My H&R project. Any advice

[centralclb]

Ive been a huge fan of H&Rs since i was little kid (about 20 years now). My first rabbit gun was an H&R 410, First slug gun was a heavy 12 Gauge H&R, and the first turkey I ever shot was with a @0 gauge NWTF H&R. Not sure how I just found this forum, but it is what it is.


Im in the midst of a fun little "truck gun" project now, which I thought was unique to myself until I came here haha. But I wanted to list out what I have planned and wanted some advice on anything you feel I should know about the process:


I bought a "new" 1984 12 gauge topper at an auction for $80.

• I want to cut the barrel to 18.25" (what is the best way to do this? no lathe)
• How much can I expect to pay to have the barrel threaded for choke tubes?
• Id like to put rifle sights on it, but if theyre expensive, ill just stick with a simple fiber optic bead. Any opinions?
• Im chopping the stock down and adding a grind to fit limbsaver pad (or pachmayer or kick-eez?)
• refinishing the furniture to a blonde finish
• painting the receiver and barrel to matte black
• I want to add a sling (stud into the forearm or barrel band? where do I find the correct barrel band?)
• Depending  on how the stock finish comes out, i may want to add a shell holder. opinions?

[scratchmark]

not sure about the other things , but I built a ghost ring sight for the rear of my barrel and used gorilla brand 3500lb epoxy to mount it. ive got two shotguns where this epoxy has been used and appears to be incredible. I shoot 3in slugs outta one and 3 1/2 in turkey loads out of the other.

[Ranger99]

i cut the last one with a pipe
cutter, but if you want it to
be "pretty" ( and it sounds like
you do) a better job can be done
with a lathe. if you're having tubes
installed, why not let the smith
chop it while he's there? it can't
be much more than just tubes.
opinions vary on slings and shell
holders.


i'm in the midst of a refinish on one of my
toppers that was debated on by myself
all this last season. refinish or krylon?
refinish won out because the stock was
so well fitted from the factory, but after
stripping the old finish i found the forearm
to be mildly checked with cracks. it's
almost done, but i don't know if i wouldn't
have been better off to spray it and be done
since this gun will be in the bush and sand
and i'll be more hesitant to put it in harm's
way with the nice refinish job. i can't however,
make myself spray over that lovely color
casehardening.


good luck with it


and welcome to h&r central

[YRUpunting?]

Tubes used to run about $70-80 in my area, but that was before the crazy.  If your going to have tubes installed have the the smith cut it.  Most smiths I've encountered want to work from their cuts.

My opinion I'd rethink 18.25".  20-22" would be more user friendly.  18.25" is going to be nasty on muzzle blast and report. 

[cwlongshot]

WELCOME!!!!

As long as you understand if your gonna pay someone to do these things, you will have three to four times the price you paid invested in the project...

If you handi, (pun intended ) you can do most of these things yourself as many of us have. (Search ''shorties'') I'll answer in italics inside your post I quoted below.

CW

Ive been a huge fan of H&Rs since i was little kid (about 20 years now). My first rabbit gun was an H&R 410, First slug gun was a heavy 12 Gauge H&R, and the first turkey I ever shot was with a @0 gauge NWTF H&R. Not sure how I just found this forum, but it is what it is.


Im in the midst of a fun little "truck gun" project now, which I thought was unique to myself until I came here haha. But I wanted to list out what I have planned and wanted some advice on anything you feel I should know about the process:


I bought a "new" 1984 12 gauge topper at an auction for $80.

• I want to cut the barrel to 18.25" (what is the best way to do this? no lathe) Careful cut with hack saw and square with a file.
• How much can I expect to pay to have the barrel threaded for choke tubes? I had a Remington 870 Barrel done about 20 years ago for 75$. Today it would be more THEN you need to buy the tubes.
• Id like to put rifle sights on it, but if they're expensive, I'll just stick with a simple fiber optic bead. Any opinions? Watch eBay for good used sites. I have used Williams Peeps and Contender fronts on more than a few shorties.
• I'm chopping the stock down and adding a grind to fit limbsaver pad (or pachmayer or kick-eez?) All are good choices, I have at least one of each. I have more Limb Savers.
• refinishing the furniture to a blonde finish Easy to do your self, as most stocks have darker stain on them. Stripping it leaves nearly a blond color on most of them.
• painting the receiver and barrel to matte black.Again, pretty easy. I suggest you use a firearms finish avalible at Brownells and baked on in a small counter top ''toaster oven''.
• I want to add a sling (stud into the forearm or barrel band? where do I find the correct barrel band?) Midway, Midsouth, Brownells all will have studs and barrel bands. Maybe even eBay too.
• Depending  on how the stock finish comes out, i may want to add a shell holder. opinions? Most use a butt cuff with 6 or so rounds. But any from one of the pump guns could be modified to work too.

Good luck,
 CW

[tacklebury]

I just picked up a set of Remington metal sights with a white dot front and adjustable ramp rear for $15 bucks on a board like this one.  If you check ebay you used to be able to find some for cheap there.  I just bought a new set of fiberoptic sights from Dunhams for $44 that would work great epoxied onto your barrel. 
 
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/144540/truglo-muzzle-bright-xtreme-muzzleloader-universal-sight-set-fiber-optic-red-standard-front-interchangeable-green-ghost-ring-and-notched-rear
 

[Airsporter]

Look up Mike Orlen.  Join the Shotgun World forum and get dealer pricing.

[bluecow]

i was given a knock off of the win. m37 in vary bad shape.  cleaned it up and used leftover high temp engine paint.  10 years ago.  vary good option.

[trotterlg]

O' No! God help us, glue and paint on the same gun, neither glue or paint have any place on a firearm.  I just cut the barrel and put a choak tube in a 20 gauge.  If you use the right tubes it is easily done on a lathe.  The tubes for a Benelli are threaded at the front which makes threading them easy.  Only thing is they are square threads so you need to make a tool to cut them right.  I think people are right about the length, I cut mine to 20 inches and it worked out good.  Also, I got my tubes on Ebay for $6.00 each and the Benelli tubes are threaded 28tpi.   Larry

[jpshaw]

Tubes used to run about $70-80 in my area, but that was before the crazy.

Is that for the tubes, and if so how many or is that for threading the barrel?

[HWB13]

It can be on the pricey side but if you use Duracoat on the finish you will never have a finish problem.  This stuff will probally out last the gun.  Do follow the cure time. 3-4 weeks for hard use, but it continues to get harder for life.  It is a pain if you ever want to change.  Have used it on my 15 year olds shotgun, she had to have a pink gun, used on my green hornet, and used the matte clear coat on 3 club gun and my old H&R 20, metal only, the finish was more than I expected.  I know this isn't in this project but stay way from their Duralazer line was not happy with the results.