No way would I destroy a gun by "sawing off barrels." Having the chokes opened makes far more sense.

 

I didn’t know about that option. Thanks.

 

While I agree with Randy when we're talking about a nice old hunting shotgun, many which have been butchered by a bubba with a hack saw, your Stoeger is a Brazilian made $400 coach gun intended for Cowboy Action Shooting or as a Garden Gun (good for pests!)

My guess is that you want to use steel shot, which is not recommended for the FULL FULL fixed chokes in your .410
Note that the 20 and 12 gauge versions have screw-in chokes which can be changed and you could use steel shot in those.

For making an inexpensive garden gun a more open choke, there is a reaming tool gunsmiths can use. It's an easy process, but not something one does without great attention to detail for a $4,000 shotgun. For a $400 shotgun, call your local gunsmiths- they might be able to do the whole job for about $100.

Mike Orlen is well regarded, you could give him a call. I expect his price, in this case, might be higher than a simple reaming but his quality for a nicer shotgun will be better too. Sounds like you just need a very basic job. But this will cost you shipping to and from the East Coast.

Updated Mike Orlen price list

I have a barrel to send off to Mike. A buddy of mine sent his to Mike this summer. Evidently the price list I gave my buddy was out of date. So he had to send Mike a second check. Before I sent my barrel off I was wanting to make sure I had the correct price list. Is there an updated one...

www.shotgunworld.com

 

.410 shotguns I bought this year have restrictions about what kind of ammo they can shoot due to the chokes.

What kind of ammo restrictions are you referring to?

 

I actually wound up buying 3 .410 shotguns this year. 2 of them were fairly inexpensive. Anyway, the manual for the Rossi Tuffy says it's "unsafe" to use slugs, and it's not recommended to use steel shot. I read somewhere that the only thing one should use in the Coach gun is lead bird shot, because both barrels have full chokes. I have so far been unable to find out what kind of choke is in the ATI Nomad with the 26 inch barrel. I can't buy ammo online because I'm in California, and only one shop in this area had any .410 ammo when I looked, and it's only #6 steel shot, buckshot, slugs, and Winchester PDX Defender.
Again, I'm a novice and I've been reading from some people that it's okay to use such and such ammo, and others say it's not okay to use such and such ammo. And as I said, I can't get all .410 ammo made. Geez.

 

If the gun still works it isn’t ruined. Just make sure the barrels are a little over 18”. The government will shoot your family over that one.

 

And your dog.

 

I had a Stevens 311 cut from 28" to 18 & 1/2" and the bead reinstalled by my local gun smiddy. It did not cost a lot of money and any qualified local smiddy can do it. I did it to the Stevens because it wasn't a nice gun and I wanted a HD shotgun. And I got one. I would not do this to a nice gun but the Stevens, well I got it out off a drug dealer client for $1 and I had seen better wood on a shipping pallet so it was no loss.

 

Does your client have any other guns to sell? Could use a gun stocked in pallet wood or barn siding.

 

I got a bunch from him, each for $1.

beautiful 870 WM with the nicest wood I ever saw on a mass produced gun
Ted Williams shotgun
Absolute POS made in TN Thompson .45 clone.
Stevens 311
AR 15

So the cops lied on the warrant and we got it quashed and the evidence suppressed. The judge would not return the guns to the client on the grounds that he was a POS drug dealer. So the MI State Police ran the guns and none of them turned up stolen so we worked out a deal where the client sold them to us for $ each. We went to the get them from the DPD evidence lock up only the AR-15 could not be found. No surprises there.

 

I do wonder what are the restrictions.....and steel as a choice for the .410, if so, believe I would steel away and not worry about any barrel concerns.
Must be an interesting plan that is afoot.

 

The kind of guns the OP is talking about wouldnt be cost efficient to have serious choke work done with 2 way shipping, that would be at least $100. I have a dedicated Rigid pipe cutter that I use on shotgun barrels. They have to be draw filed to remove burr causes by cutter but is simple job. I do doubles on Band Saw. Draw file muzzle and put bronze wool in void, flux and drip in low temp silver solder. Then couple more strokes with file and your good. Always leave the Devils Share at least
18.25” when cutting shot gun barrels.

