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Bluesea112, now you are getting a grip on my definition of having a 'short stick'; I'm sorry to hear of your misfortune, and doubly sorry to hear of the BATF 'chiming in', after the fact, but it goes to the nature of the organisation; they were and are trained to mess with folks, doing no wrong!
My personal philosophy is to avoid, at any cost, any 'official' conversation, with any LEO, as our ends are at opposite extremes; "Alphabet Cops", simply re-inforce this conviction!
all the best,
 
I agree!

They have 357's with two (2) inch barrels, why can't we have 3" shotgun barrels?
 
I shoot a mossberg 500a with 18.5 bbl equally long tube and a top folding pistol grip stock and been checked several times by the sheriffs "BUT THEN AGAIN I LIVE IN MISSISSIPPI ANYTHING LEGAL"
Thae same shotgun is legal in Texas also.If it was up to me everything would be legal, just like it was before 1933.
Hey Berto have you ever seen a Thunder Five? It was a revolver that could shoot either 45 longs or 410 shotgun shells, and to the best of my memory it had a 3 inch bbl.A freind of mine has one.
 
Here is something that you may want be well aware of. In the 70's, theer was a gunsmith local to this area that would take old pump guns and cut them to 18". did this for years, marking the guns with his mark, then sold the shop off and died. Flash forward 15 years or so. The buyer is doing the same thing, and ATF shows up to arrest him for cutting shotguns under legal length!!! he shows them the "measuring stick", a rod 18 inches long. Drop it down the barrel, mark the spot and cut right? WRONG!!!!! SOME of the time it works, but others, the barrel is just a hair under 18", and that is hair enough for trouble!

So make it longer, just in case!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
 
3"? Where do you see that?

A guy I know who works for a police devision in Prattville says that it's best to be .5" to long then 1/32" off.
 
i was under the impression that a "sawn off shot gun" was any type of shot gun, with a portion of the barrel sawn off with a saw of some sort, so its more easy to transport and the pellets disperse quicker.
Luke
 
Luke, the term "sawed off" shotgun generally means that the barrel is too short, or the overall length is too short. You could have a factory 20 inch barrel on a shotgun but saw off the stock behind the trigger gaurd and make it a "sawed off" shotgun.
It is NOT illegal to saw off your barrel. As long as the barrel is not cut shorter than 18", then you are perfectly legal.
.410 shotguns are the exception to this rule. Since a .410 is a caliber and NOT a gauge, it is technically NOT a shotgun. This is the reason it is perfectly legal to manufacture, purchase, and use a .410 handgun. A buddy of mine has a double barrel .410 handgun that is only 6 1/2" long. That thing is sweet. If you load that thing with buckshot, you are standing behind some incredible stopping power!
 
As a follow up to my last post, I wonder why nobody has manufactured a 1.00" caliber handgun that holds 1" shells w/ pellets instead of cartridges with bullets? As long as it is labeled as a 1 inch caliber, and not a "gauge", wouldn't it be legal to make and own?
 
Mainly, because you're operating on a faulty assumption.

.410 caliber handguns are not legal because of their designation. They are legal because they are RIFLED rather than being smoothbore. If you were to ream out the rifling on a Taurus Judge, you would have an illegally manufacutered short-barreled shotgun.

Also note carefully that those .410 handguns are sold as being able to shoot .45 Long Colt cartridges, which is their main designation as a handgun. The fact that the chambers are cut large enough to also accommodate .410 shotshells is a secondary characteristic.
 
John K offers wise counsel; cut what was originnally a .410 smoothbore, to less than 18", and you arein the 'ten years, free rent' district, and, if convicted, can never own a firearm again!
Don't screw with the rules, or attempt to 'sharp' on them; the price is very high!
 
If the only requirement is for a barrel to be rifled, why hasn't a manufacturer offered a rifled barrel handgun in .700 caliber (~12 gauge)? They could change the label on boxes of 12 gauge slugs to read ".700 revolver".
Hmmm, what a coinsidence....12 gauge slugs just happen to fit .700 revolvers....and .700 revolver just happens to fit 12 gauge shotguns.
Cartridge manufacturers stand to make some easy money because they could charge 4 times as much for ".700 revolver". Inexperienced shooters would buy it all day long and never know they were shooting 12 gauge slugs with pretty new label.
 
Yeah, when I shortened my inherited '97 Cyl bore to get rid of the polychoke I specifically had the 'smith shorten it to 18 1/2" just in case I ran into an ATF agent with a "short stick.":cool:

ANY smoothbore, save muzzleloaders (and I wouldn't mess with them there either, they are probably as unintelligent with them as well, just like "suppressed" air rifles.....:mad:), it's no LESS than 18" barrel AND no LESS than 26" overall....
 
Yeah, when I shortened my inherited '97 Cyl bore to get rid of the polychoke I specifically had the 'smith shorten it to 18 1/2" just in case I ran into an ATF agent with a "short stick.":cool:

ANY smoothbore, save muzzleloaders (and I wouldn't mess with them there either, they are probably as unintelligent with them as well, just like "suppressed" air rifles.....:mad:), it's no LESS than 18" barrel AND no LESS than 26" overall....
Polish, they all got 'short sticks' otherwise they'd git a real job!
I use a Starrett steel scale, and cut 18 1/4", breech face to muzzle.
 
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