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Shortening a HR1871 "Pardner Pump" Barrel to 19ish Inches

Bobster

.30-06
I am blessed to have the technology to shorten shotgun barrels so they look "factory" when done. I have all manner of metal-working tools including a horizontal bandsaw, hand deburr and tapping tools, deburr wheels on a bench grinder as well as old-school files. I coat exposed surfaces with cold blue when done.

This thread will summarize the shortening of the ribbed 28" barrel of a $55.55 "giggle bid" like-new HR1871 Pardner Pump 12ga pump shotgun won from a local seller 1/2 hour away on GB. The factory barrel only came with the one installed choke, probably Rem pattern...

Since I already have a ported, ribbed 28" barrel with extra chokes for my 500, and since this gun was so inexpensive (2 years ago), I decided to shorten the barrel to make it more "usable" ;). The PP is a Chinese Remington 870 clone and most parts from an 870 fit including stocks and barrels with an adapter to lengthen the mag tube. As an OEM Remmy 18" barrel was 3x what I paid for the gun, the executive decision was made to shorten this "hunting" barrel. :) I put an 870 adjustable, "tactical" pistol-grip stock on it with shell holders but went back to the regular stock as shown--it just felt better...

First pics show the gun as received with 28" barrel, then 19" barrel, then barrel removed. As it is ribbed, I had to shorten it to a more aesthetic length other than 18.5" because it would have left a large amount of unsupported rib hanging out. I settled on a little over 19". This allowed for about 1/8" rib past the rib support.

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Almost at the point of no return, barrel squared and supported with pads and blocks in the band saw, cut to be made just outside the mark. No one but me uses this saw and it cuts perfectly square... :)

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Here is the barrel, now in two pieces... ;)

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After deburring the barrel with hand deburr tool and deburr wheel, I "shaped" the exposed end of the rib with a couple files and a little metal shim to protect the barrel tube while filing the rib. Barrel is shown clamped in a vise. NOTE: be careful clamping barrels in a vise because you can crush or mar them! :eek:

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I removed and re-installed the old bead which was metric thread, I forget what size but I had a tap for it. This contrasts to US shotgun beads which can be some kind of "weird" size you are not going to find at ACE or Home DeLowes--ex: 5-40 and 6-48... I also have those taps and also some "extra" 500 beads, if needed.

In the case of the PP, I only drilled into the rib support enough to mount the bead--I didn't have to drill into the barrel. I ground the end of the tap down so it was more of a "bottoming" tap. I think it came out nice... :D

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Here are two HR 1871 (pre-China) Pardner single-shot 12ga shotguns, one with the OEM 28" barrel and the other I shortened to 18.5".

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You must be precise when remounting a bead to a barrel and minor hand-fitting, filing-to-length goes a long way. You don't want the threads of the bead to protrude into the barrel but you don't want them too short or loose, either... Care should be taken to assure you are drilling square and perpendicular to the top of the barrel.
 
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Here are some of the tools I use. First pic are deburr wheels mounted to a bench grinder with guards removed to allow better access. The wheels are not cheap at $60 retail! :eek: I'm a Norton dealer so I get them at about 1/2 that but I have to buy three at a time. Also shown are two hand deburr tools that you "scrape" along sharp edges to remove them. Blade on right is for outside corners or holes. Blade on left is for inside of drilled holes.

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Next pic is of a 6"x48" belt sander that I use to sand and shape cut aluminum (and steel) parts before deburring on the wheel. Alum. piece on left has been smoothed and is not sharp at all. Piece on right is freshly cut on a regular ol' chopsaw with carbide blade and is dick-slicingly razor-sharp! :eek:

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Pretty good.

There is a tool that you can get to find the center of a vent rib. This is a link from brownells, but you can probably find cheaper knockoffs on egay or amazing.

https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...t-tools/walker-rib-center-finder-prod592.aspx

The thing with many vent ribs, is they have small grooves in them. You can often count the grooves and half the number to find the center groove. It also helps you with center punching it so it doesn't move off center while you drill.

