Sawed off shotgun

James Williams · Mar 22, 2012

I was helping a friend of mine move and in his garge I found a Stevens 311 double barrel 12 ga sawed off less than 18in,which is illegal.I hate to throw it away,it needs some parts which is getting hard to find.What should I do?

jimmy

Dodgeit · Mar 22, 2012

(quoted from post at 14:36:34 03/22/12) I was helping a friend of mine move and in his garge I found a Stevens 311 double barrel 12 ga sawed off less than 18in,which is illegal.I hate to throw it away,it needs some parts which is getting hard to find.What should I do?

jimmy

Since you asked about it on an open forum for all to see you had better render the BBLs inoperable. And sell the rest to numrich arms or somebody like that. It is also possible in some states to own a short barrel shotgun with the right federal tax stamp.

James Williams · Mar 22, 2012

Im hopeing I can find a new barrel for it

jimmy

Anonymous-0 · Mar 22, 2012

Be quiet then if you are worried dispose of the barrels and keep the working mechanism

wisbaker · Mar 22, 2012

I think I'd get rid of the barrels OR render them useless so you are not in possession of an illegal firearm THEN look around for a barrel assembley. Or transfer the barrel assembly to a gunsmith to see about getting them re barreled (probably not possible) but the bottom line is you don't want the barrels anywhere that has the rest of the parts of the gun or one like it. As they warned us in ordinance school- the ATF does not have any sense of humor about these things.

Red Mud · Mar 22, 2012

Do a google search for old shotgun parts, there are lots sites that sell old gun parts..

RalphWD45 · Mar 22, 2012

Jimmy! I had a Stevens pump 12ga, with the browning style, that I inherited from my grandpa. Back in the 60's I got snow in the barrel, and lost 6" off the barrel, when I shot at a rabbit. the gun was sawed off to just past the last crack, and was worthless as a shooter. It sat in the closet for yrs and was moved from Ill to WA when I came out here to Wa. Out of curiosity, I dropped it off at a gun shop, and the gunsmith found a good used barrel, and installed it. Aparently, other barrels fit the Stevens shotguns, or maybe it was because it was built on the Browning patents. Anyway it has been a good full choke,shooter, and my son in Missouri has it now. The old Stevens were GOOD guns, just not expensive, and not much for bragging rights!

Stephen Newell · Mar 22, 2012

Before it's thrown away I would check and see if you can obtain a permit for it or need to. You know there are people around with fully automatic firearms which they have a permit with the ATF for. The link is one for sale. http://thespecialistsltd.com/sawed-stevens-311

Hay hay hay · Mar 22, 2012

Just remember, on a side by side double barrel, the barrels have to be individually fitted to the main action. It can be minor or major work. Depends on the gun. As i recall a 311 is a low grade gun and might not be worth the extra cost. See what a good condition 311 is worth before you sink much into it.

souNdguy · Mar 22, 2012

i'd immediately render it inoperable/disabled/demilled by removing the bbl. and or / otherwise... i'd then get it registered as an AOW fast thru a class 3 dealer.. stamp is a whopping 5$ plus paperwork.

soundguy

buickanddeere · Mar 22, 2012

Is it barrel length or a combination of overall length? Some places a break or pump action is ok with a shorter barrel as long as the overall length is 26.5" or more .

old · Mar 22, 2012

Disassemble it or remove the firing pins. As long as it can not be shoot then it can not be illegal. I do not know about where you are but a shot gun unless factory made has to have a 18.25 barrel and be 26.5 inch long in Missouri to be legal

Spook · Mar 22, 2012

I've got the same gun, given to me by my dad. I'll never sell it, but I know it isn't a real valuable gun.

ohiojim · Mar 22, 2012

better chuck the barrels,..you're illeagle..a class 3 license cost more then the gun's worth

Anonymous-0 · Mar 22, 2012

JAMES 18.5" IS THE ACCEPTED STANDARD, THE FEDERAL LIMIT IS 18", 1/10TH UNDER 18" WILL GET YOU FEDERAL JAIL TIME. BE CAREFUL BECAUSE IN INDIANA IF YOU WALK INTO A GUN SHOP WITH A SAWED OFF SHOTGUN THEY WILL CALL THE POLICE.BUT YOU CAN TAKE IT TO POLICE STATION AND TELL THEM WHAT YOU FOUND AND THEY WILL TAKE IT WITH VERY FEW QUESTIONS ASKED.

Eldon (WA) · Mar 22, 2012

(quoted from post at 12:36:34 03/22/12) I was helping a friend of mine move and in his garge I found a Stevens 311 double barrel 12 ga sawed off less than 18in,which is illegal.I hate to throw it away,it needs some parts which is getting hard to find.What should I do?

jimmy

Google "Ruby Ridge" to see how it could lead to all kinds of trouble!

Goose · Mar 22, 2012

I have a Stevens 520, probably what you're talking about.

It was my father's from 'way back before I was born, and was the first firearm of any sort I shot. When I was maybe 11 years old, I kept bugging him to let me shoot it till he finally gave in, figuring it would knock me on my butt and I'd forget about it.

