[NotLucky]

Ive never owned a slug gun, but i do alot of archery hunting in southern pa and now maryland. well all the places that i archery hunt in MD are shotgun only, so its time to buy my first slug gun. well first off, im not sure which slug gun to purchase and secondly, ive seen some of the guns have Cantilever scope mounts. what are your thoughts on these mounts? do they hold zero well or do you need a top dollar scope the help hold zero? just looks to me like the mount can give too much and slowly throw the scope off zero. give me some feedback please

 

[turkey4life]

actually the mount helps from keeping the scope come off zero. having the scope hooked to the barrel keeps it more acurate and keeps the scope from getting nocked of zero from the recoil.

if your not looking to spend alot get a mossberg or a remington 870.

 

[hunt/fish365]

I like cantilevered mounts. The scope always stays true to the barrel. I;ve has a cheap 4x Bushnell on my Mossberg 500 pump for the past 8 years or so, and have never had to touch a knob.

Depending on how much you want to spend will dictate what you buy. I have no complaints with my Mossberg combo gun. It came with two barrrels, and a interchangable comb for the stock.

Only thing I dislike is that massive recoil. May want to try a 20 gauge. The kick about like a 270. A 12 gauge will knock your retina's loose.

 

[turkey4life]

I like cantilevered mounts. The scope always stays true to the barrel. I;ve has a cheap 4x Bushnell on my Mossberg 500 pump for the past 8 years or so, and have never had to touch a knob.

Depending on how much you want to spend will dictate what you buy. I have no complaints with my Mossberg combo gun. It came with two barrrels, and a interchangable comb for the stock.

Only thing I dislike is that massive recoil. May want to try a 20 gauge. The kick about like a 270. A 12 gauge will knock your retina's loose.

I guess my 870 must have an awesome recoil pad because the kick doesnt bother me that bad. its loud though and ill probably scope my eye when im excited and taking a shot and not holding down anough.

 

[John Henry]

First off, get a pump, that way you can use it in PA should you need to. (There are a few places in PA you can use a semi for deer.)

I have the Hastings canti-lever barrel for my 870. It doesnt pattern worth crap. Have a bushnell shotgun scope on it, supposed to be designed for recoil. SO I dont know if it is just the scope or what. And I am using a Caldwell Lead Sled to sight in, which works awesome for all my other guns, including my 300 Ultra.

As for recoil, yes, it is HUGE in my 870.

Also, most places that allow slugs also allow muzzleloaders, so you may also want to consider a nice in-line.

 

[hunt/fish365]

The recoil pad on my Mossberg looks to be ventilated rubber. I think it was made out of the same stuff they make ashtrays from. Rock hard.

 

[jayd4wg]

Cantilever scope mount is the only type of scope mount I would even consider for a shotty. I'll second the 20ga option too, 12's are ridiculous on the recoil end. A decent mossberg combo gun will run around 300 I think. I still have the POS scope that came with my mossy 500 about a dozen years ago and it shoots very well.

The comment about the hastings barrel not grouping - have you tried the hastings slugs with it John? I'm only asking b/c i spoke in depth with the guy who is running Hastings ammo division and he stated that his slugs were designed around that barrel so i'd imagine it should shoot very well., Just my .02

In closing -

- get a pump action (or a lever...there are a couple nice Puma lever shotguns out there)
- try to avoid 12ga unless you are very tolerant of heavy recoil. A 20ga is more than sufficient and has about 25%less recoil IIRC
- get a rifled barrel if you desire sub 3" accuracy at 100 yards out of your gun, and then commit to getting that accuracy by trying every brand/load available until you find one that shoots well. There are many threads on this forum on this very topic
- if 5" accuracy at 50 yards is sufficient for you, a smoothbore barrel with iron sights would work, be a little cheaper both to buy, and to feed. Foster slugs will run about 3 bucks a box or so. Sabot slugs (required for rifled barrels) run about 3 bucks per SLUG.
- replace your recoil pad with a Limbsaver or similar. You will not fully appreciate this until you shoot the gun without one...so do that first

- there's alot to be said about carrying around a lightweight single shot smoothbore with iron sites and punkin balls...sometimes I wish I didn't have my pump gun.
- I would NEVER exchange an inline for a slug gun - too long to reload and with the accuracy of smoothbore guns, a follow up shot will be on order sometime and I'd rather be able to follow up quickly but that is just my preference.
Welcome to the darkside...slug hunting just has a different feel about it.

 

[B0whunt3r]

I had a Mossberg 500 cantilever and now an 835 with. No other way to go in my opinion. When deer season overlaps pheasant and I'm bored I can switch out the barrels at the car without worrying about the scope.

 

[HIGHFIELD]

Last year I bought an 870 Supermag combo. Came with the field barrel and a rifled slug barrel with iron sites. My brother bought a 870 slug gun with the cantilever mouted barrel but wanted the iron sites. So I swaped them out and mounted a reddot on mine. Shoots like a dream never shot it past 50 yards but I get at least 1 inch groups at 50 yards takin it out today and goign to try for the 100 yard target. Like they said Recoil is heavy but I can shoot about 2 boxes of the SST slugs or the rem copper sabots before I start to flinch. and thats around 25-30 bucks for the two boxes so thats enough shooting for me. The only thing I dislike about it is how high the scope sits. I ordered one of the remington sure shot stocks that have the high comb to raise your head up. Should be here today so ill let you know as soon as we get it on. In my honest opinion you cant go wrong with the 870 slug gun with the cantilever mount.


Ken

 

[hunt/fish365]

The mossberg combo comes with a removeable combs for both field barrel, and slug barrel. Kinda ugly, but effective.

 

[jayd4wg]

the mossberg stock is nice...but there is alot of stocks that won't take any good kind of comb enhancement. I made my own from a sheet of ABS, heated it up and cut it to shape. My stock was hard to work with b/c of the in-stock shell storage.

I recently got turned onto another trick though and this is TOP notch.
taken from HERE
Get a CCA cheek rest for their collapsible AR-15 stock. this unit is fully adjustable, and you can mount it to any stock using a short piece of a weaver/picatinny rail. You will have under 20 minutes and 30 bucks invested and it looks nice, works better.
http://www.ecost.com/detail.aspx?edp=461...ELAID=366960667

this is a very clean cheek piece and would work well on any stock as long as you don't mind drilling a couple holes to mount the picatinny rail.

Mine is not as pretty, but very functional.

 

[John Henry]

The comment about the hastings barrel not grouping - have you tried the hastings slugs with it John?

Jay, I have not tried the Hastings slugs. I will try some next time I need to use the slug gun, which wont be for about 2 years. Also, my gun dealer/gunsmith said to try the Lightfield slugs also.

He also said he has had cantilever set ups in which he has put a set screw down through the receiver and just apply a little pressure to the receiver. He said that this adds a little stability to the canti-lever, and has had good results for some of his customers with accuracy issues on a canti set up.

 

[jun1or]

GET THE CANTILEVER. the whole point of that mount is so the scope stays true with the barrel. mine has held zero for 10 years now with a junk scope. I interchange barrels for turkey, dove, and deer, and its always dead on when I switch back.

 

[NotLucky]

thanks for all the response. I actually have Gaunder Mountain bringing in a Mossberg 695 bolt action from Wisconsin to see if i like it. I have always liked my 870 wingmaster and saw the 870 shurshot and it fit me pretty nice. i.ll let everyone know what i choose