone know how to measure the length of the barrel on a shotgun?


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## whelenman (May 17, 2010)

*Barrel Length*

With the action closed, insert dowel round down barrel to full extent and mark. That will be the length you can work with if you plan to shorten.


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## mikey1297 (May 17, 2010)

whelenman said:


> with the action closed, insert dowel round down barrel to full extent and mark. That will be the length you can work with if you plan to shorten.


.

+1


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## Sagan (May 17, 2010)

Great.  Thanks for the info.  
Noob question to follow:  What does the +1 mean?


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## HALOJmpr (Jun 7, 2010)

whelenman said:


> With the action closed, insert dowel round down barrel to full extent and mark. That will be the length you can work with if you plan to shorten.



+2

means the same as +1 but I came to the thread later


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## Twenty five ought six (Jun 7, 2010)

Sagan said:


> Great.  Thanks for the info.
> Noob question to follow:  What does the +1 mean?



That if you're smart and want to avoid being hassled, you will cut your barrel one inch longer than the legal minimum.



What makes the shotgun "tactical" as opposed to just a shotgun that has had the barrel sawed off?


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## Sagan (Jun 7, 2010)

Twenty five ought six said:


> That if you're smart and want to avoid being hassled, you will cut your barrel one inch longer than the legal minimum.
> 
> 
> 
> What makes the shotgun "tactical" as opposed to just a shotgun that has had the barrel sawed off?



Added recoil suppressing pistol grip with adjustable stock and an more grippable (if that's not already a word, it should be) forend.  That, along with the shorter barrel, should make it more user friendly in close quarters.  On a side note, just got the shorter barrel from Mossberg today; will post pics later.


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## jo_dawg69 (Jun 16, 2010)

the best way i have found to shorten a shotgun barrel, is a clamp on style pipe cutter, simply because you cant cut it crooked. it doesnt take but about ten minutes to do. and the cutters are cheap. then once you have it cut, take a small file and deburr the inside of the barrel and use a flat file on the outside to smoot the cut area.


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## scottypp (Jun 16, 2010)

jo_dawg69 said:


> the best way i have found to shorten a shotgun barrel, is a clamp on style pipe cutter, simply because you cant cut it crooked. it doesnt take but about ten minutes to do. and the cutters are cheap. then once you have it cut, take a small file and deburr the inside of the barrel and use a flat file on the outside to smoot the cut area.



dremel tool with some red jewelers rouge will do wonders on the end of the barrell ...


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## pnome (Jun 16, 2010)

Instead of cutting, you might try trading the longer barrel for a security barrel.  

Since the long barrel costs more new than the security barrel does, you should be able to get some interest.


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## Sagan (Jun 16, 2010)

pnome said:


> Instead of cutting, you might try trading the longer barrel for a security barrel.
> 
> Since the long barrel costs more new than the security barrel does, you should be able to get some interest.



Wound up breaking down and buying a 18.5" barrel from Mossberg, and HOLY CRAP does it spread.  Test fired it with #4 turkey load at 10 yards and had a pattern about 20 inches accross.  The ATI recoil suppressing stock is freakin' amazing.  First shot had a fair amount of recoil (think it was breaking in), but after that I would estimate that it had about 1/4 of the recoil of my buddy's semi-auto that we took for comparison.  Even did a few hip shot's with the pistol grip.  I have no doubt that my wife could handle the recoil, from either the shoulder or the hip.


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## Forkhorn (Jun 17, 2010)

Soooo...  U gonna posts pics of your project, or do we have to use our imagination?


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## pnome (Jun 17, 2010)

Sagan said:


> Wound up breaking down and buying a 18.5" barrel from Mossberg, and HOLY CRAP does it spread.  Test fired it with #4 turkey load at 10 yards and had a pattern about 20 inches accross.  The ATI recoil suppressing stock is freakin' amazing.  First shot had a fair amount of recoil (think it was breaking in), but after that I would estimate that it had about 1/4 of the recoil of my buddy's semi-auto that we took for comparison.  Even did a few hip shot's with the pistol grip.  I have no doubt that my wife could handle the recoil, from either the shoulder or the hip.



Well, as soon as Swap and Sell reopens you could try selling the other barrel.   Maybe get back some of that security barrel cost.

Sounds awesome!


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## Sagan (Jun 17, 2010)

Here are a couple pics, taken with my crappy bberry.  One shows it with the stock adjusted out, one with it completely retracted.  That is the original barrel standing next to the gun.


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## Dub (Jun 22, 2010)

Cool.  Probably the most effective home defense item out there.  Can you imagine being a punk whose broken in someone's home slipping around and suddenly hearing you shuck a shell in the tube......pucker factor high for the bad guy....confidence up for you!

How much do you feel the Knoxx reduces the punch?


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## Sagan (Jun 23, 2010)

Dub said:


> Cool.  Probably the most effective home defense item out there.  Can you imagine being a punk whose broken in someone's home slipping around and suddenly hearing you shuck a shell in the tube......pucker factor high for the bad guy....confidence up for you!
> 
> How much do you feel the Knoxx reduces the punch?



The Knoxx Blackhawk Recoil suppression is flat out awesome.  It reduces the recoil felt at the pistol grip and at the shoulder.  I would say that it has almost no barrel rise, and the recoil felt about 1/4 to 1/3 of my buddies semi-auto.  It was the most expensive part of the gun at 115.00, but I am still glad I got it.  The whole point of going with the 20 ga as opposed to a 12 ga, that I could have bought already assembled, was to have a HD shotgun that my wife can handle well.  Now I just have to find buck shot in 20.


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## Nitro (Jun 24, 2010)

Here you go!!!!!!

http://www.ammunitiontogo.com/catalog1/index.php/cName/20-gauge-buckshot


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## Sagan (Jun 24, 2010)

Sweet.  Anyone have a recommendation for a good buck shot load for HD?


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