 

The kind of guns the OP is talking about wouldnt be cost efficient to have serious choke work done with 2 way shipping, that would be at least $100. I have a dedicated Rigid pipe cutter that I use on shotgun barrels. They have to be draw filed to remove burr causes by cutter but is simple job. I do doubles on Band Saw. Draw file muzzle and put bronze wool in void, flux and drip in low temp silver solder. Then couple more strokes with file and your good. Always leave the Devils Share at least
18.25” when cutting shot gun barrels.

Exactly this👆🏻

 

I would shoot them just like they are. I sure wouldn't worry about hurting those guns and I would not worry about 2" on a sxs. Break action guns are already shorter than pump or semi auto shotguns with the same barrel lengths. If you are worried about shooting steel shot thru full chokes, what sized steel are you shooting? I usually only see #6 steel in .410. That is pretty small steel shot. Not like you are pounding steel BB's thru a tight choke.

 

You should have reported the missing AR as a stolen firearm. ATF would be interested I would think.

 

Hey, maybe cut one barrel for home defense and leave the other for game! Two birds with one stone & all that! 😁

 

Just don’t.

 

If the OP wanted to drive his F250 over the gun repeatably it's his property!

 

Why people think it’s space science to cut a shotgun barrel is beyond me. Anyone with a modicum of DIY can do it easy with common tools. I wouldn’t cut a good classic gun of my own unless barrel had bulge, ect. Having said this there are a lot of guns that are just guns. They have no value other than as a tool to fire a shell.
I started noticing a “trend” about 20yrs ago. I would have several shotguns, common run of the mill in rather ratty condition as far as looks. Would drag them to several shows and they weren’t even getting a glance. I cut them to 18.5” and they all went. That old JC Higgins with Poly that you can’t give away? Whack it and it won’t be around long.
Just be careful when cutting shot guns that barrel is 18”+ just to be safe and the overall length is
26”+ for same reason.

 

I would be concerned with lopping off a SxS's barrels w/o some attention to filling in the space between the barrels at the cut.

 

The void created when cutting of SxS is easily fix. This is time to drill and tap for new bead. Don’t remove excess from bead stem. Let it project into void, this and brass wool will provide the lathe to hold the low temp silver solder that is used to plug the void. When filling with solder let excess alone.
When draw filing muzzle it will be taken flush with barrels. It will turn black in a short time on its own.

 

I cannot recommend any one around you and you might have to send it off to a shop. I have purchased several shotguns over the years with tighter chokes than I wanted because I can have them drilled out to my preference, generally upland chokes - modified for me. I have had Americas Gunsmith Shop in Burlington, WI do 4 or 5 barrels for me over the years. You could also talk to Roy about have the barrels cut down to your preferred length. They do have a website and are one of the largest shops in the midwest. Good luck with your project.

 

I, personally, would not even post a question about sawing off a barrel; that's a guaranteed attention-getter.

 

And why would getting attention make any difference? There is not anything illegal about cutting barrels on a shotgun as long as done to NFA specifications.

 

You could just let Larry show you how: it looks like it takes all of 5 minutes.


now, there are a lot finer ways to do it on an expensive gun.. but isn't that easy when you have the right tool?

 

stuff some steel wool down the gap, then fill with solder. Or JB weld,because that will work too.

 

just out of curiosity, I started looking into ideas on how to bubba this job on the cheap.

Amazon.com

set of adjustable reamers, eyeball it from the front. This will make a proper gunsmith shudder, but it's so crazy it just might work.
Modified = .402 inch = 10.16mm and 13/32 = .406"
all close enough!
$24.49

 

that is all you need to do that simple job. some guys like to make simple jobs into complicated nightmares that only the supremely gifted can do

 

A crappy no-name double will not sell well at any gun show -- cut off the barrel to legal specs and you will "double" your money!

 

Cutting a barrel is easy, facing the barrels a little harder but the difficult part is getting the bead in the correct spot, top dead center. On a double its not hard to measure the center of the rib, drill and tap but on a single barrel it takes some thought. Had to buy a magnetic right angle level to keep things true and level. I’ve used my mini mill on the last ones I’ve done. Thinking it was a 20 ga M1912 with a polychoke.

 

I have a tapered polished bars , very slight and made out of stainless. I turned them to tap in shotgun barrels remove dents. With todays soft barrel made from extruded tube, a slug might be pushed through a bore to wipe out choke. Never tried it.

 

Double posted

 

Most inexpensive 410 shotguns are choked full. Mostly because that's the most effective choice. For all-around use. A cylinder choke would be almost worthless. Past 15 yards.