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legal barrel length

dakotashooter2dakotashooter2 Member Posts: 6,186
edited January 2008 in Ask the Experts
shotgun, 18 or 18 1/2 ? thanks
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Comments

  • dakotashooter2dakotashooter2 Member Posts: 6,186
    edited November -1
    I know the legal length for a shotgun barrel is 18" (18 1/4' to be safe). I have an old Remington 870 barrel with a poly choke. I would like to have it cut down as short as possible but don't know exactly what that would be because part of the poly choke can be removed and I'm sure that cannot be counted as part of the length. I'm assuming that portion of the choke which is permanently attached to the barrel (silver soldered in this case) can be counted as part of the length but am not sure. We may be talking about a 3" difference in length depending on what is considered legal and best case appears to be a 20" barrel (with screw on portion installed). Any experts that can give me some direction? FWIW dispite being ugly I like the versatility of the poly in field situations where it can be quickly "dialed in" for a particular situation, without tools.
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  • dbain99dbain99 Member Posts: 2,104 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I recently cut my 870 barrel to 18.5 inches and Im looking to install a choke. Can you give me some info on the adjustable poly choke?
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  • dcs shootersdcs shooters Member Posts: 10,870 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    You are right about the lenght, 18" min. Measure your barrel to where the Poly choke starts and see if it comes to the min. lenght. If not you can always heat the choke and take it off and see what you have.
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  • dcinffxvadcinffxva Member Posts: 2,830 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I hope this doesn't sound like I'm blasting any of the folks here, because that is not my intent. There are plenty of VERY qualified experts here that post on a regular basis.

    If I was going to get an opinion on legalities of a barrel length, I would shoot a letter out to the ATF prior to doing anything for an "official" ruling.

    Think of it this way, would you rather be sitting in a courtroom saying "here is a letter from the technical branch of the ATF" or, "some dude on Gunbroker said it was OK" ?

    Or, you could just file and make an SBS, and not have to worry about it.
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  • dakotashooter2dakotashooter2 Member Posts: 6,186
    edited November -1
    dbain... the poly is basically a base (treaded on the outside)with three fingers attached to it over which a larger vented tube is screwed. It works somewhat like a compression nut. As it is screwed tighter it causes the 3 fingers "close" resulting in a tighter choke. You can pretty much get cylinder bore to extra full in a second. They look somewhat like a compensator or a flash suppressor on the end of the barrel. Newer versions have a threated attachment tube on them and can be easily screwed in in place of standard choke tubes.

    Mine is an older solder on version on a 26" barrel. The base and fingers which would be permanently attached would account for about 2 1/2" to 3". What I'm hoping is that cutting the barrel back to 16" and permanently attaching that portion would make the barrel legal as it would then be 18 1/2" to 19" inches long and another inch or so longer after the outer tube is attached. But I want to be sure.
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  • B_McB_Mc Member Posts: 794 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    How much larger is the choke than the actual barrel does it interfere with aiming of the gun?? Does it interfere with the balance of the gun??
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  • dbain99dbain99 Member Posts: 2,104 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Who is the manufacturer?
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  • Bill DeShivsBill DeShivs Member Posts: 1,264 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    You can do what you want if the polychoke is hard soldered (I believe the regs call for 1600 degrees) and the permanently attached part/bbl. has a total length of 18" minimum.
    Best to write ATF, explaining what you want to do, and get approval.
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  • dakotashooter2dakotashooter2 Member Posts: 6,186
    edited November -1
    quote:"here is a letter from the technical branch of the ATF" Frankly that would probably have as much validity as a letter from Santa Clause as no two agents from the ATF can seem to form a consensus on anything except "it might be illegal" whether it is or isn't.

    Polychoke is the trade name but i'm not sure if they are also the manufacturer. I got mine when full chike guns were the norm and before choke tubes became popular. I still see them advertized in magazines once in a while but I don't think they were ever overly popular and with the advent of screw in chokes the demand shrank even more. Cabela's had them at one time (the newer screw in type) and maybe still does. The last one I saw was in the bargain cave.

    http://www.cabelas.com/*-1/0034429227516a.shtml

    I think one of the biggest objections was the asthetics. They do add a little extra weight to the barrel but in my case I went from a 30" barrel to a 26" with the poly and couldn't tell the difference in balance. The diameter of the poly is about the size of a quarter and the front bead is raised just a bit so POA may change just a bit but again I never noticed the difference in the field. Actually if mounted on a ribbed barrel POA would probably be the same.
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  • HandgunHTR52HandgunHTR52 Member Posts: 2,735
    edited November -1
    dakotashooter - isn't there a minimum overall length requirement too? I would make sure that your shotty meets that with the shorter barrel as well.
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  • Bill DeShivsBill DeShivs Member Posts: 1,264 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Any 870 with an 18" barrel will be over the 26" minimun OAL-even without a stock.
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