Sawed off shotgun

Well they are certainly handier in tight spaces but I find they kick more and have lost some of their effectiveness with their cylinder bore, wide pattern and loss of velocity. I was given one. (16 gauge) about 20+ years ago, shot it a few times and was thoroughly unimpressed. I took the barrel off and have been looking for a replacement barrel ever since.
 
I had a sawed off 20 gauge once. Hell of a big pattern. They are awesome if you have to fight your way out of a close quartered building or are shooting running rabbits at 20 feet. Other than that they are basically useless. Effective range is very short.
 
Uses? Same as any short barrelled defensive shotgun. The shorter the barrel the less effective it will be for field use, but the more handy it is for typical SD/HD scenarios (up to a point, of course). SD/HD distances very rarely exceed what? Maybe 10-15 yards? Beyond that you are getting to the point where convincing judge and jury your life, or those of your loved ones, was/were in danger starts becoming problematic. So a shotgun that is exceptionally handy while remaining exceptionally deadly out to 10 yards, up to perhaps 20 becomes a real asset. Obviously, we're not talking a field gun here, or a range gun, so those comparisons aren't valid. Short-barrelled shotguns are also easy to store while traveling and provide great manueverability inside a vehicle.
 
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18 inches is the #

I believe that's when it becomes illegal. Knew someone that sawed off a topper even wiith the forend. Thing flew off from the recoil. Duck tape fixed that. I guess what I am saying is if you get caught with it under 18" it's going to be expensive
 
that's when it becomes illegal
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Incorrect info... Under 18 inches simply requires a federal NFA tax stamp Of $200 IIRC to be fully legal. May be some state law against it but federally it can be a 2 inch stubby so long as you went thru the proper channels.
Brent
 
I know there's some company that makes a 12gauge sawed off it's pretty sweet not sure who makes it. They had one at our big local gun shop here in South Bend years ago and when I had the 500 for it, it was gone. And all you needed to get it was pass the federal search and there was no tax stamp on it.
 
14" is the most common AOW and used by LE, similar to a SBR (Any Other Weapon and Short Barreled Rifle). Great "Room Broom"for CGB to sweep the bad guys away.
The Taurus Judge gets away with being a .410 "shotgun" by having part of the "pistol" barrel rifled. I don't know the rate of twist necessary but imagine it's pretty slow. humm, wonder when someone puts out a 5 shot 20 or 12 gauge with a little 1 in 36 "choke" in the barrel... talk about a beast and Mares leg:rolleyes:
 
Keep in mind, guys, our friend Firepower! is not living in the United States of America. Our 1934 National Firearms Act does not apply.

However, that may also mean that most of us have precious little experience with short barreled shotguns.
 
Barrel length has nothing to do with patterning. A 28" cylinder bore barrel will shoot approximately the same pattern as a 12" cylinder bore.
Choke determines pattern.
There is not much velocity loss until you get down to about 10" barrel length.
In the US, anything under 18" length requires payment for a tax stamp.
The Taurus Judge is legal because it's rifled, and under .50 cal. A rifled 20 or 12 gauge with bbl. under 18" would still require a tax stamp.
Corrections aside, a short shotgun is a devastating close range weapon.
 
The gun I received had been bubbaed to fit in a saddle bag. I never measured it but at about 12' the biggest hole in my cardboard box target was where the shot wad went through. Pattern was a donut at that range. Only guessing but I'm thinking the pattern was blown apart because the barrel was so short the powder load hadn't been burned yet and it blew a hole through the shot string.

Just personal preference but I prefer at least 18" of barrel and 20" is better.
 
i got to fire off a sawed off 12 ga sxs, 8" barrel, no but stock.

big heavy rip your arm off pistol, especialy if you let somebody talk you into pulling both triggers at once!:eek:

i have a sxs 12ga that is sawed off to 18.5"-ish. the pattern opens up fast, and it is fast to maneuver in tight brush. its my favorite rabbit gun.
 
Thank you guys. Some great information so far.

Is it ok to just chop off a shotgun or there is some more science to it? I ask this because one of the poster mentioned gun flipping off and using duck tape!
 
Firepower: Before you cut it, get the paperwork, if it is going to be under 18 inches. I would hate to see anyone get into trouble for something like this. (Did not realize you were in Pakistan, but still check the legality of the modification.)

I have seen them hack at with a hacksaw, band saw and professionally done on a lathes.

A sawed off shotgun can be a heavy hole puncher, but they can also be uncomfortable as all get out to shoot. What do you want to use it for?

My brother and I found one when we were kids. 12 gauge, about eight inches long. He shot it and the fore-grip came off in his hand. Used duct tape to hold the foregrip on and we shot it for about a week before my dad found out about it.

I remember he called us and told us to meet him and the local cop down at the Potter Hill bridge. I think the local cops name was Ralph and he had a full time job keeping us kids out of trouble. We met them there and Ralph looked at the gun, said it was illegal and proceeded to take it apart and throw the pieces into the river.

Funny thing is, we never really missed that thing. Ralph probably saved us more grief than it would have been worth.
 
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It seems that Pakistani laws state you need a special permit for a machine gun, but says nothing about an SBS. Only shotgun related law states it can't be bigger than 12 gauge. So I'm guessing they have no hangups about barrel cutting, but don't quote me. Check your laws.

Anyways, as stated already, a lathe would make the smoothest cut. If you use a chop saw or hand saw, make sure to debur the cut both inside and out.
 
As mentioned above, there are better and worse procedures for the actual shortening of the barrel, but there's not anything more complicated than that about it. It's just cutting the tube shorter.
 
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