Update: Progress made -- New project - "Tactical Ted" (Ted Williams pump gun

[Streetstar]

Excuse the random mess on the table

Picked up a Ted Williams 12 gauge yesterday - which is a plain wrap Winchester 1200. Homeliest wood i've ever seen and the fore end feels like clutching a contoured 2x4 --- buuuuuuuut -- the action on this thing is so smooth and fast you would think it was spring loaded

Thoughts are to lop and chop it into the configuration i want - (20" barrel camp gun to ride under the seat in my truck )
It would have been more prudent to hold out for a Defender model, but i saw the condition of this one and thought -- "Why not?"

Im second guessing myself now as shorter barrels cost as much as i paid for the gun -- so i am contemplating chopping it myself and drilling and tapping it for rifle sights or a ghost ring - and possibly swapping the furniture for a reduced LOP Hogue setup

If anybody has modified a shotgun barrel in this fashion - any tips or tricks? And how did you dress the muzzle end afterwards? - i'm assuming this mod will turn it into a complete open choke too --- goal would be to have a decent gun i dont mind taking out on a fishing boat' or even tuck behind the door of the bedroom for an HD gun

[jeepnik]

I have a Mossy 500 .410 I turned into the Perfect Jeep Gun by shortening the barrel and putting on a youth stock. I modified it for quick take down. The barrel was shortened and “crowned”. It’s cylinder bored.

Later I Did similar mods to a 20ga Franchi 48. This one was cut down by a smith and threaded for choke tubes. It’s now the Perfect Pickup Gun.

I’ve been very happy with them. I am planning one change. I intend to put red dots on both. This will require D&T’ing the receivers.

[Streetstar]

I have a Mossy 500 .410 I turned into the Perfect Jeep Gun by shortening the barrel and putting on a youth stock. I modified it for quick take down. The barrel was shortened and “crowned”. It’s cylinder bored.

Later I Did similar mods to a 20ga Franchi 48. This one was cut down by a smith and threaded for choke tubes. It’s now the Perfect Pickup Gun.

I’ve been very happy with them. I am planning one change. I intend to put red dots on both. This will require D&T’ing the receivers.

I may try to go the route you did with your Mossy -- purchase of a new barrel in the configuration i would prefer , along with updated furniture would put the cost of this mutt into the realm of a secondhand Mossberg 940 or even a Rem 1100 and the point of starting with a modest $200 Ted Williams was to save money --

since the original post, i have done some internet research on cutting down a barrel and dressing the muzzle end -- seems easy enough, although it is almost universally stated that i need to be very cognizant of the barrel taper when making my scribe lines for a cut, and being precise in locating the placement of the bead. The buttstock is also fairly simple, but dressing the recoil pad seems like the challenging part

[Sixgun]

I bought my first shotgun in 1967…paper route money $104….….a Winchester 1200..of course my dad had to buy it as I was only 13…..they are real good guns and I took a truck load of pheasants and squirrels with it,,,,.

You could always just cut it square at 18.5 and take off the burrs with fine sandpaper then touch it up with cold blue….a bright white bead would be nice…….ive done a few…believe it’s a 4-48 tap…………or you could pay someone to put in adjustable chokes…….personally, because of its value I’d just chop it and clean up the edges…itll do fine for 2 legged varmint hunting with #4 buckshot. No need to aim…lift and shoot.

A white bead would help for aesthetics and low light conditions,

You could cut the barrel with a tubing cutter or use that for scribing. …maybe darken the wood with leather dye.

On jobs like that I keep the cost low as in a couple of years it’s gonna look all beat up anyway.—-006

The recoil pad is also a no brainer…cut the stock where you want it and reinstall the pad……tape up the wood and sand down the pad on a belt sander until it’s equal with the tape….

[Ray Newman]

Six gun is onto it and has a very good ide of what should be done.

[GunnyMack]

I was given a beat and I mean beat Moss 500, 30" full choke. Since I was in gummsmiff school it became a project.
I cut the barrel to 26", installed choke tubes( both got me credit for grade). Then it was completely bead blasted, the receiver and trigger guard got moly coated, barrel blued( more credit). Then the wood got stripped and stained and refinished. ( yup more credit). The family I adopted needed a scattergun for their daughter. She was a very good shooter and that 500 became her pride and joy when I gave it to her.

Cut the barrel however you can, sawzall, hacksaw, tubing cutter as a last resort. Then hold it vertically in a vise and file to square up and finish by draw filing until flat and square.

[FLINT]

I had an old savage/stevens break action 12 ga that had a 30" barrel and had some damage to the choke/bore.

