Shotgun barrel lengths in Victoria

[Jonnyk]

What's the minimum barrel length I can cut down my single barrel to? Want something that's short that I can throw around in the scrub, it's a 12ga baikal

[No1Mk3]

G'day JonnyK,
50cm barrel and 75cm overall.Cheers.

[<<Genesis93>>]

you can buy ANY length barrel.... provided the overall length is greater than 75cm (else it would be a cat E)...

However, you can not reduce the length of the barrel to less than 50cm (19.69inch) even if the o/a length complies...... it doesnt make sense when you can BUY a 16inch barrelled SG....but anyway...thems the ruules...

[No1Mk3]

Dear Genesis93,
Sense? Firearms Law?? You speak in riddles my friend, for "sense" hath forsaken them!

[<<Genesis93>>]

yep...
I think this 'anomaly' for want of a better word should be resolved, our SFFP MPs should look at it...

The fact that you can buy a, say, 18in 308win rifle off the rack, also a 20in 308win rifle, yet if you lop 2inches off the latter your contravening the Firearms act.... how could the bureau-crazy defend that nonsense??

[duncan61]

Does any one know at what length a shotgun barrel would be fairly useless by being to short.I know trap guns are around 28 inch and skeet 26.

[bladeracer]

Does any one know at what length a shotgun barrel would be fairly useless by being to short.I know trap guns are around 28 inch and skeet 26.

I think my Bentley pump gun was 20" and that worked pretty well on birds at close ranges. Except for slugs, I've never tried to kill anything with a shotgun past about 30m or so.

[duncan61]

My greener was 27 inch full choke and used to do bunnies out to 60-70 metres but I was using 1-1/4 ounce of 4 shot heavy field load Winchester and they would not have a mark on them but were dead.Up closer they would have massive bruising so I would get around with one ounce 7 birdshot but even that load messed em up under 30 metres.

[duncan61]

I would of liked to see the pattern at 10 metres.I am not sure what the man was trying to demonstrate.I tested all my chokes and ammo when I purchased a Winchester XLT semi auto with 4 different screw in chokes by using a 5 foot square of white painted cardboard from 30-45 Metres