I have a Marlin 55GDL Goose Gun, had a gunsmith shorten the barrel, asked for 26", he cut on the wrong side of his line, she turned out 25 & 3/4". He felt so bad about it he offered to not charge me or replace the barrel, I paid him for his work anyway, it turned out that he balanced the gun perfectly through his "mistake". Patterns modified, made a damn gun Grouse & Snowshoe Hare gun, though a bit on the heavy side.