Shotgun Fixed Choke Modification/Mess Up?

I just had an old 20 gauge bolt action shotgun modified by a local smith. I verified he had all the appropriate tools and experience to ream the fixed full choke to an improved cylinder for better rifled slug performance.

When I went to get the gun he started complaining about how the choke was really deep and he had issues. I got the gun home and looked down the muzzle end w a light. I'm concerned. He went at the job from the muzzle end for one thing. He reamed 3 and 1/8 inches out and stopped. So now there is what I would call a cut-ridge and a really rough 3 and 1/8 inches at the end of the muzzle that is more open than the deeper part of the barrel.

I called the smith today and expressed my concern, he offered to refund me my money. I think he knows he buggered the gun up. I asked if he had ever seen a gun with a more open muzzle than the tightest point of restriction and he said yes, all the time. He said he had to go that deep to get the fixed choke restriction out. I asked if what I'm seeing at the muzzle end is imp. cylinder diameter or more open and he said it is closer to cylinder bore diameter but that the restriction I'm seeing deeper into the muzzle is less than full choke.

His advice was to go shoot the gun and see if I'm happy with it. I am not concerned about safety, I'm just unsure that what I've ended up with is going to be accurate at all since the rifled slug will swage down at the tightest barrel point and then have quite a bit of room the last 3 and 1/8 inches of travel out the barrel.

Please advise on if this is acceptable or if I should go have the barrel cut down behind what he did and just live with whatever bore diameter of have at that length? The barrel is currently 26 inches, so I know I don't need that much barrel for a slug gun.

Thanks!

None of that sounds good.

Seems like a case of pushing the wrong sized reamer into an unmeasured hole. Assumptions.

A few bore measurements are needed to sort out the present situation for sure.

CalG said:

None of that sounds good.

Seems like a case of pushing the wrong sized reamer into an unmeasured hole. Assumptions.

A few bore measurements are needed to sort out the present situation for sure.

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"Negotation" and human grace, rather.

Gunsmith prolly hadn't et in a solid a week, or he'd never have been so desperate as to take-on such a POS in the the first place.

Way to make it come good, is to ask him to substitute the service of destroying the trash(ed) shotgun-shaped object for the refund he offered.

Page two, help find the OP a REAL shotgun at a decent price, used.

ONE barrel is all yah want, I'd suggest a used Remington 1100.
Grownup-sized. 12 bore.

A twenny gage lead thimble ain't much use ennyway.
Better-off with a decent shot-column if a twenny is yer wont.

Insane number of rounds are wanted to ever wear out an 1100.
World-record insane number.

WV MetroNews – All hail the Remington 11

Used ain't much risk.


Win-Win, yah?

OT [or if I should go have the barrel cut down behind what he did and just live with] I don't see much reason to cut it down


Back in the day we hack sawed off, filed square and re- blued or blacked the end...
I have the old style 11 ribbed and a polly..perhaps a 1950s gun, a very nice shooting piece, seems way less kick than most 1100 I have tried...actually it seems to not even kick when hunting.

Nothing wrong with a 20 or even a 410

A standard rifled slug will pass a full choke and proceed to the target unimpeded. Have you tried the gun for accuracy? If you want the bore of your shotgun to have a better finish, you can polish it with a split 1/2" dowel and succeeding finer grit sandpaper. I have found that the main restriction to slug accuracy is the lack of real sights. Regards, Clark

You could have it reamed and threaded for choke tubes and use a rifled tube for slugs.

michiganbuck said:

OT [or if I should go have the barrel cut down behind what he did and just live with] I don't see much reason to cut it down

Click to expand...

Wasn't any real reason to have done anything at all to it actually. So-called "rifled" slug isn't. Either one. 12-bore sized one resembles a soft-lead-alloy version of those itty-bitty pleated paper cups Mickie-Dee puts out for pumped Ketchup. Thin skirt meant to seal gases like an Anorexic imitation of a Minie ball, The head ain't all that thick, even at the center.
Whole idea is it can be fired through any sort of choke a body went to the field with, not make much never-mind.

Punkin' ball, SSG's or the like? Prolly want a different shotgun in any case. 20-bore's long suit vs 12 or 16 is the way the shot column differs in a manner advantageous to some types of use. Smaller and lighter lead "Dixie cup", no such gain.

As to the 1100, yes, the whole idea is the particular manner of gas operation has a marked reduction on felt recoil, any given gauge. Lets the shooter focus on what he's about, worry less about taking a beating, they both work better.

My one was lent to Dad, his 80th birthday for the next dozen years specifically because he was growing a mite frail for a 12-ga double, Drielling, his Mausers or 7 mm BDL, Gave it back when he sold the farm, his own guns, and moved into a flat in town. Hung up his shooting days altogether. Eyesight was going too, by that age anyway.

.410? Heard tell someone had actually found something it was any good at, but y'know mythology.

We learnt up as young kids annoying crows and maiming Copper snakes with a turnbolt .410 until about 7 or 8 years old when we'd actually learnt to shoot and could use cheaper .22 shorts in a less cumbersome handgun. Appalachia. Not a "rich" budget for workaday ammunition, those days. .22 LR wanted justifyin'. Just get closer, use a short, save ye some money. Talking vermin control here, working farm, on the cheap, other s**t to git done, not punchin' paper.

Dick swinging? After supper. Highly seasonal. Y'all ever heard the term "deer rifle"?

Similar meaning to "provocation" or "ambush". Now yah got a Mountain boy's attention, 'least 'til the jar goes empty!

Be arguin' all night, as to whose was the right, to've done what, with which, and to whom!

If this is a old bolt action stevens or high standard then leave it be and find a new shotgun. If you just have to shoot it for whatever reason, sentimental, kids gun, etc. then your options are have tru choke tubes installed but you will have to measure the OD and ID of the part that the gunsmith left you to see if it will take it. Might be able to cut it back to an unaltered bore and install tru choke tubes. To be honest though, at least in 12ga, ive found that cylinder bore barrels pattern buckshot tighter than any choke, in fact the tighter the choke the wider the pattern. Also found with slugs that cylinder bore shoots rifled slugs better than any choke or rifled tube. This is true for my Police 870 and Siaga 12. Rifled tubes ive found only work with sabot slugs and even then not all shoot well.
If you just have to have a choke and don't want to pay for tru chokes, your options are to cut the barrel back to cylinder bore and either put a Jug Choke in it or buy a tapered back bore reamer and bore the barrel out to get the constriction you want.