Shotgun Question

[Badot]

For those of you who are into shotguns, as I've never touched one before but a friend and I have been wanting to get into hunting:

I picked up an old Stevens 520 for dirt cheap and I have a question about the functionality of the action bar... I wasn't able to get my hands on snap caps to play with it. With the magazine and chamber both empty after releasing the firing pin, I still have to hit the action bar to rack the pump back. Is this normal? My concern is that the action bar is locking up regardless and that when I do actually load it I'll have to operate it every shot.

Basically I'd like to know if I need to look for a problem while I tear it down to clean/inspect it before shooting it.

 

[ML-TOYS]

Some good advice, take it to a gun shop to make sure its ALL good

 

[Holybeen]

Should work fine with rounds in it. Mine does the same thing if its empty

 

[Badot]

Some good advice, take it to a gun shop to make sure its ALL good

I'm perfectly capable of inspecting the integrity/tolerances of the important bits, I'm more wondering what I'm looking for with regards to the functionality of that specific part

Should work fine with rounds in it. Mine does the same thing if its empty

Cool, thanks!

 

[griff7373]

I have to hold the button on my benelli if it's not loaded to work the pump action so it sounds normal to me.

 

[Badot]

Went ahead and tore into it, everything looks great mechanically! One small crack on a shoulder of the stock, and one small crack on the pump handle, nothing bad... it is a 100 year old gun after all. Insides are all cleaned up and I'm working on refinishing the outside one piece at a time. The second picture is to show the difference in color... the receiver is cleaned up and the trigger group, barrel, and tube are not. Big difference!

Also, I love the takedown mechanism and am tempted to cut the barrel down so the two pieces are roughly equal in length (22" total barrel) -- any thoughts?

 

[Denny]

Go ahead and cut down that barrel and post pictures on the world wide web and see how long it takes the A.T.F. to come knocking at your door. (Unless you want to get your bunghole stretched out in federal prison.) To retain it's maximum value do not do anything to the gun especially refinish the stock!
It sounds like it is cycling as it should. Clean and oil only, Don't even polish anything.

Denny

 

[landuse]

Go ahead and cut down that barrel and post pictures on the world wide web and see how long it takes the A.T.F. to come knocking at your door. (Unless you want to get your bunghole stretched out in federal prison.) To retain it's maximum value do not do anything to the gun especially refinish the stock!
It sounds like it is cycling as it should. Clean and oil only, Don't even polish anything.

Denny

I totally agree with the comments on cutting the barrel. That would be a bad move

Also, do not refinish the stock like Denny says. The value of the gun would plummet

 

[Holybeen]

If you plan on hunting with it like you said then cutting.that barrel is a mistake. You will lose your pattern making it pretty much useless at any normal hunting distance. I wouldnt wouldnt shoot at any animale with it. The object is to kill game instantly as to be as humane as possible. This is also why your load should match what you are hunting.

 

[supermanotorious]

If your barrel is still 22" I think you'll be fine. I'm not sure what the ATF classifies as too short but my M500 came with an 18" barrel. Now it still boils down to what you're intending to use the gun for. Trap or bird hunting- then you'll like the longer barrel.

 

[Badot]

If your barrel is still 22" I think you'll be fine. I'm not sure what the ATF classifies as too short but my M500 came with an 18" barrel. Now it still boils down to what you're intending to use the gun for. Trap or bird hunting- then you'll like the longer barrel.

Yeah, 18" is the federal barrel minimum, 26" OAL. not sure where these other guys are getting their information.

It's just an improved choke since I wanted to not have to worry about shooting slugs (can't hunt with centerfire rifles here for some reason) so it likely won't pattern tight enough for birds even before cutting down. But the woods here are tight and brushy anyways so long range shots would be incredibly rare. And I have my rimfires if I want to go after the little critters. Regardless, I'm trying it out before doing any real mods.

As far as the value of the gun? Meh. This is a gun for me, not someone else.

 

[supermanotorious]

If you just want to experiment a little with a "shotgun" check out slam-fire shotguns on YouTube, totally fascinating to this guy.....

 

[Badot]

Do you mean the pipe shotguns?

When I hear slam fire shotgun I think about a pump action with no trigger disconnect. But apparently the pipe guns are getting pretty popular now.

Either way, the 12 gauges are pretty sketchy. The fit with commercial pipe is horrid (terrible seal/power) and the walls are generally too thin to hold SAAMI rated pressure and only saved by the loose fit. Long story short... only off-shelf setup I'd trust like that would be a 16ga in a 3/4"sch80... seamless, of course. EDIT: Even then the ID of pipes is so inconsistent it may still not be safe.

Heck, I think up until about 2010 shotguns manufactured with no buttstock which were over 26"OAL weren't even legally considered firearms. I still have no idea why they don't fall into the destructive device category... likely because they use shotshells but the wording is bad in the US Code.

 

[B.M.800]

I was under the impression that because that the pressure is lower in a pipe shotgun because of the oversize "chamber"? Keeps em from bursting.

 

[Badot]

Yep. That's the idea at least. But in the event of a barrel obstruction, you can get the entire back end exploding into shrapnel.

When the chamber can still contain adequate pressure, the energy is always directed forward -- the gun would likely still be destroyed, and your forward hand/arm may get messed up, but the person shooting it would still be infinitely safer as the energy moving forward also means the pieces of the gun tend to go forward and not into the vitals of the shooter.

 

[B.M.800]

Barrel obstruction bad news no matter what. In the event of such happenings, where it has the likelihood to blow up. depends too on how it is made, Ive seen a number of homemade guns, some that look like a $20 hardware store, or scrap pile special, and some that actually look quite robust and well made.

{Edit} Well that doesn't really make much sense... does it? ha.

At any rate, Id have no issue building a shotgun using a pipe barrel. Not a hardware store/scrap pile special, parts made with a hammer and a big rock, tied together with wire and duct tape.

It is perfectly legal I might add to build a firearm for ones self. As long as you abide be certain rules and guidelines, barrel length of 18in, overall length of I think 26in and whatnot.