Buliding new slug gun

[Barrycuda]

I have an older Browning BPS Stalker I would like to make into a dedicated slug gun. I would like some recommendations on barrels & gunsmiths. I see barrels by Hastings, Badger and Shaw. I would like to have a scope mounted directly to the receiver and the barrel pinned. I guess I could have the cantilever cut off unless someone makes a barrel without the cantilever and sights. What rate of twist and barrel length should I be looking at? Thanks, Barry

[Graybeard]

I don't think pinning the barrel is a wise idea. That barrel really will need to come off from time to time and you really don't wanna be knocking out a pin each time it needs to be removed. I also don't think it's necessary or that it will really add any appreciable accuracy to the gun.

I once had the receiver of my Remington 870 D&T and mounted a scope there for a fully rifled barrel. I had no trouble at all keeping 100 yard groups well under 2" with Remington Copper sabot ammo. It was more than accurate enough for any sane distance such ammo is useable to. I suspect your Browning would be also with a good fully rifled barrel without the pinned barrel you plan. You really can't think of a slug shotgun in quite the same terms as you do a rifle even tho the barrel is rifled.

[JimFromTN]

I had the barrel on my 870 pinned and it works great.  You can have it pinned with a hex head machine screw that can be removed.  I would not recommend removing it allot because you will end up having to loctite it to keep it in which some people do anyhow.  I don't know any gunsmiths in your area but Da-Mar gunsmiths  in NY specialize in it.  They will order you a custom fit barrel and pin it for you.   They can also install a scope mount as well.  They can pretty much do anything and thier prices are very reasonable.

[kawie]

i have a question ,alot of these guns come with the cant. mount.couldnt the cant. mount be drilled so that it would screw into the reciever that way u would have a solid mout from barrel to reciever that would be the same everytime.if you have reciever driiled then every time u take barrel off point of impact shifts,but if the cant. mount was bolted to reciever it would be the same every time.just a thought thanks

[deernhog]

I would buy the barrel test fire enough rounds thru the gun to make sure it groups to your satisfaction. Mount the scope and fire to see what the grouping is. If you could  get 2" - 2 1/2" like Greybeard did at 100 yards you have a winner in your hands already. Gunsmiths are getting harder to find and the prices are going up. Unless I can hand deliver one to a smith I usually won't mail it. Like putting one of the kids on a Greyhound sending them cross country.

[SHOOTALL]

if you are going to tap the reciver for scope , why not buy a rifled tube for your bbl ? if it is not tapped or to long its an easy job to cut it and thread it . I have a rem. with a rifled tube that shoots better than a rifled bbl i "had " . you never know !

[JimFromTN]

The cant hovers above the barrel so I don't think it would be possible to put the pin thru it.  You can remove a pinned barrel and put it back and not loose POI.  If its a dedicated slug gun with a pinned barrel that will never be used for anything else, you are better off having the receiver drilled and tapped.

deernhog and Geybeard are correct in that you should try the barrel out before pinning it.  Every gun is different even when they are the same make and model.  Pinning the barrel removes the slop between the barrel and the receiver.  The barrels are mass manufactured as are the shotguns.  You may get lucky and get a fairly tight fit.  Some people shim the barrels.  Basically, they take a shim of some type and tap it in between the barrel and the reciever.  Some people take tape and wrap it around the barrel before inserting it into the receiver.  I have heard that both of these methods are effective.  It could be one way to test to determine whether pinning the barrel will help.  I had my 870 pinned with a hex head machine screw because I will rarely if ever remove it.  I absolutely love the results.  The first time I shot hastings slugs thru it, I had to change targets after 3 shoots because I could no longer tell were the slug was hitting.  It just kept going thru the same big hole made by the other slugs.

[Barrycuda]

Thanks guys for the replies. What barrel should I be looking at? Hastings, Badger or other. Thanks again, Barry

[JimFromTN]

Hastings is a very well made barrel with a 1:34 rate of twist which is very accurate with the slower slugs.  Mine seems to do best with slugs in the 1500 fps range.  The badger has a faster rate of twist (1:26) and can stabilize the faster slugs better which means they are more accurate out to greater distances.  Tarhunt uses E. R. Shaw barrels which are a 1:28 rate of twist.  They are all top quality barrels.