How to shorten pistol barrel

[frogwalking]

When I was young and dumb, hack saw.  Now that I am older and slower, I am wondering if there is a better way.  It is a 12 inch octogon/round 20 gauge pistol barrel that would look better proportioned at 10 or 10 1/2 inches long.  It came from Tenn Valley Mfg, and looks pretty good to me.   I have thought of drilling out a block of wood to fit the barrel in the right spot (tapered you know) and use that as a guide to make the cut square.  Does anyone have a better idea?  I plan on making something similar to a trade pistol.  Just ordered the iron hardware except the side plate and thimbles.  I will likely make the side plate. 

Any better ideas?  If I cut the breach off, I don't think I could get the plug back in properly.  If any of you machinists think that is the way to go, give me a price and address.

Thanks.
Frog.

[T*O*F]

Take it to a plumber and have him cut it off with a pipe cutter.  It's made from tubing anyhow.

[omark]

i think using a tubing cutter on a tapered barrel may not work out too well. im not young anymore but still dumb. id use a hacksaw.  mark

[T*O*F]

i think using a tubing cutter on a tapered barrel may not work out too well.

It may be oct/round, but I'd bet a pack of Jujifruits that the round part ain't tapered.
Personally, I'd use a hacksaw too.  Ain't got nuthin to do with being dumb.  It's how some of the best gunsmiths in the world shorten barrels.  In the time required to overthink the project, it could have been done already.

[stubshaft]

You can use a tubing cutter to mark where to cut the barrel but a hacksaw and use of files would certainly do the job.  You can use a carriage bolt  and valve grinding compound to  crown after.

[Dphariss]

When I was young and dumb, hack saw.  Now that I am older and slower, I am wondering if there is a better way.  It is a 12 inch octogon/round 20 gauge pistol barrel that would look better proportioned at 10 or 10 1/2 inches long.  It came from Tenn Valley Mfg, and looks pretty good to me.   I have thought of drilling out a block of wood to fit the barrel in the right spot (tapered you know) and use that as a guide to make the cut square.  Does anyone have a better idea?  I plan on making something similar to a trade pistol.  Just ordered the iron hardware except the side plate and thimbles.  I will likely make the side plate. 

Any better ideas?  If I cut the breach off, I don't think I could get the plug back in properly.  If any of you machinists think that is the way to go, give me a price and address.

Thanks.
Frog.

Use a tubing cutter to mark it then cut and file square. Then recrown.
I used a tubing cutter on a Ruger 41 mag barrel years ago and it worked great to mark it sawed it just in front of the tubing cutter mark then filed to the mark it is was about as square as I could ask.
Dan

[frogwalking]

Hey TOF,

I will tell you where to send the pack of jucy fruits!     It is indeed tapered, both the octagon and the round part.   If this barrel was machined from tubing, it had to be heavy wall structural tubing as the taper is very considerable all the way from breach to crown.  Anyway, thanks for the suggestions.

[Dphariss]

Hey TOF,

I will tell you where to send the pack of jucy fruits!     It is indeed tapered, both the octagon and the round part.   If this barrel was machined from tubing, it had to be heavy wall structural tubing as the taper is very considerable all the way from breach to crown.  Anyway, thanks for the suggestions.

If it were made from tubing it would not be worth cutting off since it would not be safe for actual use.

Dan

[sz]

Send it to me and I'll do it for you if you pay the shipping both ways.

[JTR]

I'm curious, does Tenn Valley Mfg make barrels out of tubing?

John

[frogwalking]

I had a 14 gauge flintlock shotgun when I was a teenager that had a barrel made out of tubing.  The barrel on this pistol is almost certainly not tubing.  It is very nicely tapered as I noted before, which is why I bought it.  I would bet it is the leaded steel that machines easily. 

I have decided that cutting the barrel properly is not going to be such a simple issue.  The octagon portion is 4 inches long, or 1/3 of the overall length, the round part being 8 inches.  For the proportions to remain correct, I suspect about 3/4 inch needs to be removed from the breach and 1 1/2 inch from the muzzle.  It would take a machinist to cut and rethread the  breach.  I would be pleased to pay someone to cut and rethread the breach.  I had been thinking of inletting the barrel and after shaping the stock, then deciding if I want to shorten the barrel, but it is obvious that at least the breach part needs to be done now.

[LynnC]

Take a look at the pistol barrels in "Thoughts on the American flintlock Pistol".  LOTS of the oct to rnd barrels are in the 40 to 50 percent octagon range.  Cutting the muzzle won't hurt the proportion IMHO.........Lynn