[Jake Salyards]

I have a project I am going to do that I have been thinking about for a few years. It involves cutting back a SxS shotgun barrel to 20 inches. I figure the gunsmith is just going to use a hacksaw and cut the barrel down. If that is true, what happens after that so the barrel looks all nice and smooth? I don't mind paying to have this done, but since this is my project gun I think I should be the one to do all the work, except maybe the refinish. Anyway, for those who have done this in the past and are more knowledgeable than I, can you tell me if there is a trick to this, or just cut darn slow and don't screw up? Thanks for any help. Jake Salyards
Pictures of this monstrosity in a few weeks.

 

[dfariswheel]

A good job can be done by hand. The barrels are cut off using a fine tooth hacksaw, and filed true with a good file. A good job can be done by "eyeball", but if you want a perfect job, get a 'smith to use a piloted muzzle crowner tool to get it true.
After cutting and filing, put a small peice of metal sandpaper over your thumb, and rotate this inside the muzzles to round off the sharp edges.

I used to use soft solder to close the holes between the barrels and the ribs. However, this is a HIGH STRESS job, since everything is soldered together to start with. Get the assembly a little too hot, and it will seperate.

A better and safer job is done using one of the "liquid metals" from the hardware store. These are usually black or silver in color and will match the barrels well.

I degrease, put a small piece of paper towel down the holes about 3/4 inch, to act as a "dam", and fill with the epoxy metal.

The only problem I've seen, is that some guns aren't soldered very well between the original muzzle and the breech. I've seen at least two of these start to seperate after being cut down.