Marking a standard non-vent rib barrel is somewhat more difficult, but they make a tool for that too. I didn't go through a dozen pages to find the one I was looking for, but it's somewhat like a dual hinged clamp that clamps around the barrel and has a hole for the center punch to go down through to mark the barrel.
 
There is a tool that you can get to find the center of a vent rib.

I was not aware of that but I have a small, sharp chisel I will delicately use to cut a "V" out of the middle ridge. Then I take a nice, sharp pointy center punch and divit the V. Then a small pilot drill to make sure the hole starts centered then the tap drill. Then a slight chamfer of the hole so the bead settles nicely.
 
I am blessed to have the technology to shorten shotgun barrels so they look "factory" when done. I have all manner of metal-working tools including a horizontal bandsaw, hand deburr and tapping tools, deburr wheels on a bench grinder as well as old-school files. I coat exposed surfaces with cold blue when done.

This thread will summarize the shortening of the ribbed 28" barrel of a $55.55 "giggle bid" like-new HR1871 Pardner Pump 12ga pump shotgun won from a local seller 1/2 hour away on GB. The factory barrel only came with the one installed choke, probably Rem pattern...

Since I already have a ported, ribbed 28" barrel with extra chokes for my 500, and since this gun was so inexpensive (2 years ago), I decided to shorten the barrel to make it more "usable" ;). The PP is a Chinese Remington 870 clone and most parts from an 870 fit including stocks and barrels with an adapter to lengthen the mag tube. As an OEM Remmy 18" barrel was 3x what I paid for the gun, the executive decision was made to shorten this "hunting" barrel. :) I put an 870 adjustable, "tactical" pistol-grip stock on it with shell holders but went back to the regular stock as shown--it just felt better...

First pics show the gun as received with 28" barrel, then 19" barrel, then barrel removed. As it is ribbed, I had to shorten it to a more aesthetic length other than 18.5" because it would have left a large amount of unsupported rib hanging out. I settled on a little over 19". This allowed for about 1/8" rib past the rib support.

View attachment 24998
View attachment 24999
View attachment 25000

Almost at the point of no return, barrel squared and supported with pads and blocks in the band saw, cut to be made just outside the mark. No one but me uses this saw and it cuts perfectly square... :)

View attachment 25001

Here is the barrel, now in two pieces... ;)

View attachment 25002

After deburring the barrel with hand deburr tool and deburr wheel, I "shaped" the exposed end of the rib with a couple files and a little metal shim to protect the barrel tube while filing the rib. Barrel is shown clamped in a vise. NOTE: be careful clamping barrels in a vise because you can crush or mar them! :eek:

View attachment 25003

I removed and re-installed the old bead which was metric thread, I forget what size but I had a tap for it. This contrasts to US shotgun beads which can be some kind of "weird" size you are not going to find at ACE or Home DeLowes--ex: 5-40 and 6-48... I also have those taps and also some "extra" 500 beads, if needed.

In the case of the PP, I only drilled into the rib support enough to mount the bead--I didn't have to drill into the barrel. I ground the end of the tap down so it was more of a "bottoming" tap. I think it came out nice... :D

View attachment 25004

View attachment 25005

Here are two HR 1871 (pre-China) Pardner single-shot 12ga shotguns, one with the OEM 28" barrel and the other I shortened to 18.5".

View attachment 25006

You must be precise when remounting a bead to a barrel and minor hand-fitting, filing-to-length goes a long way. You don't want the threads of the bead to protrude into the barrel but you don't want them too short or loose, either... Care should be taken to assure you are drilling square and perpendicular to the top of the barrel.
Very nice work, I personally also enjoy working with a good file to put things into shape. Makes things more personal than doing everything with a machine.
 
New to the forum, but would like to say, great job! I have the H&R 1871 Pardner Pump Protector, 3", with a Tacfire FLR220 Tactical Flashlight that sits at the headboard of my bed. I did a lot of research before making the purchase and could only find one negative comment, and that was addressed by the factory and issue resolved.

I originally had a Surefire M612C on it and used to joke that the light cost roughly twice as much as the shotgun with 15 rounds of 3" 00 buck, when I bought it at 'Wally World'!

Randie
Fort Smith, AR
 
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