What I did was measure a bunch of times and mark all the way around the barrel and then wrapped tape around the barrel and then used that tape as a guide for my hacksaw and cut the barrel down to 20". I then just ran a flat file over it a few times and it turned out pretty good. If you don't want to try to drill and tap for the front bead, you can get a snap on front sight. I think I got one of these:

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1005827946?pid=711539

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1005831897?pid=849386

I think I put a little piece of double sided tape on mine to keep it from jumping around. The gun shot well.

Oh yeah, one warning/caution, if you are OCD. You probably won't have this issue (?), but when I shortened the barrel on that old savage, the "hole" in the barrel was not centered in the part of the barrel that I happened to cut it off at. It was kind of a surprise as I didn't expect that the 'bore' wouldn't be centered throughout the barrel, but it the case of this old savage it was definitely not. It was centered at the original end of the barrel, but not at 20". So a warning if you are OCD, that might bother you to have your bore not centered in your barrel. not sure how common that is.

[Streetstar]

I bought my first shotgun in 1967…paper route money $104….….a Winchester 1200..of course my dad had to buy it as I was only 13…..they are real good guns and I took a truck load of pheasants and squirrels with it,,,,.

You could always just cut it square at 18.5 and take off the burrs with fine sandpaper then touch it up with cold blue….a bright white bead would be nice…….ive done a few…believe it’s a 4-48 tap…………or you could pay someone to put in adjustable chokes…….personally, because of its value I’d just chop it and clean up the edges…itll do fine for 2 legged varmint hunting with #4 buckshot. No need to aim…lift and shoot.

A white bead would help for aesthetics and low light conditions,

You could cut the barrel with a tubing cutter or use that for scribing. …maybe darken the wood with leather dye.

On jobs like that I keep the cost low as in a couple of years it’s gonna look all beat up anyway.—-006

The recoil pad is also a no brainer…cut the stock where you want it and reinstall the pad……tape up the wood and sand down the pad on a belt sander until it’s equal with the tape….

Thanks Six -- great advice as usual !

[Streetstar]

Then hold it vertically in a vise and file to square up and finish by draw filing until flat and square.

i was worried about getting the cut square and this perfectly explains how to do it -- thank you

[Streetstar]

Couple of pics of the patient in better lighting -- the barrel says "Sears Roebuck and Co." - pretty cool --- i briefly thought that with the condition this is in, it would be a shame to chop it - then i came to my senses - it would be a shame not to

I topped it off and was surprised the mag tube held 4 rounds -- with the plus one, thats 5 (with 2 3/4" shells) --- i may not even have a need for the "tactical" mag extension dongle

@Flint 's suggestion of a snap on front sight would get it done quick and easy , - or could dress it out with a Cutt's Compensator if i can find one -- although i think installation of one of those would take some gunsmith intervention


 

[Sixgun]

Your welcome bro…I’m no where near the trained gunsmith Gunny is but I can do many no brainer jobs…..just be careful and go slow, your not at the Indianapolis Speedway. Don’t know what kind of tools you have but if the buttplate is curved a bandsaw makes it easy. If it’s straight a many multi tooth blade on a table saw will do the job….just tape the wood where your cutting or you’ll get splinters …NEW blade with lots of charm….

You could even do away with the recoil pad and add a hard rubber buttplate…..I’ve done a mess of them ……pick ‘em up for $5 at a gun show….same procedure,,,,

If you really want to get fancy look at the ATF website and get a minimum overall length for a shotgun then cut the buttstock in half. Then go buy yourself a suppressor like that whacko used in “No Country For Old Men”. You could go around whacking everything with no sound. After your done whacking empty cans, (or full ones) just sit back and marvel at your handiwork and have a beer….after a six pack you can come up with new ideas on things to whack the next day like I did…….I shot the alarm clock that used to go off every morning at 5 for 44 years……then I lined up some other things like my old Redwings, plant time clock card, pens and pencils, notepad, plant uniforms…anything pertaining to the job and shot em all…….——006 -2%

Your post was posted a second before mine was….the gun does look nice but in reality, the next owner will probably do what you’re intending to do…….IIRC, that gun has an aluminum receiver and pop out trigger guard…….i can never remember a failure to feed with my 1200 after a thousand or so rounds….even used it for trap….

[Grizz]

Then hold it vertically in a vise and file to square up and finish by draw filing until flat and square.

i was worried about getting the cut square and this perfectly explains how to do it -- thank you

another way to do that is with a hose clamp. the stainless one with screw drive. don't crimp the barrel [lol] but just snug makes a good cutting guide. works with tubing and pipe if you're hand cutting it . . .

