Shrinking Shotgun

[mgood]

A bird gun collecting rust in the closet, a hacksaw, and a little free time is a dangerous combination.

I've been threatening to do this for years. Finally got around to it.

Still needs a front sight (but since this is a home defense gun and the longest shot possible inside my apartment is about 20 feet, a front sight may not an absolute necessity):

Here's the C-Lect Choke I cut off. (I took another 1.5" off after this.):

Without the rib:

[Toolguy]

Now you have a bunch of front sights!

[mgood]

Now you have a bunch of front sights!

LOL, yeah. The front bead sight went through the rib and threaded into the near end of that choke gizmo. That's what held the rib on. Now, I'm going to have to drill and tap into one of those posts to screw the sight into.

I want a tritium front sight. Both Meprolight and Trijicon make them that thread in where the bead would normally go. XS sights has one (with a Trijicon tube) that epoxies over an existing bead sight.

[caz41]

Have you patterned it yet?

[mgood]

Have you patterned it yet?

No. I haven't fired it in decades.

I plan to though.

[Graham Smith]

Take the rib off and get a "clip on" sight. I think HiVis makes them. It's a big fiber optic that just clips onto the barrel. Works well even in low light.

[mgood]

Take the rib off and get a "clip on" sight. I think HiVis makes them. It's a big fiber optic that just clips onto the barrel. Works well even in low light.

But with the rib off, it looks goofy with those posts sticking up. I don't know how to get them off without ruining the barrel.

[lumpygravy]

I don't know squat about shotties, but since you already took a hacksaw to it, maybe use a bench grinder to knock off those posts?

[TMC]

Is that a Western Field? My wife's uncle gave me one in 16ga his dad used to keep at the ranch. Doesn't have a ribbed barrel but does have the variable choke

[mgood]

Mossberg 500CT 20 ga. From about 1980 or so. 'Twas my huntin' shotgun as a teenager, when I outgrew the single-shot .410. Hasn't been used in forever, probably hasn't been fired since the eighties (or cleaned in about that long until last week ). I've got a 12 ga Browning BPS if I decide I want to shoot birds again. The Mossberg was just sitting there rusting. Not worth much so no real point in trying to sell it. Some small amount of sentimental value. Figured I should do something with it. I decided I could make a decent home defense weapon out of it. I got rid of about 75% of the rust by cutting that choke off the end. A little oil and 0000 steel wool has taken most of the rest of it off (still working on it though). For years, I've kicked around the idea of shortening the barrel and changing out the wood furniture for synthetic. So I finally did shorten it from a 26" barrel down to 18.5", but I think it's got a cool vibe with the wood. I just need to reattach the rib and get a front sight. I want a tritium sight because I want to see it clearly in my apartment at night. The rest I think I'll leave vintage 1980-ish.