Modify Winchester 1300 12 ga. Defender to Hunt?

L

longfisher

Inactive
I have a Winchester 1300 Defender with an 18" barrel that I'd like to use as a hunting firearm. To do so, I'd like to get a longer barrel, perhaps a 26 - 28" bbl.

Can anyone provide guidance or advice on how to do this. Most of the bbl's I've seen won't screw onto the elongated tube magazine.

LongFisher
 
I would look in brownells to see if winchester makes any other barrel length for the Defender. If not, I would think that it would be less expensive to pick up a used 1300, 1200, or 120 than it would be to modify yours. I love my Winny but I have to admit that this lack of different configurations is a bummer.
 
well, this seems to be a home run for you-Brownell's lists two choices-
for a 7 round mag tube-#910-000-268
for an 8 round tube- #910-000-267
for extended mag plug #910-000-168.

The last place I saw reasonable prices on barrels was in a sportsmans guide catalog.YOu might want to try one of the online auctions.
 
Hmmm...how does the spacer/adapter work?

I know this may be a stupid question, and, I apologize for it. I'm just new to this sort of thing.

But how would a spacer like the ones recommended above, which I believe would INCREASE the length of the magazine, allow a hunting barrel to be used with a defender 1300 which has an extra long magazine. Or do the hunting barrels' rings slip over the magazine and the spacer screw in behind it?

Again, sorry for the dumb questions. But I don't want to order something that won't work for me.

LongFisher
 
Longfisher, you do not need a magazine extention. You need a longer barrel.

Actually, you don't "really" need a longer barrel. But you might want one.

First question, what are you going to hunt? If you are going to hunt upland game and short-moderate distances, you may do fine with your 18" barrel. Go shoot some trap or skeet with it and see what you think.

First option from there would be to ask a gunsmith to thread the muzzle to accept choke tubes. I believe there is enough metal there to allow that. I looked into it once (my bro. has a Win Defender). I had a quote for $40 plus tubes to have the work done. You would then have a very handy shotgun that will take various choke tubes, allowing you to choke tighter for longer shots.

If you are hunting waterfowl or turkey, you may still want a long barrel. Fear not, Winchester makes them. And they just drop in. 30 seconds to change it out.

Cabela's has them for $185. You may find a cheaper source. Here's Cabela's page.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...logCode=XB&parentId=cat20805&parentType=index

My first choice would be the 26" with WinChoke.
 
The primary reason for the different barrel lengths in shotguns is balance. Rate of swing, for different types of bird hunting.

An 18" to 20" shotgun with an extended magazine, when plugged to three shells (total) has roughly the same balance as a 26" or 28" upland gun.

The next issue is choke. Should be easy enough to have screw-in chokes installed, and then use whatever choke is suitable for what you're hunting.

Last, of course, is the fit of the stock. Mount the stock to your shoulder with your eyes closed; and when you open your eyes you should be looking right down the barrel at the front sight. (This is true for rifle or any type of shotgun.)

Art
 
I don't know much about it; but I recall seeing in Brownells a magazine cap that adapts the 8-round gun to accept standard Winchester small-mag barrels - i.e. it's a long cap that threads deep inside and provides support a few inches down.
 
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