Stock Reduction

[Mrserenity]

Hi, I have a youth model Topper Jr.   I was thinking about reducing the lenght of the stock.  Cutting about 2 inches away for the butt.  My arms are short and i'm thinking reducing the length would be a better fit for me.  I was also thinking about reducing the barrel to 18 1/2 inches.  Would these alterations affect the gun's performance?  Also I do trap shooting with the gun from time to time.  The requirements is atleast a 23 inch barrel.  I have been able to get away with the 22 inch barrel that comes with it. Do you think that there are some trap and skeet places that would still allow trap shooting with a 18 1/2 inch barrel?  Or does anyone has a suggestion where a person can shoot a shotgun with a 18 1/2 inch barrel?

[quickdtoo]

Shortening the barrel will remove the choke, that will definitely affect the pattern!! You'd have to have a choke tube installed if there's enough barrel wall thickness, to get back to the same effectiveness.

Tim

[LEO]

I had my  22 inch 12 gauge barrel cut to 18.5 inches and threaded for choke tubes.  The barrel shoots great, I couldn't be happier with the results, it was money well spent.  the 3.5 inches off the barrel makes the gun a lot eaier to get around through the thick stuff which kind of surprised me that it would make as much of a difference as it has.  As far as the stocks go, I left them alone because the full size fit me correctly and the youth is just too short for me.  I don't know about the formal rules for trap and skeet but for fun around here they will let you shoot whatever you want as long as it is safe and you are safe.  The rules might be different for league shoots I have never really had any intrest in entering any of the regular shoots with my single shot, my 1100 is just so much easier to shoot for the longer strings of fire.  Although my single shot gets a lot more field time because it is so much easier to carry and you only shoot a few times a day.

[Mrserenity]

Shortening the barrel will remove the choke, that will definitely affect the pattern!! You'd have to have a choke tube installed if there's enough barrel wall thickness, to get back to the same effectiveness.

Tim

Hi, for the distance of your home.  I guess 15 to 25 feet, will there be a huge amount of difference in the shot pattern and the effectiveness?

[quickdtoo]

If this is for a home protection firearm, a single shot certainly wouldn't be my first choice, but the pattern would be effective for that with no choke.

 A long, long time ago, a friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, walnuted the barrel of his duck hunting gun, so he cut the barrel off to 18" and went hunting, he snuck up on a puddle of ducks that were just over a dike, jumped up and flock shot them and got about 50 cripples, he and his bewildered partner(not me!) ended up chasing down ducks for the next 30 minutes or so. Needless to say, the partner never hunted with him again, if they'd been caught with all those ducks, they'd still be in jail!!

Tim