Finally finished my short 20 gauge!

[jpshaw]

Don't know if I can call it a shorty since it's just a restocked youth 20 gauge with the normal 22" barrel on it.  I was happy with this youth length since even with an adult stock on it it's only 37.5" long, the same as a Winchester 94 carbine, but a good pound and a half lighter.  Bought it at a Pawn shop last year and actually finished with it during the season but didn't like it.  I replaced the youth stocks with adult and started whittling in it.  Cut the pistol grip off and started in with a flat power sander.  When I finished in December the under side of the straight "English" stock looked like a pregnant guppy.  Way too much curve in it for me.  Now that the season is over I had to wait for tax season to end since after I retired I do taxes during that time of year.
 
This time I wanted no flat spots on it.  Remington's and Brownings rarely have flat spots which are a sign of sawn lumber without shaping it afterwards.  When I was done the only flat area is where the butt plate fits.  I even rounded the two flat spots on the sides of the forearm where it attaches to the plastic spacer.  You can see the end of the forearm is rounded too.
 

 
Pardner wooden stocks are notorious for being boxy and thick and I wanted rounded and trim.  I like it a lot better now.
 

 
Here is the whole mess finished.
 

[tacklebury]

Nice.  should be a great little carry gun for rabbits and such. 

[cgoff]

awesome job, wish I had the patience and the eye to do that kind of modifications

[jpshaw]

Actually, unless you need to alter the grip area in front of the comb a straight stock is fairly easy.  The only inside corner is in front of the comb.  Simply saw off the pistol grip being carefull not to cut too high.  Then using 60 grit sand paper in a flat power sander shape it the way you like it.  Finish with increasingly finer grit.  Stain and slap on some Linseed oil.  I love the straight "English" style stocks on my shotguns.  My 28" 12 gauge is my favorite though.  The 20 is going to be my carry in the woods gun.

[Doublebass73]

Nice work jp! The grain looks excellent. The 22" length is about as short as I'd want to go anyway, anything shorter gets too loud and the recoil gets worse. I like the rounded off look, too. That should make for a perfect woods gun.

[jpshaw]

Oh, I'm very pleased with my little 20 gauge after my second time of shaping and it will be carried a lot in the woods.  However, when competition gets real serious with my son on the first day of squirrel season I will be carrying this old veteran.



The wood has more blemeshes then a hormone pumped teenager but I think it gives it character.  Yep it's been shaped to straight too.  It's a 12 gauge 28" (27.5) mod barrel.

[upnut]

Very nice! With the stock set up just as you like it and the perfect all around barrel length ( I think... ) that little 20 gauge may become your favorite! Enjoy!
 
Scott B.
p.s. Is that a modified or full choke?

[jpshaw]

p.s. Is that a modified or full choke?

both are modified.

[TxGun]

Looks great. Nice work!

[Doublebass73]

That's a mighty fine 12, it looks perfect.

[jpshaw]

Just to let you know I keep up with weights and measures on my Pardners.  After the first shaping it weighed just over 83 oz's.  Now it weighs 80.8 oz.  That's 5 Lbs and 4/5 oz and it might loose that 4/5 oz when all that Linseed oil dries some.  This thing is light.  Good thing that's a wooden stock.  I hear the polymer ones are even lighter.  However, my 12 gauge is only 5 Lbs 6 1/2 oz itself.  That's why my shell of choice is 1 oz of 6's and you can forget that 3 inch chamber on either one of them.
 
BTW Doublebass I think that 12 is perfect.  If I traded the stocks with the 20 is definitly would be.

[Doublebass73]

Those are some nice weights. My 16 weighs in at 5 lbs. 11 oz. The best (and worst) things about these shotguns is the weight. You just have to stick with the lighter loads. 1 oz. is just right for these.

My son's 16 is even lighter with the plastic stocks. He's a little recoil shy so I bought some 2 1/2" RST 3/4 oz loads. They are very pleasant to shoot and pattern surprisingly well. They also make 2 1/2" 3/4 oz. loads for 12 and 20. I highly recommend them if you've never tried them.

[jpshaw]

Plan on getting a lee Load-All sometime to make some 3/4 oz (28 gauge level) loads.  Should be great for doves and would work for squirrel and rabbits too.  I have a few 1 1/8 oz loads for the 12 I got on sale but for the most part we use 1 oz for both the 20 and the 12.  My son stills hunts with a Remington 870 Special Field 20 gauge.  Yea, the one with the straight stock on it.  In fact the only shotgun we have without a straight stock is this old Stevens .410 that I refuse to cut since it has a Walnut stock on it.
 

