I'm no gunsmith, but I thought I'd share my weekend project.

The gun is a Mossberg 500A with vent ribbed 24" barrel.
I decided to shorten the barrel for use as a home defense and deer hunting slug gun.

I pulled the vent rib off, knocked off the blocks that held the rib on, marked the barrel at 18.5", and cut it with a hacksaw.
Here's a not so great pic of the muzzle:
http://www.thewolfweb.com/photos/00411951.jpg
Note: the server doesn't allow hotlinking, so you have to copy and paste the image location into the address bar.

I cleaned up the muzzle with a mill bastard file. The finished muzzle came out quite nice and flat, but is not square with the barrel. It is about 0.004" longer at the bottom.

I plan on making a crowning tool on a lathe once I get around to the campus woodshop, so that will fix the squareness issue.

Here is a pic of the gun:
http://www.thewolfweb.com/photos/00411952.jpg

I still need to file flat the points where the rib was attached and solder on the front sight (Mossberg factory Ghost Ring setup). I'm going to refinish the whole gun in industrial epoxy, Sherwin Williams Ind. Epoxy, the same stuff as Duracoat.
It's nothing fancy, but fancy isn't the name of the game when you don't have much equipment.

Some questions:
-Will 95%tin/5%silver solder work for the front sight? Melting point is 430°.
-The barrel wall is non concentric. If facing the bore, the 1-2 o'clock area is 0.006" thicker than the opposite side. Will this have any practical affect on accuracy?

Yes, that is 'hard solder' and is preferred for silver soldering. This is mainly because it will stand up to bluing tank temperatures. I recently installed the Mossberg Ghost Ring setup and man soes it look sharp.
Careful when measuring the hole spacing, refer to quote at bottom of post.

Accuracy? This is a short barreled shotgun.

-Spencer

The reciever was already drilled and tapped for the rear sight.

As far as accuracy is concerned, it originally shot 2" groups offhand at 25 yards. I expect this kind of accuracy from a slug gun for hunting purposes, so I was wondering if it would degrade it.

Oh, didn't know it was a slug gun.

When you are crowning it, the toll should look like a small hook with the cutting edge on the inside of the hook. Be careful not to touch the opposite side of the barrel when you are cutting.

-Spencer

Bubba, I've seen Mossberg 500 slug barrels on Ebay for like $25.

But, I understand the need for home projects

I keep missing those auctions

I decided to hack my barrel because it's a 24" barrel made for turkey hunting. I had two choices, buy a short barrel and put the sights on or hack mine and buy a 26" barrel for birds.
I went with the second choice because the 24" doesn't swing as well as the 26" guns I've shot...and of course just to have something to do while unemployed

I once cut a ribless Mossberg bolt action 20ga down to 18.5" for a friend to use on his boat to calm down sharks. I used a plumbers tubing cutter. Came out square, couldn't come out any other way. Just filed the end flat.

Rob