How short should I cut my shotgun barrel?

[mike_86]

Hey everyone! I haven't owned a gun in quite a while, but recently ran out and panic bought a shotgun (yeah, I'm 'one of those'. Sorry). Not too surprisingly, all they had left were mostly hunting oriented shotguns, and I ended up with a Remington 870 with a 28" barrel. I'm going to be using this mostly for home defense, so I'm planning on cutting the barrel down to either a little over 18" or ~20" (one or the other due to the vent rib barrel). I've searched google a fair amount, but most of what I found was in regards to buying a new gun/barrel of a given length. It seemed like most people thought there wasn't a huge difference? I'm mostly just wondering if there's any reason I'd regret cutting off the extra 2", as I can always make it shorter, obviously.

In terms of background, I have a tiny bit of shooting experience from the Boy Scouts when I was a kid, and shooting at garbage in rock quarries with friends in my early 20's but it's been a while. Plus none of that was exactly geared towards post-apocalyptic-home-defense situations (although, if we're ever being attacked by old paint cans, I'm your guy). So anyway, any advice about barrel length, or home defense/firearms in general would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

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[edslhead]

Well Mike. First we need to know the lengh of your hallway outside the bedroom and where you'll be shooting intruders?

 

[madmax]

This short

 

[wewaits]

Just order a short barrel for it, that way you still have the ability to swap out barrels if you want to hunt with the longer barrel and chokes or the short barrel for home defense

 

[madmax]

This should also me in the sub-forum "Shotgun discussion"

Can an admin/mod move it

 

[MannyGlocks]

Thanks for the laugh!

 

[cigars]

Welcome to the forum! While we (most of us) are not attorneys, none of our advice should be taken without first consulting one.

 

[308]

Hey everyone! I haven't owned a gun in quite a while, but recently ran out and panic bought a shotgun (yeah, I'm 'one of those'. Sorry). Not too surprisingly, all they had left were mostly hunting oriented shotguns, and I ended up with a Remington 870 with a 28" barrel. I'm going to be using this mostly for home defense, so I'm planning on cutting the barrel down to either a little over 18" or ~20" (one or the other due to the vent rib barrel). I've searched google a fair amount, but most of what I found was in regards to buying a new gun/barrel of a given length. It seemed like most people thought there wasn't a huge difference? I'm mostly just wondering if there's any reason I'd regret cutting off the extra 2", as I can always make it shorter, obviously.

In terms of background, I have a tiny bit of shooting experience from the Boy Scouts when I was a kid, and shooting at garbage in rock quarries with friends in my early 20's but it's been a while. Plus none of that was exactly geared towards post-apocalyptic-home-defense situations (although, if we're ever being attacked by old paint cans, I'm your guy). So anyway, any advice about barrel length, or home defense/firearms in general would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Read this so you don't get yourself and your family Randy Weaver'd

Whats The Legal Barrel Length Of Shotguns And Rifles? GunData.org

Simply put, on the whole, a rifle barrel should be no less than 16 and a shotgun barrel should be no less than 18. While the overall gun length for either a rifle or a shotgun has to be 26 according to the ATF, paying extra for an exception can make a difference. Even though black powder guns...

gundata.org

 

[Kruel J]

I wouldn't go shorter than 2 3/4".

 

[Stomper]

I wouldn't go shorter than 2 3/4".

keep your options open.... 3-1/2"

 

[mike_86]

Read this so you don't get yourself and your family Randy Weaver'd

Whats The Legal Barrel Length Of Shotguns And Rifles? GunData.org

Simply put, on the whole, a rifle barrel should be no less than 16 and a shotgun barrel should be no less than 18. While the overall gun length for either a rifle or a shotgun has to be 26 according to the ATF, paying extra for an exception can make a difference. Even though black powder guns...

gundata.org

I didn't mean to imply I was going to cut it to <18".

 

[Geardo]

17.5" and call it 18. Worked well for some dude in Idaho.

 

[Siglvr]

Can you buy a short barrel and swap the long one on it out? You may want the longer one later for hunting. Alternatively, put it in the shotgun or parts classifieds as a WTT (want to trade). The short barrels seem to be on sale frequently.

Remington 870 Barrels

PS, no need to apologize for jumping onboard late. Better late than never. Welcome aboard.

 

[Mikej]

Hey everyone! I haven't owned a gun in quite a while, but recently ran out and panic bought a shotgun (yeah, I'm 'one of those'. Sorry). Not too surprisingly, all they had left were mostly hunting oriented shotguns, and I ended up with a Remington 870 with a 28" barrel. I'm going to be using this mostly for home defense, so I'm planning on cutting the barrel down to either a little over 18" or ~20" (one or the other due to the vent rib barrel). I've searched google a fair amount, but most of what I found was in regards to buying a new gun/barrel of a given length. It seemed like most people thought there wasn't a huge difference? I'm mostly just wondering if there's any reason I'd regret cutting off the extra 2", as I can always make it shorter, obviously.

In terms of background, I have a tiny bit of shooting experience from the Boy Scouts when I was a kid, and shooting at garbage in rock quarries with friends in my early 20's but it's been a while. Plus none of that was exactly geared towards post-apocalyptic-home-defense situations (although, if we're ever being attacked by old paint cans, I'm your guy). So anyway, any advice about barrel length, or home defense/firearms in general would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I don't know a thing about shotguns, I'd just like to say welcome to NWFA. Always looking for more faces, ideas and opinions here.

 

[mike_86]

Can you buy a short barrel and swap the one on it out? You may want the longer one later for hunting.

I was thinking about doing that, but they seem hard to find/expensive. Also, the longer ones seem cheaper, so I figured if I wanted to go hunting when things get back to 'normal', I'd just buy a longer barrel at that point.

 

[wewaits]

I was thinking about doing that, but they seem hard to find/expensive. Also, the longer ones seem cheaper, so I figured if I wanted to go hunting when things get back to 'normal', I'd just buy a longer barrel at that point.

There is a 20 inch barrel with furniture for an 870 in the classifieds right now for $75, that's a good deal and it's easy to swap out.

 

[Mikej]

I was thinking about doing that, but they seem hard to find/expensive. Also, the longer ones seem cheaper, so I figured if I wanted to go hunting when things get back to 'normal', I'd just buy a longer barrel at that point.

There is a 20 inch barrel with furniture for an 870 in the classifieds right now for $75, that's a good deal and it's easy to swap out.

Kismet?

 

[SUPER X]

17.5" and call it 18. Worked well for some dude in Idaho.

You get alot of company dropping by

 

[Geardo]

You get alot of company dropping by

Cheaper than taking your dog to the vet. .....

 

[SUPER X]

Cheaper than taking your dog to the vet. .....

Or your son to the dentist.