Cutts Compensator to remove or not?

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spazzy

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I have an older 12 gauge remington 1100 with a 30 inch factory mod barrel that I use for pheasent and grouse hunting along with some informal hand thrown clays and sporting clays a few times a year. It is awesome for pheasants (I rarely miss any birds) and I do well with clays too. But this year I hunted grouse with it and did pretty poorly.

Before I bought my 1100 I had a 12 gauge 870 wing master with a 26 in improved cylinder barrel. I had much more success with grouse with this gun, it was shorter for dragging through the brush and I hit more grouse with the improved cylinder. I ended up selling it to fund the 1100.

I decided to get another barrel for my 1100, something a bit shorter and handier. What I didn't expect is barrels are expensive for the 1100. I ended up buying (sight unseen, my dad picked it up at a gun show) a barrel with similar vintage to my 1100 with a cutts compensator attached. The good news is it was only $60. It came with mod, full and a thread protector (no choke?) tube. The barrel is 25 inches long.

When I bought it I assumed the barrel would be longer and i could cut the barrel and cutts off at 24-26 inches and I would end up with a perfect grouse barrel.

I am assuming if i cut the cutts off, a 21 inch barrel is going to swing poorly for grouse?

From what I've read they aren't easy to remove other than chopping the barrel?

My other concern is that it's going to be much louder than a barrel of similar length? Or even louder than a shorter barrel?

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From the top, full choke, the cutts compensator, vented (no choke)? thread protector. Did they ever make a non vented no choke thread protector?

I guess my options are to chop it off and have a 21 inch barrel or use the no choke thread protector and have a 25 inch barrel with the cutts attached

Any thoughts?
 
Keep the Cutts, get an I/C choke for it or like Jim Watson suggested find a skeet or spreader tube. The few grouse I have hunted were within such thick brush that I rarely saw any past 20 yards. If that "thread protector" has no choke I would pattern it and see what it does, you may have the perfect solution for your problem there.
 
A friend had a tube for his Cutts like the "thread protector" but without slots and RIFLED!

The Pachmayr Power Pac had the choke tubes extending back into the body of the compensator with a standoff from the barrel to let gas flow into the comp and out the holes. Said to not work too well with modern "Power Piston" one piece wads, the shot cup petals tended to get out in the comp body.
 
Upon close review what I thought was a thread protector appears to be a choke tube but its vented to match the compensator. It's different from the Lyman tubes that thread on and stick out the front.

Its stamped 12 725 and the numbers aren't centered, kinda makes me think its homemade?

.725 would make it a skeet choke? seems perfect for my use


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Cutts diameters don't correlate with standard dimensions. Ic is .755. your .725 is mod for a Cutts.
I have the whole set, from skeet spreader to mag full, .670 iirc. The spreader is about 1" dia.
I shoot a M12 with Cutts for skeet and it is a hoot. Same 23 to 24 average as with my 1100 skeet or my buddies Citori. Ugly, but it works.
 
Upon close review what I thought was a thread protector appears to be a choke tube but its vented to match the compensator. It's different from the Lyman tubes that thread on and stick out the front.

Its stamped 12 725 and the numbers aren't centered, kinda makes me think its homemade?

.725 would make it a skeet choke? seems perfect for my use


View attachment 825721

That's probably closer to IC than Skeet but a perfect choke for grouse. The bigger questions are how does it feel and how does it pattern? Remember that first flush of the season and how quickly they explode out of nowhere? If the new barrel feels good, swings well, and it patterns well out to 25 yards, it's worth keeping. If not, move it on. A 21" cylinder barrel may be good for robbing banks or stage coaches but it's silly for the grouse woods.
 
That's probably closer to IC than Skeet but a perfect choke for grouse. The bigger questions are how does it feel and how does it pattern? Remember that first flush of the season and how quickly they explode out of nowhere? If the new barrel feels good, swings well, and it patterns well out to 25 yards, it's worth keeping. If not, move it on. A 21" cylinder barrel may be good for robbing banks or stage coaches but it's silly for the grouse woods.

That's what I thought, the 21 inch would be too short

It definitely feels different than my 30 inch barrel. Handier and faster, the 30 inch feels smoother and I do very well with it for clays and pheasents, but dragging the long barrel through brush is hard to get shots off, let alone hit anything up close with the mod pattern.

I semi patterned it this weekend, all I had for cardboard was a pizza box. No holes in the pattern but it shot a bit lower than point of aim. I shot at 20 yards.
 
I frequently carry a skeet choked single barrel 20 ga for grouse, on the theory that light and handy for lugging around is better and since those darn things are so explosive and the terrain in VT so tight, the chances of me getting off more than 1 shot are slim anyway.

Sounds to me like it's worth giving it a go next Fall and see what you think in the field.
 
[QUOTE="LRDGCO, A 21" cylinder barrel may be good for robbing banks or stage coaches but it's silly for the grouse woods.[/QUOTE]
I had a shotgun that I had a spare barrel cut down to 20", it made a great grouse and rabbit gun, much better than the 26" or longer barrels I had used before.
 