I shot a can off of a post, and then went down in the corral and shot a jack rabbit.

donjr · Mar 22, 2012

Check around some pawn shops and gun stores. They usually have a box full of barrels covering just about all makes.

barnE · Mar 22, 2012

Take wooden dowel and drop it in the barrell with unloaded of course, mark the dowel, take it out and measure. Better be 18 and quarter inch. If not I would drop the barrels down a well or throw in river or melt in foundry. This was advise from gunsmith. Dave

Organicfarmer1972 · Mar 22, 2012

Try this website. They used to stock Stevens replacement barrels.

http://www.gunpartscorp.com/

I've also purchased barrels from http://www.gunbroker.com/
http://www.midwestgunworks.com/

I would take the barrels off of the gun and keep them seperate. That way you do not have a complete prohibited weapon.

Hope this helps

Russ from MN · Mar 22, 2012

I wonder why it's illegal to have a shotgun with a barrel under 18" but you can buy a Taurus Judge revolver that shoots .410 shot shells? It has about a 3" barrel!

RN · Mar 22, 2012

Measure first, then see if a .410 insert of legal barrel length is still available. If so, insert and braze, then maybe extend looks of outside by use of light steel tube. This was ocassionly done for gallery guns, some movie guns in late 50s to 70s after 68CGA. Other thing is a heirloom gun sometimes allowed to be registered for $5.00 as curio- but usually the gun has to be older than 1938. The other short shotguns are factory made with short barrels- Ithaca auto-burglar, Iver Johnson bicycle guns, the survival guns sold sulplus, High standard M10 police. RN

GordoSD · Mar 22, 2012

If you can't I need a stock and a trigger guard for my Dad's old 311. email open.

Pair-a-dice farm · Mar 23, 2012

(quoted from post at 21:29:59 03/22/12) I wonder why it's illegal to have a shotgun with a barrel under 18" but you can buy a Taurus Judge revolver that shoots .410 shot shells? It has about a 3" barrel!

I had the same thought, Here in Arkansas I doubt that you would be charged with an illegal weapon unless you committed another crime.

641Dave · Mar 23, 2012

Yeah, that 18" rule doesn't make any sense anymore. Anyone know where that came from in the first place?

From wiki in regards to the 18" rule....

United States
Under the National Firearms Act (NFA), it is illegal for a private citizen to possess a sawed-off modern smokeless powder shotgun, that is a shotgun with a barrel length shorter than 18 inches (46 cm) or an overall length shorter than 26 inches (66 cm), without a tax-paid registration from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, requiring a background check and either a $200 or $5 tax for every transfer, depending upon the specific manufacturing circumstances of the particular sawed-off modern shotgun being transferred. Short-barreled muzzleloading blackpowder shotguns, in contrast, are not illegal by federal law and require no tax-stamped permit, although they may be illegal under state law. As with all NFA regulated firearms, a new tax stamp must be purchased before every transfer. Inter-state transfers must be facilitated through a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) while intrastate transfers may be between two persons.[8]
In the US, shotguns originally manufactured without shoulder stocks, having their barrels shortened to under 18 inches, are classified as an "Any Other Weapon" by the BATFE and have a $5 transfer tax, if they are manufactured by a maker possessing the appropriate Class 2 Special Occupational Taxpayer Federal Firearms License. However, in order to convert an existing shoulder-stocked shotgun to a short-barreled shotgun or an existing pistol-grip-only shotgun to an "Any Other Weapon", a private citizen must pay the standard $200 NFA tax.[1]

brian brooks · Mar 25, 2012

savage owns stevens and you can still get alot of parts from them they can also tell you whats interchangable....savagearms.com

jackinok · Mar 26, 2012

as i understand it ,barrels under 18" are not illegal,per say. CUTTING the barrels to under 18" is the problem.any firearm is legal in its original form.Probably,gun shows or internet would be your best bet for barrels.Keep in mind that they may have to be fitted.Those old 311's are excellent shotguns in my opinion .I used one for years until a thief decided he needed it worse.The big discrepency in prices you will find is because stevens owned,and made fox doubles for a while.the fox doubles are a whole different ball game.Personally, i never thought the stevens /fox shotguns could hold a candle to the 311's.Even though i owned and used one for a while, I never could hit birds with it like i could the 311. All about fit, some folks swore by them.heres a tip,SOME not all monkey wards shotguns were stevens made,if all else fails, look for barrels off one marketed as western field.they should be a lot cheaper and some will be the exact gun you have. Watch for one made in the same town as yours and its likely a stevens..Forearm changed very much on them over the years,so that could be a problem,i just dont know.some, even had plastic stocks and forends.if you have one of those the plastic is likely worth more than the gun these days.they were not made long and most cracked,so not many have survived.that makes them more valuable to collectors.

Rich_WI · Mar 26, 2012

(quoted from post at 16:56:22 03/22/12) i'd immediately render it inoperable/disabled/demilled by removing the bbl. and or / otherwise... i'd then get it registered as an AOW fast thru a class 3 dealer.. stamp is a whopping 5$ plus paperwork.

soundguy

No can do.... you need to get your stamp [b:960577ec10][i:960577ec10]BEFORE[/i:960577ec10][/b:960577ec10] you do any cutting. You tell the feds you already cut it and want to make it legal and you are gonna get a visit by some of our goverments finest jack booted thugs.

Destroy the barrels is your best option. Even if you take the barrels off and store in a different location, its still illegal because they can be put back on. There is tons of case history on things like that and the BATF has charged lots of people with just disassembling illegal guns.

Anonymous-0 · Mar 28, 2012

If you go into a police station with a sawed off shot gun you will be in deep crap.Putting info about a sawed off shotgun on a public forum is STUPID.Theres a fellow in jail now because his rifle went full auto.Gunsmith found a broken part, fellow is still in jail.

Sawed off shotgun

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