yes, I'm sure I'm crazy, but I'll ask anyway

S

sixteenacrewood

New member
Hi again everybody, thanks for all the help with my past questions.

I work my a## off and want to do a project gun for fun and as a distraction.
I've been hunting a thick overgrown section of my property and want a short barrel single shot 12 ga to shoot 00 buck and slugs, but with a choke for birds and rabbits too. but mostly I want to tear something down and re finish it and change it to suit what I think I need / want.

I want to start with a single shot 12 ga, shorten the barrel add a poly choke and spray paint it flat black and add a sling, maybe glueon rifle sights.

My question.
I have read that you can get a slip on polychoke and silver solder it on, anyone with experience doing this? does the cut barrel have to be machened down to accept the fit?

I found a post on another gun forum on a WSHTF shotguns where guys altered 12 ga single shots for defence guns, this is kinda what I want to do.

I also got the idea from seeing the "snake charmer" shot gun.

As far as personal experience/abilities, I have never done any complex gun smithing, But I am a professional woodworker and ex aircraft mechanic, so I would rate my abilities above the average home owner.

Also, what is the thickest most bad a## recoil pad, and again, I may make my own.

Thanks in advance
 
Not crazy - a little different maybe :D.

Shortening the barrel? Sure - will make it handier. Just don't go too short - 18.5" at least, measured down the bore to the closed breech. A little longer will balance better... 20" seems pretty good to me, but YMMV.

I don't know how to go about adding a Polychoke, AFAIK they have to be mated up diameter wise and silver soldered on, but I believe there is a setup now that allows one to be installed in a barrel threaded for choke tubes. I had a Polychoke put on a shotgun back in the 1970s and frankly regretted it. Were I you I'd get it set up for choke tubes...

Paint it black? Shouldn't be a big deal.

Sling? Just add quick detachable sling swivel studs. A barrel band for the front would be really cool IMHO, if you can find one to fit. And that would keep the front stud from pounding on your support hand too.

Rifle sights? DEFINITELY silver solder them on. Glue won't cut it.

Recoil pad? Get one of the grind to fit premium pads currently available and don't worry about making your own. Trust me, if you cut the gun down (thereby removing weight) and shoot heavy loads in it, you'll WANT as good a pad as you can get. Might even consider adding a little lead shot epoxied here and there into recesses drilled into the forearm and stock to add some weight. Be sure you balance the gun properly if you start sticking lead shot to it though. Generally you want the hinge pin to be the balance point, or a bit heavy to the muzzle end if anything.
 
 
Thanks Lee, yes I am a bit "different", I was orriginally leaning toward 22 in barrel length, I'll probably cut it incrementaly and see what feels good. I never thought of adding weight to the forarm for ballance and mass.

simi-problematic, thanks for all the links, very cool stuf.

After reading Chuck Hawks artical, I'll scrap the polly choke idea. I thought it would be easy/cheep/quick, but that was a very bad review of them.

That A2Z Stock set up is cool.

Looking forward to this
 
You may be interested in stoeger's double defender. It comes tacticooled out, with most the stuff you wanted. I'm not sure if the barrels have enough meat to thread and choke, and you said you wanted to do it yourself, but it basically describes what you wanted, just as a double barrel instead of single shot. They have a sxs and o/u model.
 
If you want to go with a Poly choke, they still make the original style but yes, you will have to turn the end of the barrel to the proper outside diameter. They come in two pieces, one part is fixed (silver soldered) directly to the turned down part of the barrel, the other part screws onto that. (Don't worry about the front sight - the Poly Choke has its own.)

I have never used the Poly Choke II but I don't see why it should be so bad. (Of course everything mentioned on that site is junk, rotten, an evil conspiracy, etc., etc.)

The Poly Choke is OK and really works as designed. It does need cleaned from time to time, but so does the gun itself.

Jim
 
I spoke with Poly Choke a few weeks ago. If the OD of the barrel is sufficient, they thread the outside and screw the choke on using industrial thread-locker. If the OD is to small to be threaded, they silver solder it on. According to Poly Choke, either method meets the ATF standard of a 'permanent fixture'.
 
Don't even need the poly choke for your needs, just have the barrel choked to IC and call it good. An 18.5" barrel will suck for birds on the wing but should do OK for rabbits and using slugs
 
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