This is what happens when you’re doing a whole bunch of “home gunsmithing” jobs at once. Being surrounded by guns, frames, barrels and parts makes one giddy and prone to weird inspiration. Staying up til 2:30 am might have had something to do with it too.
The result: a Thompson/Center Encore 20-gauge shotgun — with a pistol grip. Long enough to be legal with a 24″ barrel, and surprisingly lightweight and handy. Balance is just aft of where the rear sight sets. Would be a really easy-carrying field gun. Don’t know how many birds you’d actually hit, though.
And yes, those are Williams FireSight rifle sights. They came with the barrel even though it’s a smoothbore. I’ve shot clays with this gun with a shoulder stock mounted, and it’s doable with the rifle sights — just different.
Are the TC Rifle and pistol barrels interchangable with the stock and pistol types?
They are, but you have to be careful what you assemble so as not to violate Federal law on short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns. Chris Byrne has a very informative post on the subject here. http://anarchangel.blogspot.com/2007/04/how-not-to-have-your-life-ruined-by.html
The one caveat to his post is that State law can have its own rules on the subject that are not affected by the Thompson/Center court decision Chris discusses. He mentions this, but I’d really like to emphasize it because as a California resident I’m well aware of the extra stuff I have to deal with. For example, if I assemble a T/C Contender or Encore with a rifle barrel less than 16″ long or an overall length of less than 26″ I’d better have done so with a frame that was designated as a pistol frame by the Thompson/Center factory. Residents of most states don’t have to keep track of that nonsense, but I do. And you might too. Check your state laws.