[GunnyMack]

Another thing to consider with the 1200 ( or is it the 1400... or both ?) Is the plastic magazine throat pieces, gun parts has them listed as #s 31 and 33. They can get chipped and effect feeding. Just a thought as you are going to want 100% reliability for a defense gun.

As for filing the muzzle end, use a square! Make your cut, put in the vise and move the square along the barrel / across the muzzle. Find the high point and file. Repeat until is square then draw file and blue. Practice on the fall off to get a feel for it. You can do it!
In school, Bench Metal class our first project was to file each end of 1/4" drill rod to 6" +/- .050" flat and square. A few guys couldn't do it! Then we had put a blob of braze on one end . Then cut with a hacksaw a slot 2" down the length STRAIGHT! Presto- a polishing rod!!

[jeepnik]

Instead of cutting the stock, you might look for an aftermarket youth stock. That way should you ever decide you want a longer LOP you can just switch back. I made my buttstock "quick" detachable so it can be broken down and fit in a small space (Jeeps aren't known for storage).

[Streetstar]

Another thing to consider with the 1200 ( or is it the 1400... or both ?) Is the plastic magazine throat pieces, gun parts has them listed as #s 31 and 33. They can get chipped and effect feeding. Just a thought as you are going to want 100% reliability for a defense gun.

That would explain why 870's and Mossberg 590's are the darlings of the utility grade pump gun world and Winchester rarely gets a mention. A quick internet recon shows some disdain for the plastic magazine throat for sure - and yes, its a factor on all of them and reportedly worse on the newer SXP Magnum models - Admittedly the Ted Williams was an impulse buy when i asked a guy i was conducting another transaction with if he still had it

-- but internet forums being what they are -a few seem to think the 12/1300's are as bad as the widowmaker model 11, and plenty of others say they have thousands of rounds through them without issue

Some say that the feature that makes it so fast, - (how it unlocks the bolt) - is actually a design flaw but ive had an 870 police model for decades and it has never felt as smooth as the Winchesters -- and since i've bought 2 of the darn things within the past few months (the "boat gun" currently is another Win Defender series - also picked up fairly inexpensively ) - i need to put a few more rounds downrange with all of them to ensure there is no weakness

there is some backlash due to workmanship issues on newer 870's as well. I'd like to think the only thing i'll ever have to defend against is an errant water moccasin when im fishing - was at a lake last year when the darn things must have been in heat or something because they were attacking my boat when i was running a trotline and i had to repel them with the paddle - some birdshot would hopefully keep them from getting that close next time - as long as i don't inadvertently blow a hole in the bottom of the boat

[Streetstar]

Instead of cutting the stock, you might look for an aftermarket youth stock. That way should you ever decide you want a longer LOP you can just switch back. I made my buttstock "quick" detachable so it can be broken down and fit in a small space (Jeeps aren't known for storage).

Thats a nice looking setup ! I have a late model Tacoma with some storage behind the rear seat - since i can fit a Ruger takedown 10/22 back there now, id be willing to wager something like that would fit too !

[GunnyMack]

The 1200s are good guns as long as you understand the feeding could get wonky if the mag lips go bad. I've know a guy that shot a lot of deer with his , sold it to another friend who has shot lots more deer with it. I'd venture to guess the older guns had better mag lips than later ( cheaper ) guns.

As for 870s, I certainly wouldn't buy a 90s to current vintage, ill stick with my late 60/early 70s Wingmaster with 3 barrels, 30" full ported ( amazing buckshot patterns) 28" I put choke tubes in and 20" slug barrel. Only wish it was a 3" gun...

[765x53]

A $197.00 Walmart "Maverick" might start you off closer to what you want.

[Streetstar]

A $197.00 Walmart "Maverick" might start you off closer to what you want.

A Ruger American Rifle might be a viable alternative to a pre 64 Winchester Model 70 too for some

I’ve got a few pump guns already - just thought a project would be fun

[jeepnik]

Instead of cutting the stock, you might look for an aftermarket youth stock. That way should you ever decide you want a longer LOP you can just switch back. I made my buttstock "quick" detachable so it can be broken down and fit in a small space (Jeeps aren't known for storage).

Thats a nice looking setup ! I have a late model Tacoma with some storage behind the rear seat - since i can fit a Ruger takedown 10/22 back there now, id be willing to wager something like that would fit too !

Well now that you mention it, this does fit nicely behind the passenger side seat back on my Tacoma.

