I'm strongly considering having my 18.5" M4 cut down to 14". The factory 14" barrel runs about $900 so it is not very appealing. The factory SBS complete is prohibitively expensive and the difference in approval time between an eForm 1 and a Form 4 is another factor. I have seen some threads on other forums but they are years old and the shops I have reached out to have either not replied or aren't in business anymore. ADCO is not interested in doing it. The cutting is complicated by having to relocate the front sight tower.

Any suggestions?

Steve Rose at Rose Action Sports is your man. He cut my Versa Max barrel down to 14” and it has been flawless through s couple shotgun specific classes. Good prices too.

I don’t know if his prices have changed but he did a cut-down, rethreaded for my choice of chokes, and fiber optic sights for $95 back in 2015. Very easy to work with.

Did you try CCA in Baxter?

Yes sir, the cutting is easy. The re-attaching the sight is the part no one is going to want to get involved with. It will need refinishing when that's done. You may end up getting closer to the price of a replacement than you like when all is said and done.

Keep and eye on G-broker, used ones come up now and again.

I'd have to agree with cas. Keep an eye out for the short barrel. It will be much less hassle and you may not end up spending as much more as you would think over getting yours cut.

Just buy a new one.

NFA has never been inexpensive.

quote:

Originally posted by cas:
Yes sir, the cutting is easy. The re-attaching the sight is the part no one is going to want to get involved with. It will need refinishing when that's done. You may end up getting closer to the price of a replacement than you like when all is said and done.

Keep and eye on G-broker, used ones come up now and again.

Why do you need a sight on a 14" shotgun barrel?

I've found some older threads around the internet quoting prices in the $300-$400 range to have this done. That's half to a third the price of the barrel.

Why sights on a 14" barrel? Because it's a duty gun and is already built for ghost rings.

Thanks for the input, guys.

quote:

Originally posted by imfrogman:hy do you need a sight on a 14" shotgun barrel?

He needs to hit what he aims at; since it's a semi auto shotty, the bad guys won't run off since there is no "chack-chack" like you get with a pump action.

Hence the need for accuracy.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:

quote:

Originally posted by imfrogman:hy do you need a sight on a 14" shotgun barrel?

He needs to hit what he aims at; since it's a semi auto shotty, the bad guys won't run off since there is no "chack-chack" like you get with a pump action.

Hence the need for accuracy.

If any fool decides to kick in the door on my house when I am home he won't be hearing any Chack Chack. If his hearing is very good he might hear the snick of the savety shifting to the Fire position. Other than that what he will hear is the blast of a 12 gage shell loaded with # 3 Buckshot. Because my 870 is kept loaded with 4 in the tube and 1 in the chamber. BTW, it also has an 18.5 inch Cylinder choked barrel. Never did under the appeal of anything shorter because you start trading off on Velocity for a rather small gain in pattern size.

BTW, at 15 feet the pattern size from a 18 inch barrel would be roughly 4 inches in diameter, from a 7 inch barrel it would be roughly 6 inches in diameter. That is what I meant when I said a "rather small gain". People have a mistaken notion that short barrels produce a room sized pattern at 10 feet and that wont happen with a Shotgun featuring any barrel length. The shot charge in a modern shell is contained within the Shot Cup on the wad for the entire time the load is passing thru the barrel. So when it leaves the barrel it's a rather small wad of pellets. What causes the pattern to spread out when fired out of a very short barrel is the gas jet produced by all the unburned powder remaining within the barrel. This alone can stir up the shot charge but the wad being driven into that charge will also disturb the pattern. On the plus side this does produce a larger pattern but the downside is that it also produces a really ugly and uneven pattern.

Obviously I am recommending that the OP just stay with his current 18.5 inch barrel because it really is the Sweet Spot in a compromise between compact dimensions and optimum performance.