Preacherman
Member
I've been having fun lately. In a local pawnshop, I found a Stevens Model 311 SxS 20ga. shotgun. The stock caught my eye at first... it had obviously been a half-pistol-grip design at some point, but the owner had whittled and carved on it to produce a straight, English-style stock. He/she had then "decorated" it with some hand-carved "checkering" (very poorly done, BTW).
On closer inspection, I saw that the barrels (26") were "odd". The rib between the barrels had no bead, and was suspended in mid-air over the barrels. Also, the crowns were appallingly badly done.
On inquiry, the pawnshop owner gave me the telephone number of the guy who'd traded the gun. I called him, and the whole sorry story came out... The gun had originally had 28" barrels. He'd been out bird hunting in a Louisiana bayou (very damp, muddy ground), and had somehow got mud or another obstruction into the barrels. He then tried to fire at a passing bird, and blew out the front inch-and-a-half of one barrel. He took a hacksaw to the gun, and trimmed both barrels back to 26", but found the gun "wouldn't shoot straight" (considering the angled condition of the crowns, I'm not surprised - he couldn't cut straight!), and so traded it in on another gun.
I bargained with the pawnshop owner, pointing out that the barrels would have to be shortened and re-crowned, and showing him the home botchmanship on the stock. Eventually, I walked out the door with it for $100.
I took the shotgun to a good local gunsmith, and we stripped it down and checked it in detail. There was some damage to the top few inches of the barrels - it looked as if one of them had been slightly bulged by the obstruction in it when it was fired. To cut a long story short, he trimmed the barrels down to about 19½", and re-crowned them. He fitted a regular bead to the rib, shortened the stock slightly to give a better LOP, and fitted a recoil pad. Cost to me - $75. So, for a total of $175, I have a 20ga. coach gun!
The shotgun now shoots very well, and is a short, handy little piece. I'm debating whether to put in screw-in chokes or not, but I suspect that the cost would not be worth the return on investment. I think I'll hang on to this as a conversation piece - and if I ever get into Cowboy Action Shooting, it'll make a fine shotgun for those stages. It will also be a nice gun (along with my Remington 20ga. Youth Model 870) to use when introducing ladies to the world of shotguns.
Nice to put an old warhorse back into running condition...
On closer inspection, I saw that the barrels (26") were "odd". The rib between the barrels had no bead, and was suspended in mid-air over the barrels. Also, the crowns were appallingly badly done.
On inquiry, the pawnshop owner gave me the telephone number of the guy who'd traded the gun. I called him, and the whole sorry story came out... The gun had originally had 28" barrels. He'd been out bird hunting in a Louisiana bayou (very damp, muddy ground), and had somehow got mud or another obstruction into the barrels. He then tried to fire at a passing bird, and blew out the front inch-and-a-half of one barrel. He took a hacksaw to the gun, and trimmed both barrels back to 26", but found the gun "wouldn't shoot straight" (considering the angled condition of the crowns, I'm not surprised - he couldn't cut straight!), and so traded it in on another gun.
I bargained with the pawnshop owner, pointing out that the barrels would have to be shortened and re-crowned, and showing him the home botchmanship on the stock. Eventually, I walked out the door with it for $100.
I took the shotgun to a good local gunsmith, and we stripped it down and checked it in detail. There was some damage to the top few inches of the barrels - it looked as if one of them had been slightly bulged by the obstruction in it when it was fired. To cut a long story short, he trimmed the barrels down to about 19½", and re-crowned them. He fitted a regular bead to the rib, shortened the stock slightly to give a better LOP, and fitted a recoil pad. Cost to me - $75. So, for a total of $175, I have a 20ga. coach gun!
The shotgun now shoots very well, and is a short, handy little piece. I'm debating whether to put in screw-in chokes or not, but I suspect that the cost would not be worth the return on investment. I think I'll hang on to this as a conversation piece - and if I ever get into Cowboy Action Shooting, it'll make a fine shotgun for those stages. It will also be a nice gun (along with my Remington 20ga. Youth Model 870) to use when introducing ladies to the world of shotguns.
Nice to put an old warhorse back into running condition...