[Doublebass73]

That's a cool Stevens, I have one like that in 16 gauge. It's a pre 1968 94C with a full choke. I actually went head to head with the same loads against my Mod choke H&R and the H&R patterns better with every load that I've tried. How much does that 410 weigh?

I have a Load-All and have loaded a bunch of 1 oz loads with it. I plan on loading some 3/4 oz. loads once I can find some more powder, I need Unique or Promo for the data and components that I have.

[jpshaw]

How much does that 410 weigh?

88.2 oz so that's 5 Lbs 8.2 oz.  It has that "shaping" around the chamber area to reduce weight some.  I believe it is circa 1950 or late '40s. 

[Doublebass73]

How much does that 410 weigh?

88.2 oz so that's 5 Lbs 8.2 oz.  It has that "shaping" around the chamber area to reduce weight some.  I believe it is circa 1950 or late '40s.

That's pretty good, about the same as what my Stevens 16 gauge weighs. I wouldn't mind running across one of those in 410.

[jpshaw]

I wouldn't mind running across one of those in 410.

Stick with the 16.  Those .410 shells are high.  My son used to hunt with that thing until we found it cheaper to shoot the 20 or 12.

[Doublebass73]

I wouldn't mind running across one of those in 410.

Stick with the 16.  Those .410 shells are high.  My son used to hunt with that thing until we found it cheaper to shoot the 20 or 12.

I like the 16 the best but around here 16 and 410 shells are about the same price. The 16 is obviously head and shoulders above the 410 performance wise so that's good enough reason for me. My son does have a 410 barrel for his gun also. It's a 22". He's 10 and can't handle the recoil of 16 gauge slugs yet so he wants to keep the 410 just for slug shooting.

[stewmagoo]

Just to let you know I keep up with weights and measures on my Pardners.  After the first shaping it weighed just over 83 oz's.  Now it weighs 80.8 oz.  That's 5 Lbs and 4/5 oz and it might loose that 4/5 oz when all that Linseed oil dries some.  This thing is light.  Good thing that's a wooden stock.  I hear the polymer ones are even lighter.  However, my 12 gauge is only 5 Lbs 6 1/2 oz itself.  That's why my shell of choice is 1 oz of 6's and you can forget that 3 inch chamber on either one of them.
 
BTW Doublebass I think that 12 is perfect.  If I traded the stocks with the 20 is definitly would be.

jp, I have the same youth 20 with the 22'' barrel on it.  I too added the adult stock and forearm, but in the synthetic versions.  Very very light.  Had it for sale on here and no real bites on it... Thank goodness because I am keeping it.  Well both of them. I have one with the youth furniture on it too.  Haven't shot it yet.  Really curious how it will shoot, any favorites out of yours?  I just picked up some 2 3/4'' no. 3 buckshots for it, plus a box of no. 6's for it.   A lot of ppl snub the modified barrel in it, but I hear its very effective.  I will weight mine at some point for you.
Stew

[foxchase]

Good job JP.
I've got an old H&R 158 with a snap on forend that I plan to add length to the stock then modify it to straight. Hope it comes out as good as yours.

[jpshaw]

My favorite load for the 20 would be 7/8 oz of 6's but can find 6's only in 1 oz.  7 1/2 and 8's tend to come in 7/8 oz though Stew.


If I was going to add length to mine foxchase I would put a pad on it.

[foxchase]

My favorite load for the 20 would be 7/8 oz of 6's but can find 6's only in 1 oz.  7 1/2 and 8's tend to come in 7/8 oz though Stew.


If I was going to add length to mine foxchase I would put a pad on it.

It has a 13-3/4"LOP and a H&R hard red rubber pad. I want a 15" LOP so I will add a 3/4" black walnut spacer and a new pad. This is a gun from the early 70s and is very light. A good prospect for a straight stock.

[jpshaw]

 If you do cut it to straight fox, work with the butt plate or pad (if it's sandable) on it.  Butt plates rarely actually fit the stock but if you sand them both together they will fit perfect.  While shaping the sander will take some of the butt plate plastic and stain the stock.  Don't worry about it since it can be removed after you start working with finer grit later on by sanding around the stock once near the plate.  The wood will be almost pure white with the finish removed, but I just use 2 coats of dark walnut stain before finishing with Linseed oil.