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20 ga. Slug Gun Scope/Load Questions

mplane72

mplane72

PMA Member
I bought my son a Mossberg 20 ga. combo for his bday last November and I would like some opinions on a few things as I have little experience with slug guns.

1. The scope that came with it leaves a lot to be desired. Any suggestions? Something solid, that gathers a decent amount of light, but does not break the bank.

2. The slug barrel is the kind with the scope mount on the barrel. I believe this is known as a cantilever mount? Anyway, any of you guys find that you need to re-sight after changing from bird barrel to slug barrel or will it hold it's 0?

3. Any load suggestions? No drives for us. Just blinds and stands. I expect to have to try several loads to find what works best but some ideas where to start would be nice.

Thanks for any help offered.
 
There are a ton of quality shotgun scopes that won't break the bank, I like Nikon or Bushnell. Don't have any experience with cantilever barrels. I have great luck with the Hornady SST slugs, very accurate and affordable. You will have to shoot a few different brands of slugs to find out which perform best out of your gun but the Hornady SST's are a good place to start. A great slug for kids too, recoil is minimal.
 
What's an amount that you consider "breaking the bank"?

The cantilever should keep a zero, when switching back and forth.......but I would always go out and test shoot, to make sure it's still on target.

Lightfield makes a great slug, that should pair well with the Mossberg.
http://litfld.com/wp/?page_id=304
 
What's an amount that you consider "breaking the bank"?
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Guess I'm not sure.

Another question? Does the scope really have to be a "shotgun" model? Esp. if it is just the cross hairs and not a ballistic reticle?
 
Since you mentioned you mainly treestand and blind hunt, I'd make the following suggestion. Put a little more with the scope money and buy a decent muzzleloader combo. Packages out there in the $400 range that'd be a great setup and significantly extend his effective range over the ballistics of a 20 gauge slug gun.

The 20 gauge would still make a great pheasant and turkey gun for him. Just my 2 cents...

NWBuck
 
NW Buck I know what your saying. He shoots my accura very well but right now he wants to concentrate on and hunt with HIS gun.
 
mplane72 said:
He shoots my accura very well but right now he wants to concentrate on and hunt with HIS gun.
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You gotta respect that! :way: I don't own a cantilever mount barrel, but as Revup said, it should hold its zero the same as if you pulled the scoped action of a rifle out of its stock. But check the zero every time you do it and just be careful when placing the scoped barrel in storage.

As for scopes, take a look at Vortex, too. They have great glass with models that are very affordable. I'd probably take a "low end" Vortex model over a "high end" Nikon or Bushnell model.
 
Leave the gun as is, sight it in using 1 kind of ammo and once it is at 0 then experiment with ammo like previously stated hornady ammo is good, once all that is done if you still are not happy w the scope then look into switching, but if your just going to be sitting and the scope holds its 0 at the distance u want and it works then why change it. 20 gauge is in my opinion the best slug gun u can buy, small enough to be deadly accurate over 200+ yards and still pack one hell of a punch with a good slug. Stick with what u have and just fine tune and you will be pleased with the gun.
 
My son shoots the same gun, he did not like shooting with a scope so we switched to a regular rifled barrel. He shoots cheap non-sabot ammo. He only needed (1) shot this year, we didn't even make it to the stand he just leaned against a fence post.

Nice little gun and shoots great, its not very heavy so I think it kicks the same as my 12ga..
Bowdude
 
Thanks for the input guys. Over all we are very pleased with the gun. I don't believe this scope is going to cut it. Made in China, no light gathering and it does not appear that it holds it's zero though that could be the crappy rings it came with. Anyone else have any thoughts?
 
Great little gun...my son got his at age 13 still likes it at 17. The scope does stay true even after many switches but we still check it before hunting. It seems to shoot the Hornady sst the best. For a scope, he has a Bushnell Banner 1-4 var. It will outshoot my 12 guage A-Bolt consistently or maybe my son just outshoots me. He's 7 for 7 so far.
 
I have used the same gun for about the last 20 years. I love the top safety and the fact that you don’t need to go to the bone cruncher after sighting it in. I don’t know what Mossberg has for a rifling twist on its newer barrels but mine was slower (1 in 34 I think) and would not handle the higher speed sabots like the SSTs. It would throw a flyer every 3rd or 4th shot and not even hit the target. I load my own slugs now but the Litefield slugs worked exceptionally well out of it. I’ve heard that newer guns with 1X28 twist or faster handle the faster sabots much better but every shotgun has its own temperament and you’ll just have to experiment.
I use a 1x4 Bushnell Banner on mine because we do a lot of drives and it basically doesn’t come off of 1 power most of the time. For hunting out of a blind or stand I’d recommend a fixed power in the 2.5 to 4 range and might spend a little more for better light gathering early in the AM or late in the PM. When we drive we do it in good light for safety reasons and I’ve never found the Banner scope wanting but early and late might be a different story.
You should be all right switching barrels but don’t over tighten the nut on the barrel as large changes in ambient temperatures and multiple shots when sighting it in will cause it string shots in elevation as the barrel heats up. Just snug it up, don’t tighten it up as much as you can even with your hands.
 
mplane72 said:
Guess I'm not sure.

Another question? Does the scope really have to be a "shotgun" model? Esp. if it is just the cross hairs and not a ballistic reticle?
Click to expand...
Yes make sure you get a Shotgun scope! I tried the other route and bought a rifle scope...the cross hairs broke in short order and cost me a deer and a 450 dollar scope. I have had great success with the Nikon Prostaff scopes and Lightfield slugs.
 
With my 20ga wingmaster i shoot sst and have a 2-7 prostaff and love it. have the same scope on 2 other 12 ga's. For the $ its tough to beat it
 
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