Sawed off rifle

Two reporters, one writing the the story and the other feeding information, in a report on a crime scene said the police had seized a cut-rifle from the place. What on earth is a cut-rifle? But it was not difficult for the editor to understand what the reporters meant. A sawed off rifle or a sawn off rifle, or off may take a hyphen fore such as sawed-off or sawn-off. Cut-rifle is again a mother-tongue intervention but that is what made the understanding the thing easy. But why would people saw off the barrels of their rifle? This way they are easier to hide and the shot pattern is more spread out, giving the shooter a better chance to hit the target.