20 Ga. 3 1/2" rechamber question

[Francis]

I presently own 2 USH in 12 Ga. I use Hasting Laser Accurate 3" shells. With this said, I have had such ridiculous accuracy with my 12 Ga's, that I want to get the 20 Ga. USH and have it rechambered to use the 3.5" slugs from Hastings. Has anyone had this done, and if so, what is your opinion? Thanks.

[PHATINJUN]

I have not had it done yet but will be sending my bbl in in Jan. I talked with them on the phone and it sounds good  but then they should be able to make it sound good for the sale . I don't think it will hurt things to bad if it don't work like they say. supposed to still be able to shoot all the other shells with it. Kurt

[Francis]

I had the chance to speak to the head slug Guru a year or 2 back. His indepth knowledge of his work was amazing. The slugs lived up to every expectation I could have had. Add to it the fact that he uses the 12 ga USH as his test bed, and I am really hoping for a repeat performance with the 20 Ga.

[d_hiker]

Kurt, the usual question    Where are you sending it and how much is the re-chamber?  I had asked Fred at 4-d products (reamer rentals and GBO sponsor) about what would be needed to do the job.  He doesn't have a reamer to take the 20 ga to 3 1/2", he said depending on the barrel you might have to also re-do the forcing cone.

[Cookiemann]

I don't know that much about this stuff of rechambering, but would a rifled slug barrel have a forcing cone?? 

cookiemann

[d_hiker]

I just looked in the chamber of my 20ga USH.  I ran a probe in the chamber and did not feel a shoulder but it appears and feels like there is a slight taper to where the rifling begins.  Maybe a chamber reamer would take care of this.  Fred also said that with larger diameter chambers that you might get chatter with the reamer and he recommended a gunsmith do the rechambering.

[Busta]

I don't know that much about this stuff of rechambering, but would a rifled slug barrel have a forcing cone?? 

cookiemann

Yes. Every one I have ever seen does.

[PHATINJUN]

Doug sorry about the missed post I am going to send it to Hastings and they have someone contracted to do the rechambering little over $100 if I remember right. I asked if this was something another or any gunsmith could do they said no but I kind of expected that I guess you got to have the reamer and they might be the only ones with one as of now but I would expect others to get or make them before long . I will look around more after the season and see if anybody else can do it cheaper by then. Kurt

[MSP Ret]

The other option is to save the $100 +/- for the rechamber and the extra money you would spend for the 3 1/2" Magnum 20 gauge slugs and use  2 3/4" or 3" 20 gauge slugs. I doubt if the deer would know the difference, and they would be just as tasty....<>....

[PHATINJUN]

The other option is to save the $100 +/- for the rechamber and the extra money you would spend for the 3 1/2" Magnum 20 gauge slugs and use  2 3/4" or 3" 20 gauge slugs. I doubt if the deer would know the difference, and they would be just as tasty....<>....

Yea but then you would still just have a plain old 20gauge not the some what unique 3 1/2 inch 20 gauge. Kind of like having a 223 bull fluted Handi and not turning it into a 225winchester or a 357 and not making it into a max. Kurt

[Spanky]

This is probably a silly question but what exactly is the "forcing cone"??

Spanky

[d_hiker]

From my limited knowledge, I picture it as a kind of funnel that aligns the bullet/slug or shot from the chamber to the bore.  It is most noticeable on a revolver, at least on the few that I have seen.  Look at the chamber end of the barrel in front of the cylinder and you'll see the forcing cone.  With a revolver there is the jump that the bullet must make from the cylinder to the barrel.  On shotgun barrels the forcing cone compresses the shot as it moves down the barrel.  A short or abrupt forcing cone in a shot gun barrel can deform the shot and make for poor patterns.  Most of this has been regurgitated from a couple of gunsmith websites which offered to lengthen the forcing cone to improve patterns.

[Spanky]

That makes sense.

Thanks!!


Spanky