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Thread: Sawing off your own shotgun - ATF Forms/steps

  1. #1

    Sawing off your own shotgun - ATF Forms/steps

    I would like to transform a shotgun I inherited from my dad into an SBS. It's an old pump 12ga from the 50's which isn't worth the cost of the stamp, however, it has sentimental value so I'd like to make it something I'll actually shoot/use rather than admire it from time to time.

    Is the ATF Form 1 - Application to Make and Register a Firearm the correct form for doing this, and if so, is this the only document I need to submit?
    You will more often be attacked for what others think you believe than what you actually believe. Expect misrepresentation, misunderstanding, and projection as the modern normal default setting. ~ Quintus Curtius

  2. #2
    Frequent DG Adventurer fatdog's Avatar
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    Yes, and don't do anything until the approved Form 1 complete with stamp is back in your hands.

    Then you have to engrave the receiver per the instructions and then you are free to cut the barrel or take just the barrel to a gunsmith and have them cut it. I have done several. I did Form 1 through electronic submission with my NFA Trust several years ago and it was a relatively painless process, even paid my $200 with my credit card. I am told that they are much faster now but I have not been through it in a few years.

    My form 1 was sent back through the ATF portal as a PDF, never received a physical copy, just a color PDF, that is how they do it. The paper process worked the same way but just took a lot longer when I did mine.

    One of mine was a worthy project....this gun is a blast to shoot...with the friction ring in the rear position it even runs the Federal Tactical low recoil buckshot.

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    Last edited by fatdog; 03-21-2020 at 10:35 AM.

  3. #3
    Site Supporter SeriousStudent's Avatar
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    I would recommend reviewing these two threads. I found them useful a few years back when I did a Form 1 to make an SBS.

    https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread...1F-submissions

    https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread...1-using-EFORMS

    You'll need a set of passport photos (easily done with a phone app) and a set of fingerprints. You can order the cards and ink pads off Amazon.

    I would always get a prepaid Visa debit card at Kroger and use that for the $200 payment. Made it easy to check the balances.

    Hope that helps. I do like an SBS, they are a good deal of fun.

  4. #4
    Site Supporter SeriousStudent's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fatdog View Post
    Yes, and don't do anything until the approved Form 1 complete with stamp is back in your hands.

    Then you have to engrave the receiver per the instructions and then you are free to cut the barrel or take just the barrel to a gunsmith and have them cut it. I have done several. I did Form 1 through electronic submission with my NFA Trust several years ago and it was a relatively painless process, even paid my $200 with my credit card. I am told that they are much faster now but I have not been through it in a few years.
    Yep, a Form 1 through e-file was running around 30 days. I have no idea what COVID will do to that time frame, but I cannot envision is getting shorter.

    I just did two more Form 1's for a pair of SBR's last week, I'll let you know when they come back.

    fatdog's caution about not altering stuff is a wise one until approval is granted is a wise one. I never alter a barrel until I have the approved form back in the mail and in my hands, and have verified all it's details.

  5. #5
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    Fat dog- Tell us more about that auto-5? It looks really sweet

  6. #6
    Frequent DG Adventurer fatdog's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Poconnor View Post
    Fat dog- Tell us more about that auto-5? It looks really sweet
    Belgian, early 60's mfg I think, found in a LGS used rack for about $300, original wood was nothing but a collection of splinters, cracks on stock and fore-end. Finish was 60% gone from the whole gun with absolutely horrible pitting. Your classic Alabama farm shotgun that somebody never took care of. Threw it in the bed of the truck, never cleaned, etc. But mechanically near perfect. So I knew it was a near perfect project gun.

    Had it refinished in Duracoat after I filed the Form 1 and engraved it, replaced the springs, cut to 14" per the form 1, added the XS front sight (glued on top of bead version with JB Weld).

    Synthetic stock was generic, I don't even remember what brand, but I shortened it to 12.5" LOP including a Pachmyr decelerator. The Nordic components guys make a magazine extension for the A5 and it turns out that their +0 end cap can be screwed in and backed out a few twists to yield 5 rounds in the standard mag tube so I have a very reliable 5+1 configuration.

    The A5 Friction ring of course fits in two positions, the forward position for heavy loads, but I put mine in the rear position for lighter loads. I can blast my way through regular birdshot loads to my heart's content. While I don't think of this as a primary defensive firearm, I have Benelli's and 870's for that, it would suffice. I ran about half a sleeve of Federal Tactical Flight Control Low Recoil #1B back when I built it and that stuff was plentiful. Nary a bobble with any load I have put in it. In fact I have not had a jam of any kind since the SBR conversion.

    Oh yeah, a 3-gungear 5 shell side saddle on the other side of the receiver...

    Every time I drag it to the range everybody wants to shoot it, and it is fun because it will run as fast as you can snap the trigger, and nobody can put it down without a big grin on their face. I seem to never leave the range with a single loaded shell.

    And yes that is a copy of the form 1 plastered to the stock with shipping tape....
    Last edited by fatdog; 03-23-2020 at 07:00 PM.

  7. #7
    Site Supporter Hambo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by critter View Post
    I would like to transform a shotgun I inherited from my dad into an SBS. It's an old pump 12ga from the 50's which isn't worth the cost of the stamp,
    Just because I've got a soft spot for '50's shotguns, tell me what you're going to hack.
    "Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by fatdog View Post

    One of mine was a worthy project....this gun is a blast to shoot...with the friction ring in the rear position it even runs the Federal Tactical low recoil buckshot.
    Damn, that is sweet. I didn't see that the first time around. Someone must have paid you to sneak it in later so I wouldn't be coveting yet another firearm.
    You will more often be attacked for what others think you believe than what you actually believe. Expect misrepresentation, misunderstanding, and projection as the modern normal default setting. ~ Quintus Curtius

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Hambo View Post
    Just because I've got a soft spot for '50's shotguns, tell me what you're going to hack.
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    Ward's Western Field Model-30. That end of that fiber optic clip is about where the cut will be at 15.5 inches. It's currently 29.5.


    more info

    Quote Originally Posted by from article
    ...the Montgomery Wards’ “Western Fields” brand was stamped on guns made by some of the biggest names in the U.S. firearm industry – Savage, Mossberg and Marlin to *name a few. These are budget guns of old...

    The Model 30 and 31 were actually the Savage Stevens 520/620 pump action shotgun was designed by John M. Browning. They were first introduced in 1904 and were sold with the Stevens name and also rebranded for the major catalog retailers like Montgomery Ward’s Western Field line...

    BTW for convenience for anyone else passing by... here is the necessary ATF Form 1
    You will more often be attacked for what others think you believe than what you actually believe. Expect misrepresentation, misunderstanding, and projection as the modern normal default setting. ~ Quintus Curtius

  10. #10
    Big fan of the Western Field brand. My family were pretty much poor farmers for a long time, and several of my family heirlooms are Western Field brand. Mostly bolt action shotguns and some 22LRs.

    -Cory

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