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Joined: Dec 2001
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I'm wondering if anyone here has slimmed down an SKB 200E or 385 beavertail forend. I have straight-stocked (long tang) 12 gauge SKB marked 200E, but it seems to be a transition gun for it has the same silver-grey receiver color and engraving as the SKB 385. Whatever. It has a beavertail forend which would look much nicer as splinter style or even a more svelte semi-BT forend especially as it has the straight-stock already. Anyone do this conversion this to one?

I like the gun because it's in my top 3 best hitting SxS's I've ever had, and it's pretty light and handy at 6 3/4 pounds. 26", choke tubes, ejectors, it's a good solid any-ammo hunting SxS. My buddy has dubbed it "short woman-big tits." It could use a breast reduction.

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sure it can be done

but - why alter a gun you shoot well

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Would it be possible to find a second forend to alter? Who has SKB parts about?

You could try the alteration on the second forend.

Bigs tits ain't all bad....



Best,
Ted

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Dave: I have not done the breast reduction with an SKB but have with several other s x s's. Take a good look at the inside of the forend with the iron out. You would draw a profile on the wood of where you want to take it (its final configuration) and even make a template to get it perfectly uniform. I have used a horse shoe rasp and belt sander to take them down then a finishing (profile) sander to get it perfect. Finally, finish to match the buttstock and send out to your friendly checkerer (with buttstock so he/she can match). It's a good off-season project as it takes a while to get it just right but worth it.


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Originally Posted By: OH Osthaus
sure it can be done

but - why alter a gun you shoot well



Couple reasons. One, I'm a tinkerer and can never leave well alone. I really enjoy the process of modifying something more to my liking. It's not a collector or heirloom type gun. Two, I don't think it will make a huge difference on my hitting or not with it. I did the same with a Beretta Silver Hawk and had its ugly BT slimmed down to a much more pleasing semi-BT, and I shoot that gun better than ever.

All that said, if for some reason this SKB can't be done "well" I'll leave it as is.

I just thought there might be someone here who has either done it successfully or can warn of any pitfalls based on the specific SKB forend construction.

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Good ideas Ted and Gil.

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The important issue, as to whether it can be done and look right, is how well does the forend fit the barrels now? I don't mean around the edges where you can see it. But, are the undersides of the barrels, the bottom half, a snug fit to the wood? All beavertails aren't. When you start removing wood at the upper edges you may find that there is an ugly gap between the new top profile line and the barrels. One way to tell how snugly it fits is to press a thin layer of Play-Doh inside the forend and slowly and carefully snap the forend into place on the gun. Then, remove it and see how much thickness you have in those areas.

That said, I was considering the same thing on my 200E 20 ga. I looked at it yesterday and preliminary indications are that it fits pretty well, and that it could be done to look right. Haven't decided to alter it yet though, because mine is a 99% gun and I kinda hate to alter it. My beavertail is not nearly as big as some, and I really shoot it well as is.

Good luck, Dave. Post pics before and after please.

SRH


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Stan, I'll try the putty and see if there's a chance. I'd most likely have a pro do the work because I want to to look good. smile Out of 20 SxS's I've had in the last 15-20 years this one, the 16 gauge Silver Hawk I mentioned, and a Ruger Gold Label are the three that were really "easy hitters" for me, so i'm hanging on to this SKB for a long time. I shoot it well at the range and it's a handy pheasant gun, and might even see some early wood ducks. I got the heebie-jeebies and sold the Gold Label when I read they were no longer supported by Ruger.

Last edited by Dave Erickson; 02/11/17 01:17 PM.
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Dave, Just a thought and it would require a little side by side comparison to see if it might work. Maybe you could get the splinter wood from a Mod 100 and inlet the ejector parts and fit to the 200 iron??

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Dave, I'd bet the gun you have is not marked SKB. From your description, what you have is one of relatively few (a few hundred?) SKB's imported under their own name in the late 80's. Those were the first SKB's with choke tubes . . . and SKB screwed up the model numbers, because on the earlier Ithaca SKB's, E stood for ejector, not English. The original 200E's, as most folks will remember, were pistol grip-BT guns. You wanted a straight grip, you had to get a 280E (which also had a BT). When those late 80's guns came in, 200E = straight grip and beavertail.

To your question: I had a 20ga 200E on which someone had done a nice job of converting to straight stock (which you don't need to worry about) and splinter. What they did, in the case of that particular gun, was find forend wood off a 100, then shorten the original 200 forend iron (which is much longer on a BT forend than on a 100 splinter) so the ejectors would still work. Looked pretty good. I don't think that would look so hot on your gun, because those late 80's guns had a different finish applied to the wood than the Ithaca-era guns. But I suppose a good wood guy could make the finish match. More likely would be shaving down your BT to a long and slim splinter. I had another Ithaca SKB 200E on which someone had done that, and it looked pretty good.

The real Holy Grail, IMO, came on some of the very last 385's--when they matched a straight grip to either a generous splinter or maybe semi-BT, and a nice oil finish. I had one of those guns for field test, and I thought "Hey, they finally got it RIGHT!" At which point SKB stopped making sxs. Those very late 385 field guns are even less common than those late 80's SKB's like you have.

Best of luck in your efforts!

Last edited by L. Brown; 02/11/17 06:22 PM.
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