A friend of mine has a 12 guage bolt action shotgun for deer hunting.

It has a modified choke and a 3" chamber.

Should the barrel be cut for a long forcing cone and opened up to a cylinder bore?

I would shoot it with a variety of foster slugs (not sabot) and see how it shoots before I did anything to it. Then, if it needs help, I would cut the barrel to about 20" to stiffen the barrel and open the choke.

quote:

Originally posted by Don Slater:
A friend of mine has a 12 guage bolt action shotgun for deer hunting.

It has a modified choke and a 3" chamber.

Should the barrel be cut for a long forcing cone and opened up to a cylinder bore?

Foster slugs should work well in you modified choke gun. I would not do anything to the gun unless you have rifle sights or a scope mounted on the gun.

Well, griff asked about rifled chokes and mete gave a pretty good answer. The answer about a 20" stiffer barrel from carlos 111 made sense too. 243winxb suggested a scope for more accuracy.

So the plan is to shorten the barrel to 20" and thread for a rifled choke tube. The gun is a bolt action with a bolt that will clear a scope, so it will be drilled and tapped for the Weaver Grand Slam (all steel) mounts.



Should wind up with a fairly accurate slug gun that will shoot sabot style slugs. The scope will make target acquistion much easier too.

Thanks for the info.

Don

Don,

Are you guys going to do the work yourselves or pay someone else to do it?

Unless he really really likes this gun he'll be better off buying a new rifled bolt gun, they can be had new in the mid 200's, and they usually come with scope mounts.

If you're paying a smith to install a choke, and D&T it may be less money to buy than paying to have all that done, and if he sold his gun it would definately be less money, and a better product most likely.

Mark,

My friend loves this gun, and can afford anything she wants! I don't think cost is a concern?

She has NEVER sold any firearm she has ever bought in the last 30 years or so. Selling something she owns is not in her mindset!(She's a pack rat!)

But thanks for the "heads up"!

quote:

Originally posted by Don Slater:
A friend of mine has a 12 guage bolt action shotgun for deer hunting.

It has a modified choke and a 3" chamber.

Should the barrel be cut for a long forcing cone and opened up to a cylinder bore?

Don't worry about the forcing cone. especially with a 3" chamber & slugs. I even have reservations about the "improvement" in shot patterns with a long cone, when you have a 3" chamber using 2 3/4" shells.

quote:

Originally posted by Don Slater:
Mark,

My friend loves this gun, and can afford anything she wants! I don't think cost is a concern?

She has NEVER sold any firearm she has ever bought in the last 30 years or so. Selling something she owns is not in her mindset!(She's a pack rat!)

But thanks for the "heads up"!

I have to go along with Mark on this gun. After all this work and expence, your gun will probley not shoot as well as a mossberg cantilever rifled barrel slug gun. Just buy a new slug gun.