I think the extra weight of the Cutts at the end of the barrel will make up for the shorter length. I tend to shoot better with a Cutts or a PolyChoke attached. I think it smooths out my swing.
 
That's probably closer to IC than Skeet but a perfect choke for grouse. The bigger questions are how does it feel and how does it pattern? Remember that first flush of the season and how quickly they explode out of nowhere? If the new barrel feels good, swings well, and it patterns well out to 25 yards, it's worth keeping. If not, move it on. A 21" cylinder barrel may be good for robbing banks or stage coaches but it's silly for the grouse woods.
Silly in what way? If it patterns well enough for the distances that one shoots grouse (and with modern wads there shouldn't be a reason why one couldn't find a round that will pattern well), it will work just fine for a semi-decent shotgunner. I have multiple shotguns but actually prefer my 18.25" barreled Browning Auto 5 with screw-in sporting clay chokes for a LOT of different things including wing shooting and some clay games. I love it because of how it feels in hand and how fast it swings, but it still has enough weight (centered between my hands) to be smooth for me. With their long receiver, a semi-auto or pump with an 18" barrel has about the same sighting radius as an SxS or O/U with 24" barrels, so it can be just fine for a lot of purposes.

bxoQvrS.jpg
 
Silly in what way? If it patterns well enough for the distances that one shoots grouse (and with modern wads there shouldn't be a reason why one couldn't find a round that will pattern well), it will work just fine for a semi-decent shotgunner. I have multiple shotguns but actually prefer my 18.25" barreled Browning Auto 5 with screw-in sporting clay chokes for a LOT of different things including wing shooting and some clay games. I love it because of how it feels in hand and how fast it swings, but it still has enough weight (centered between my hands) to be smooth for me. With their long receiver, a semi-auto or pump with an 18" barrel has about the same sighting radius as an SxS or O/U with 24" barrels, so it can be just fine for a lot of purposes.

View attachment 825994

Silly as in silly looking. You can find an entire thread on "Silly guns that please us". You should post.
 
Silly in what way? If it patterns well enough for the distances that one shoots grouse (and with modern wads there shouldn't be a reason why one couldn't find a round that will pattern well), it will work just fine for a semi-decent shotgunner. I have multiple shotguns but actually prefer my 18.25" barreled Browning Auto 5 with screw-in sporting clay chokes for a LOT of different things including wing shooting and some clay games. I love it because of how it feels in hand and how fast it swings, but it still has enough weight (centered between my hands) to be smooth for me. With their long receiver, a semi-auto or pump with an 18" barrel has about the same sighting radius as an SxS or O/U with 24" barrels, so it can be just fine for a lot of purposes.

View attachment 825994

M11s or A5s with shorter barrels feel pretty good, but there's a lot more weight forward of the trigger than a typical pump or semi auto. In general, I tend to agree that 20-ish inches is a bit short for sporting shotguns. On the other hand, I don't really like 26" or 28" on pumps or autos for most purposes either. When I cut & thread for chokes on my personal guns, I usually go 24".
 
Silly as in silly looking. You can find an entire thread on "Silly guns that please us". You should post.
Silly looking, huh? I guess we’re just lucky here in the South that we don’t have the queereyeforthegunguy fashion police patrolling the fields and ranges. I’ve had the gun out tons of times and never had an encounter with ‘em. Instead, people who have shot it were more inclined to start shopping for an old Auto 5 and a hacksaw. :D
 
I’ve got a shortish barreled Auto-5 with a Cutts. It works surprisingly well at Skeet, especially when starting “low gun”.

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I have a polychoke with the muzzle brake slots on an Ithaca model 37 that I use for grouse and early pheasant. Got the gun cheap because of the "dial-a-duck" but it patterns and works very well. Looks aren't everything.
 
I’ve got a shortish barreled Auto-5 with a Cutts. It works surprisingly well at Skeet, especially when starting “low gun”.

View attachment 826429
My Auto 5 had a Cutts on it just like that when I bought it, except with a longer barrel. I bought it specifically to make a 100% reliable HD semi-auto, planning to shorten the barrel. After shortening the barrel the gun was transformed in a way that I REALLY liked. It handles so well, points so fast but without being too light or short, and I just found myself grabbing it time after time to go shooting. I had owned several semi-autos and pump guns over the years (and had shot my Dad's Model 11 and a friend's Auto 5 quite a bit), but never really connected with the pumps and semi-autos -- I was a O/U and SxS guy. But with the shortened Auto 5 I found myself leaving my over/under and SxS behind and just taking the Auto 5 because I really enjoy shooting it. At that point I decided to have the Colonial Sporting Clay screw-in chokes installed because the Cylinder bore pattern is too open for most of what I do with a shotgun (I cut the barrel myself and sent it to Michael Orlen for the install). I just admire the build quality of the gun and also how it feels in hand and in operation. It just makes me want to go out and find something to shoot. :)
 
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