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Blackwater 590A1 - Finding a front site that works

Jmm14534

Jmm14534

20g
Premier Member
Hi fellow mossberg owners. I'm a new member so go easy on me for awhile.
I own 3 mossberg shot guns (12 ga over under, 500 8 + 1 persuader, and a Blackwater 8 + 1 590A1 with speed feed stock).
My current project is to find a solution to the totally inoperative sight system on the BW 590A1. I'm talking about the XS rear peep sight with front ramp plus 0.040" front white blade sight. Out of the box I could not hit a camel at 50 yards. I hope the Blackwater operators were better shots than me!!
The elevation adjustment in the rear peep sight mechanism was not enough to get on paper at 50 yards. The best I could do at maximum rear up elevation was close but certainly not at POA. The rear pipe sight was on it last thread of engagement and this was not a practical solution and prone to breakage. I do not believe this is an XS issue. Their product seem pretty sound. The implementation of the sight system on this weapon system is on mossberg. The front ramp sits to high in my opinion.
I've started my quest to rectify and have purchased a new white stripe 0.0250" blade sight from XS. This should get me to about 2" low of POI at 25 yards. Still not where I want to be. I'll keep you posted. Please note that XS customer service is outstanding.
Any ideas are appreciated, especially if it involves a night site solution.
A red dot is a last ditch option due to it adding more weight to an already very heavy shotgun. Also requires a cheek weld modification.
 
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I have the same BW 590A1. Honestly haven't shot out to 50 but I did have to dial the rear ghost ring almost all the way up to zero at 25. I have a Bushnell TR25 mounted flush. Really doesn't add much weight. I mean the barrel on this shotgun is massive. So if you can sling that I don't think a RD will hurt you. Still I would choose to lower the front sight as well if possible?


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IrishMedicRN said:
I have the same BW 590A1. Honestly haven't shot out to 50 but I did have to dial the rear ghost ring almost all the way up to zero at 25. I have a Bushnell TR25 mounted flush. Really doesn't add much weight. I mean the barrel on this shotgun is massive. So if you can sling that I don't think a RD will hurt you. Still I would choose to lower the front sight as well if possible?


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Click to expand...
Thanks. I have a TR25 waiting in the wings if I can't resolve the front sight issue.
 
I gotcha, the Blackwater has that tall pedestal front doesn't it? How is the rear mounted? If you can get a hold of the kind that's on the receiver rail, that may help. Otherwise, perhaps a shim under the rail.
 
Exactly. Tall front pedestal. Great idea putting a shim under the rail. Simple fix. I will try that. I like the flush mount TR25 but batteries fail. Could be a good redundancy system at the least [emoji1360]


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Keep us posted.

My 500 Persuader shoots low too. It's like that no matter the ammo from low velocity WinLite 1 oz to Federal full power TruBall. It's just got the Meprolight bead on it but I use everything with a 6 o'clock hold but with slugs I have to cover the target just at 25 yards.

Another thought; How's the windage?
 
Update.
I've looked at the Italian made rear sight that is on the mossberg 930 semi auto tactical. This is the one that mounts on the rail. It's an interesting option and may be better than the TR25 due to simplicity. I have a friend who has this exact gun and set up and I'll ask him to let me try it out the next time we are at the range together. It's probably a $70 investment.

Shimming the rear sight rail is a creative idea but not for me. To do it right you'd have to bed it with some JB weld and that sounds like a major pain in the butt.

I want to try and get the XS system working for me. I was at the range today to test the 0.250" tall XS front blade sight. It's not too bad. At 25 yards I'm between 0.5 and 1 inch low. This is with Federal sabot slugs. By comparison I was 7" - 7.5" low with the original 0.400" tall XS front blade sight. Please note that the rear peep sight is centered in it's vertical travel. To do this I bottomed the sight out and then went up 3 full rotations. According to XS this centers the sight in the middle of it's vertical adjustment. I still have some vertical adjustment if required. Windage is OK and the rear sight can be easily adjusted left or right.
It's still not ideal but its much better. I'll try it with buckshot to see how it prints at 10, 15, 20 and 25 yards.
 
Update.
I've looked at the Italian made rear sight that is on the mossberg semi auto tactical. This is the one that mounts on the rail. It's an interesting option and may be better than the TR25 simply due to simplicity. I have a friend who has this exact gun and set up and I'll ask him to let me try it out the next time we are at the range together.
Shimming the rear sight rail is a creative idea but not for me. To do it right you'd have to bed it with some JB weld and that sounds like a major pain.
I want to try and get the XS system working for me. I was at the range today to test the 0.250" tall XS front blade sight. It's not too bad. At 25 yards I'm between 0.5 and 1 inch low. This is with Federal sabot slugs. By comparison I was 7" - 7.5" low with the original 0.400" tall XS front blade sight.
Please note that the rear peep sight is centered in it's vertical travel. To do this I bottomed the sight out and then went up 3 full rotations. According to XS this centers the sight in the middle of it's vertical adjustment. I still have some vertical adjustment if required. Wind age is OK and the rear sight can be easily adjusted left or right.
It's still not ideal but it is much better. I'm going to try it with buckshot to see how it prints at 10, 15, 20 and 25 yards.
 
Range day update!
It looks like I've finally solved my sight system issue with the Mossberg BW 590A1!
Here is the final configuration along with a couple of pics.
I've kept the factory XS rear rail and peep sight. I've installed a 0.250" white blade front site from XS. Cost me about $40 with shipping. Make sure you have a 0.050" Allen wrench.
I set the rear peep up as follows:
Turn the rear peep down until it bottoms out. Turn the peep sight up by 3.5 revolutions.
This should get you to POA=POI at 25 yards with a slug. I was using federal 2.75" sabots.

image.jpeg

image.jpeg

The blue tape is covering the wad hits.

Next up is how it shoots 00 buck at 5, 10, & 15 yards!
 
Rossignol said:
Keep us posted.

My 500 Persuader shoots low too. It's like that no matter the ammo from low velocity WinLite 1 oz to Federal full power TruBall. It's just got the Meprolight bead on it but I use everything with a 6 o'clock hold but with slugs I have to cover the target just at 25 yards.

Another thought; How's the windage?
Click to expand...
My 500 persuader shoots slugs high and left at 25 yards. About 6" high and 12" left. It seems impossible. I'll need to work on this next. Right now I have factory bead sight. I want to stick with a bead sight but perhaps upgrade to a night site version???
 
Jmm14534 said:
My 500 persuader shoots slugs high and left at 25 yards. About 6" high and 12" left. It seems impossible. I'll need to work on this next. Right now I have factory bead sight. I want to stick with a bead sight but perhaps upgrade to a night site version???
Click to expand...

I have the Meprolight and love it. It's been going strong for several years now. It's great with 00 buck, but a pain with slugs so I don't mess with them unless I have too. I keep a couple in the pack for in case.
 
Jmm14534 said:
Was installation of the mepro a breeze?
Click to expand...

Yes. But the threads are a little long for a 500 barrel. Fine for a 590A1 with heavy wall. Also, if you bottom out the threads, the head doesn't line up on the bore axis so I took the bead to the hardware store and got a few o rings (a couple as spares) and that helped get it lined up and kept the threads out of the barrel on my 500.
 
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