Sawed off shotgun

Yeah, Firepower doesn't have to worry about US laws and is in real need for SD weapons (more so than most of us).

Anyway, you don't NEED a lathe to cut a shotgun barrel. There is no science to it other than making a tube shorter, but you need to make the cut as square as possible and de-burr the cut when you finish. You can cut it near perfect square with almost any metal chop saw and a good vise, or by clamping a piece of channel iron (with the end squared) to the barrel and using it as a guide. If this were a rifle barrel, I would be less likely to recommend these techniques. A SBS with a practical effective range of MAYBE 25 meters? It'll work just fine doing it minus a lathe.
 
As improvements in manufacturing lead to thinner barrels, someone had to be the first to cut one short (presumably because the original barrel was damaged). If you can believe Hollywood, the original sawed-off shotguns evolved in two directions:
1. The shotgun as handgun for those wanting firepower without the normal handgun training. This was depicted by the James Cann's character Mississippi in Howard Hawk's El Dorado. This would be a gun with very short barrels and a pistol grip only stock.
2. The shogun as a easily concealable long gun. Any number of gangster movies depict a shortened shotgun being withdrawn from beneath a long coat. The most well known being the Barrow Gang's "Whipit" style guns. These were a variety of auto-loading shotguns with shortened barrels and stocks. A simple strap kept them secured under the coat. Clyde Barrow had a BAR fashioned the same way

I don't think of the modern SD/HD guns as members of the saw-off family of shotguns; but, as the modern version of the old police riot gun. These guns typically have standard stocks with barrels shortened to allow them to ride vertically in a cruiser and perform better in confined spaces.

Firepower, unless you're looking towards the concealment aspect of a sawed-off, a short barreled gun with a conventional length stock (fixed or articulated) will most likely best suit your needs.
 
When I was a teenager a friend of mine cut down an old single shot 12 gauge. He cut the barrel off about an inch forward of the wooden forearm, and trimmed the stock into a very small pistol grip. Not only was this an illegal action, but the thing was an absolute fright to shoot. The very first shot from it opened up the web of his hand as the hammer and beavertail unlocking lever tore into his hand on firing. We ended up sacrificing a perfectly good T-shirt to staunch the bleeding. On subsequent firings, after maintaining a very firm grip, we also discovered that the effective range was not very impressive. Not nearly as impressive as the results achieved by Clint Eastwood in the ‘spaghetti western’ the gun was patterned after. Of course the inaccuracy may have been caused by firing with our eyes closed rather than just maintaining a good squint, but we certainly had the gritted teeth down pat the moment we cocked the hammer back. It turned out to be a firearm that I certainly wouldn’t consider as anything for home defense though, and not something I would ever recommend anyone use.
 
if you are gonna use a hack/chop saw get a hose clamp and tighten it around the barrels where you want to cut. this will give you a nice straight line.

also you may need to fill in the gap between the barrels. some cheaper guns dont have a solid "rib". solder, or epoxy should be fine.
 
A couple of generations ago in the U.S.A. there were some popular SBS's referred to by various names but the general name that stuck was the "Auto Burglar".

auto_burglar.jpg

28 ga "Auto Burglar"

These nifty little guns were popular in 20 and 28 gauge. Back then automobiles had running boards and doors that didn't lock (or not very well). A highwayman could jump on the running board of a stopped or slow moving car and through an open window threaten the driver with gun or knife. Pulling one of these out from between the seat cushions could give him a serious inferiority complex. :eek:

Ithaca_autoburglar_20.gif

20 ga Ithaca Auto Burglar

I'd tend to go with the 20 gauge for the lower recoil than a 12 gauge and because it's the smallest size for which buckshot is available. But when you're measuring your target distance in less than 20 feet even the 28ga will be like walking into a vege-matic. Using 20ga #2 buckshot with 18 pellets at 15-20ft will penetrate better and ruin their day.

Load it with slugs and you'd have a pretty close approximation to a light-duty Howdah pistol. :D
 
Bill
The Ithaca Auto-Burglar was not made in 28 GA. to my knowledge, only 20 GA.
Your top photo is of the later "NID" frame version. Lower picture is the earlier "Flues" frame model.
 
Bill,

Thanks for that correction. That's one of the reasons I love TFL - so much varied knowledge!

I've seen a couple of 28-gauge models (Not made by Ithaca) that were very similar in construction. I was using the descriptions of the photos from an old 'net article. (my bad).

My grandfather had one of these in the 20's when my mother was born. She recalls him taking it along on working trips from the farm into Harrisburg around '30-'31. All through the depression it's "place" was in a short scabbard near the front door. .

I would think that even a 28-gauge at 10 feet would mess up someone's week.
 
IIRC, Ithaca made one 28 gauge A-B and about 3 in 16 gauge.

I've shot a 20 gauge S-B. Not anxious to repeat that. I'm inclined to think a bird's head style grip would have helped.
 
My dad sold his 16 ga. Springfield-Stevens Model 215 hammer gun to a hunting buddy 60 years ago. When I expressed interest in it, his buddy (now in his 80's, Dad is 92) gave it back to me a few weeks ago. He had sawed off the barrels to 20" to shoot rats at the local grain elevator. We patterned it and the pattern from either barrel was about 18" in diameter at 15 yards with POI close to POA. We shot a few clays thrown from a portable trap. I wasn't "smoking" them, but I hit them pretty hard out to about 20-25 yards.
 
A previous post stated that the effective range was very short. For a hd weapon, this is not true. I had a chance to shoot a 12 ga with a 11to 12in barrel. Shot it at some old doors. At about 8 yds, the overall spread, with 8 shot was only 7or 8 inches. That is a greater distance than most rooms in your home. It's not something you're gonna hunt geese with, but hd- it's awesome.
 
Welcome back, Firepower!

A lot of sawed off shotguns have 14" barrels because that's about where the tube magazine ends.

Make sure you post pictures if you end up chopping a shotgun.
 
Not mentioned yet is the noise. The blast from a short barrelled shotgun is, quite literally, ear shattering. Except for defense and law enforcement, I see no practical application for a short barrel on a shotgun.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top