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Shotgun newbie

Porkchop500

Porkchop500

Copper BB
Not only is this my first post on this forum, but I also recently purchased my first shotgun, the Mossberg 500. As you all know, it is a fantastic piece of equipment and thus far I am very happy with my purchase!

So my main purpose for purchasing a shotgun was to try clay shooting (which is highly addictive as I quickly found out!). But I was also interested in shooting slugs to about 100 yards. My question is this, what's the performance difference between shooting a rifled slug in the stock smooth bore, versus switching to a rifled barrel and a standard slug? I'm not a professional marksman but is there really a difference in one setup versus another an amateur would notice?

Since I'm new to the shotgun world, I hope I have my info correct but feel free to correct my ignorance if I am mistaken. Thanks in advance for all your feedback!
 
Welcome from MI!!



First shotgun!?!?!?!?! You are in for a fun ride. You've just purchased one the funnest, most versatile, hunting, clay shooting, home defending, pumpkin exploding pieces of equipment available to man.
 
Welcome to the forum from NY and congrats on your new Mossy. You get a chance post a pic.:)
 
Welcome and congrats! If I had to have just that one last gun left... it might very well be a 12 gauge shotgun (a Mossy, of course).

Now I'm not very knowledgeable enough about slugs (rifled vs. sabot) to give you a meaningful answer. I believe that there will be a difference, but I also decided for myself and my own use that it was academic. From smooth bores, people get groups at 100 yards that I'd probably have a hard time shrinking with a rifle and open sights. One of the main appeals of the shotgun for me is its versatility from the smooth bore configuration so I'm not interested in the ways you get the absolute best performance (chokes, different barrels, etc.). It's a jack of all trades thing for me. Then again I don't hunt nor shoot clay so YMMV.
Here's a little video just to show you the potential of rifled slugs (and that's good enough for me):

 
Thanks for that video. If he's putting holes in wood from 230 yards with a smooth bore, I don't see any reason to purchase a second barrel that's rifled just to shoot slugs. The smooth bore looks like it can shoot slugs pretty accurately by itself. Thanks for the help! And I will try to get some pictures of her posted!
 
That is a good video!

Oli, who is busy fighting wild fires, has also made 200 yard shots I believe.

The rifled barrel makes the sabot slug work like a 3/4", 300 grain rifle round. It stabilizes more similarly to a rifle and in conjunction with a scope can be deadly accurate I'm told, to 300 yards. I personally have no experience with rifled barrels but I have a friend who has one, though in my estimation he's never used it to its potential.

Having said all that, I'm more or less in @Twelve Pump 's camp. It really is a very versatile firearm with a smooth bore. You can shoot essentially any 12 gauge ammo available. Including slugs.

They take a little work, point of aim isn't always the same as point of impact so you have to learn where to hold, Kentucky windage if you will. Different brands will do different things too. So it really comes down to practice. But that's the fun part.
 
What he said.

Never had the need for the more pinpoint type accuracy out of a rifled barrel with sabots, I have rifles for that kind of shooting. That said, I can put up consistent and repeatable hits on paper plate sized targets at 100 yards with my smooth bores and rifled slugs...

...oh, welcome aboard and congrats on your new shotgun!
 
Down the road you can pick up a rifled barrel that often have a "built-in" cantilever mount for a scope that may or may not be included.

PS: the cantilever, in theory, allows you to remove the barrel and re-install a smoothbore, while still retaining scope "zero" to the bore of the rifled barrel. Just re-install the rifled barrel with scope and it should be good to go. In theory...

LINK In blue or matte...
 

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LAZY EYED SNIPER said:
Never had the need for the more pinpoint type accuracy out of a rifled barrel with sabots, I have rifles for that kind of shooting.
Click to expand...

I agree with this point, but some states don't allow rifle hunting if hunting is what you'd be doing and the rifled shotgun barrel would then fill this role.
 
Welcome to the Mossberg Owners Forum Porkchop !!

Congrats on buying the new 500...looking forward to a range review !!
 
Thanks all for the feedback and warm wishes. I doubt I will use the shotgun for hunting in the near future (although I live on a state boarder and the next state over does forbid rifle hunting). I was mostly looking to go from clay shooting right to target and go up against my buddy's rifle for giggles. I do plan on splurging for an M110 or something down the road for real distance shooting, but for now, I was hoping to try the shotgun out for targets 100 yards or so with no scope. Thanks again for all the help, I'm sure glad I found this forum! I've learned so much about the shotgun world from your posts on this site!
 
Glad you're enjoying the forum.

Think of the looks on your rifle buddies' faces when you punch the 100 yd target with a slug from a smooth bore shotgun. That's a good feeling.

When you get into rifles head on down to our "Other Weapons" section. There's a good amount of info on precision shooting and the tools to make it happen. The M110 is a solid rifle, but you can spend half of the cost to get the same specs without the KA name on it...
 
You can def do 100 yards with a smooth bore gun! Personally I can't see that far with irons but at 25 yards I was shooting individual spent shotgun shells. I start missing things at 50 yards with irons.
 
Twelve Pump said:
Welcome and congrats! If I had to have just that one last gun left... it might very well be a 12 gauge shotgun (a Mossy, of course).

Now I'm not very knowledgeable enough about slugs (rifled vs. sabot) to give you a meaningful answer. I believe that there will be a difference, but I also decided for myself and my own use that it was academic. From smooth bores, people get groups at 100 yards that I'd probably have a hard time shrinking with a rifle and open sights. One of the main appeals of the shotgun for me is its versatility from the smooth bore configuration so I'm not interested in the ways you get the absolute best performance (chokes, different barrels, etc.). It's a jack of all trades thing for me. Then again I don't hunt nor shoot clay so YMMV.
Here's a little video just to show you the potential of rifled slugs (and that's good enough for me):

Click to expand...
Pretty cool. I sight mine in of 100 yards with a rifled barrel using sabots. My range isn't long enough for further distance by I have Strelok on my phone to help out on calculations should the need arise. Seeing the video should put a few folks to rest about the notion that shot guns are only good at close range.
 
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