Cutting Down A Barrel?

[X - Man]

Would like to ask a question whether it's ok/legal to cut down a rilfe barrel. My Mini-14 S/S Ranch 223 was made with a a somewhat too thin barrel, it has been suggested to cut the barrel length down from the stock 18" to 17 1/4". After crowning a flash hider would be pinned on the muzzle, adding another 1 3/8 to the barrel. Is this OK or would there be legal issues? By making the barrel shorter it will be less prone to whipping or flexing.
. What would be the shortest barrel length permissible?( measured w/o f.h.).

[Pa. Patriot]

For a rifle, the minimum length is 16" for the barrel and 26" overall length.

Shorter than above required an approved ATF Form-1 for "short Barelled Rifle"

[ca2pa]

hope im not hijacking this thread too much, but didnt want to start a "similar" one. I recently obtained a remington 700 sps in 300 win. with a 26" barrel. i would like this to be my new hunting rifle, but do not want such a long barrel to be carrying around. Ive been reading online that with .308 its fine (as in not much fps are lost) to cut it down to 18." now, being this is not a .308 caliber but a 300 win. mag. what would be the most i could bring it down to, i was thinking 20"...what do you think?

oh and not worried about recoil, just want something small enough (with a kick) to hunt with..

[eightshot627]

Originally Posted by ca2pa

hope im not hijacking this thread too much, but didnt want to start a "similar" one. I recently obtained a remington 700 sps in 300 win. with a 26" barrel. i would like this to be my new hunting rifle, but do not want such a long barrel to be carrying around. Ive been reading online that with .308 its fine (as in not much fps are lost) to cut it down to 18." now, being this is not a .308 caliber but a 300 win. mag. what would be the most i could bring it down to, i was thinking 20"...what do you think?

oh and not worried about recoil, just want something small enough (with a kick) to hunt with..

ca2pa,

Shortening a .300 Win Mag to 18 inches wouldn’t make sense. You would be better off buying a .308 Win. with a shorter barrel. The 308 case and factory loadings the powder is mostly burnt before the bullet leaves the barrel even a 18 inch barrel. Most factory 300mags use barrel of 24inches or more. Ammo companies know this and load it with slower burning powders to fill the case and use the barrel length. I regularly hunt in PA with a M700 in .300Wthby with a 24inch tube. It doesn’t seem to long. I would keep the 26 inch for long range work and buy a shorter barrel gun for shorter stuff later.

Walt

PS If you do shorten it I would love to see a pic of the muzzle flash at dusk. That would light up a ball park.

[deth502]

Originally Posted by eightshot627

ca2pa,

Shortening a .300 Win Mag to 18 inches wouldn’t make sense. You would be better off buying a .308 Win. with a shorter barrel. The 308 case and factory loadings the powder is mostly burnt before the bullet leaves the barrel even a 18 inch barrel. Most factory 300mags use barrel of 24inches or more. Ammo companies know this and load it with slower burning powders to fill the case and use the barrel length. I regularly hunt in PA with a M700 in .300Wthby with a 24inch tube. It doesn’t seem to long. I would keep the 26 inch for long range work and buy a shorter barrel gun for shorter stuff later.

Walt

yup, exactly what he said (only i dont have a 300 wby )

[SHEPHERD321]

I asked this question before here and no one responded so I guess it was to simplistic but..
why can't a rifled slug barrel on a 12g be cut down to 16 inches legally? People are buying the Taurus Judge and its not a short barreled shotgun. So what makes a shotgun a shotgun?

[gnbrotz]

Originally Posted by SHEPHERD321

I asked this question before here and no one responded so I guess it was to simplistic but..
why can't a rifled slug barrel on a 12g be cut down to 16 inches legally? People are buying the Taurus Judge and its not a short barreled shotgun. So what makes a shotgun a shotgun?

Oohh....I KNOW this answer (because I asked the same question).

The Taurus Judge has a rifled barrel, so it is not considered a shotgun. A true "shotgun" has a smooth bore.

[Stooperzero]

Originally Posted by SHEPHERD321

I asked this question before here and no one responded so I guess it was to simplistic but..
why can't a rifled slug barrel on a 12g be cut down to 16 inches legally? People are buying the Taurus Judge and its not a short barreled shotgun. So what makes a shotgun a shotgun?

IMHO the whole concepts DUMB, IT came from your Gov't so it cant be all that bright.


GEt Rid of the BATFE and we won't have to worry anymore.

[SHEPHERD321]

So if I scribe some lines inside my shotgun barrel and call it rifling its ok to cut the barrel to 16"?

[deth502]

if your shotgun bbl is rifled and you want to start calling it a "rifle" then youll still have to pay a $200 tax to the batf for a "destructive device"

(firearm with a bore of over 1/2", "sporting" shotguns are exempt, once it leaves the "sporting shotgun" category, over 1/2" is a dd)