Topper 20ga barrel swap

[LaDano]

I have a topper 20ga for my son. He's 9 and a big kid, nearly 5' and 110lb. What would be a good barrel swap for deer and maybe the occasional hog.

Thanx

[casca1]

I would forget about the swap on an older topper, do him a favor buy him a 243-7mm08 -308
H&R or handi .
with very little effort he can have a rifle that will last a life time.
 
If you must swap the only safe route is a 357 or 44 mag barrel.
I think most will agree with my advice
 
Good luck ( I got a runt 10yr. he loves the hornet.)
casca

[Spanky]

Your choices are pretty limited with that frame. A 357, 44 mag or 45 colt would be fine on the shotgun frame and all 3 of them will take deer or hog just fine.
 
 
 
Spanky

[LaDano]

I know 1st hand what the 44 will do. How is the 357/357max compared to it? Distance, knockdown and recoil. I've seen a few of these barrels for sell here.

Thanx

[petemi]

For where I am and what I do, I prefer the Maxi.  I have both the .45 Colt and the .44 Mag. (mine's reamed to .445).  The Maxi offers a longer range and a wider choice of bullets.  Add to that the ability to shoot .38s, mags and maxis and it's a winner.  To me, a hot loaded maxi with 158 or 180 gr. bullets feels about the same as either the Colt or the .44.  I use 3 bullets in the Maxi.  The Hornady 158 gr, XTP HP for critters smaller than deer, the XTP FP for deer. and the Hornady 180 gr. SSP for longer shots at anything.  Both our Handi Maxis like their food spicy.  We get the best performance out of hotter loads, and it kills efficiently.

I load the .357 mags for my Blackhawk and use the same in my Handi.  I load the .38s to +P with the 158 HP for coons, chucks, etc. and lighter with copper plated cast bullets for jug popping.

I might add that I have all my pistol caliber Handis on SB2 frames.  Except for the .445, it's not required, but I do it to avoid someone making a catastrophic barrel swap down the line somewhere.

Pete

[LaDano]

Thanx, I think I'll just pick up another complete SB2. Cabellas had them used last time I was there starting around$225. That's the good thing about La, I live 2 miles from Bass Pro and maybe 20 miles from Cabellas.

[cwlongshot]

I have another idea...

 Modern slugs have made leaps and bounds in preformance... How about drilling and tapping your barrel and adding a scope. Then try shooting what you have?

While you do have some choices for your shotgun frame, what you will find is problems with primer flow with the big shotgun pin you have.

CW

[LaDano]

Thanx, I'm just going to leave it as is. I stopped by Cabellas today and all try had was 35 Whelen.