[Streetstar]

Done - for now

Will have to pattern it to see how she shoots at living room distance on out to 25 yards or so - then I’ll make the final decision on whether to bob the stock to a shorter LOP or not
Stuck with the factory wood but added some grip tape as the un-checkered wood felt a bit slippery

The barrel bob was surprisingly easy but required a lot of file work to make it square and I merely topped it off with a universal fiber optic sight for starters - it’s 19.5” as I wanted to leave a little wiggle room in case I completely pooched the cut -- went over it with progressively finer grit sandpaper to smooth out the file marks

Could not source a mag extender locally , but - it’s 5+1 as it sits and I don’t foresee myself breaching doors with the local swat team or anything , so I I think 5 or 6 rounds of 12 gauge with a handful nearby on the butt would solve a lot of perceived problems -- surprised me that 5 fit in the tube


Anything too much more exotic than this would take away from the spirit of the project, which was to turn an old bird gun into something handier and more functional for my needs for about the same price as a Maverick 88 or base model 870 Express

But was a fun way to spend a little bit of my Saturday. and I’ll keep updating the thread as improvements are made

-- if it wont shoot, i've already scoped out a few smooth bore barrels with rifle sights on ebay, -- but as mentioned - dont want to go that route unless absolutely necessary

[Bill in Oregon]

Looks pretty swell and very useful to me. Nice job!

[GunnyMack]

That will work fine!
Now you have the grip tape for a stencil- time to get out your soldering iron and stipple those areas.
What are your thoughts on ammo? Buckshot or fine shot? #4s or my preferred #2s would be swell at living room distances. Plus still have enough oomph farther away to handle just about anything without the dreaded over penetration of walls.

[Streetstar]

What are your thoughts on ammo? Buckshot or fine shot? #4s or my preferred #2s would be swell at living room distances. Plus still have enough oomph farther away to handle just about anything without the dreaded over penetration of walls.

Palmetto State was blowing out ‘00 for 2.99 for a 5 pack a while back, so at home it’ll have those in the tube, and slugs on the sidesaddle — I live in the middle of 15 acres so over penetration is not a factor

But I’ve got carbines and pistols for all that too, so I am guessing this will reside in my safe room —. In Oklahoma, (Texas too) we don’t have a lot of basements, but do have tornadoes, so most homes will either have a storm cellar somewhere or a safe room , which does the same thing but is above ground. And incorporated into the house footprint Mine is 6’ x10’ and made with 8” reinforced concrete and brick on the outside. The safe room shotgun theory would actually be to deter looters in the event that you are hit

But, being my little project Gun, I like it and will look for excuses to take it camping and fishing. Standard 7 or 8 birdshot should be fine snakecharmers

[GunnyMack]

Yeah 7¹/²s or 8s will work just fine for serpents!
I picked up a case of Winchester's military grade OO back during the Hildabeast running for president, shoots pretty good too !

[dekeshooter]

I recently turned a 30” Western Field (Noble) that I purchased for $100 into an 18.25” riot gun. I paid a local welding shop $20 to cut the barrel for me and then I shortened the butt stick by 3/4” and refit the recoil pad. I ordered a brass bead and the proper drill bit and tap online and installed it myself as well. With less that $150 invested, I have a very nice personal defense shotgun that throws a great pattern with #4 buckshot and puts deer slugs right on target at 50 yards.

[gamekeeper]

That's a really neat home defence shotgun.

[Streetstar]

I recently turned a 30” Western Field (Noble) that I purchased for $100 into an 18.25” riot gun. I paid a local welding shop $20 to cut the barrel for me and then I shortened the butt stick by 3/4” and refit the recoil pad. I ordered a brass bead and the proper drill bit and tap online and installed it myself as well. With less that $150 invested, I have a very nice personal defense shotgun that throws a great pattern with #4 buckshot and puts deer slugs right on target at 50 yards.

Sounds like great performance at the range

What method did you use to refit the pad?

[dekeshooter]

I recently turned a 30” Western Field (Noble) that I purchased for $100 into an 18.25” riot gun. I paid a local welding shop $20 to cut the barrel for me and then I shortened the butt stick by 3/4” and refit the recoil pad. I ordered a brass bead and the proper drill bit and tap online and installed it myself as well. With less that $150 invested, I have a very nice personal defense shotgun that throws a great pattern with #4 buckshot and puts deer slugs right on target at 50 yards.

Sounds like great performance at the range

What method did you use to refit the pad?

After cutting the stock I centered and remounted the recoil pad and scribed a line around the stock on it. I then removed the pad and sanded to the line using a belt sander that I clamped into a bench vise. As I worked[/img] closer the the line I would remount the pad and check my progress until I was as close as I wanted. The pad had been very poorly fit by the previous owner and thankfully what I did yielded a much better, but by no means perfect, fit than before. For the money I have invested, I have no complaints.