I've Got A Shotgun--Now What?

[Cosmoline]

Thanks to the tax man, I've been forced to sell off some of my rifles for eating money. In their place, I picked up a Mossberg 500A police riot gun for $150. It's in fine condition, and it looks like it spent a lot of time in a squad car's rack. My questions are many, but I'll stick to these for the time being:

1--Best slugs (type and brand) for bear defense, including brown bears? Assume I don't care too much about recoil.

2--Best shells for HD?

3--Best 12 Ga. shells for hunting squirrel, ptarmigan or snowshoe hare? I've got a .22, but my goal is to have one gun to do everything so as to avoid hauling around a bunch of iron. Assume there are no legal prohibitions on shot type or shotgun type for small game or upland bird hunting.

4--Best shells for hunting moose?

5--What about 12 Ga. flares? I've seen these in the store, but I don't know if they can be used with a regular shotgun.

6--Pros and cons (if any) for heat shields. I want one because they look cool, but I don't know if there's a down side.

7--Any other ideas on how to trick up a Mossy 500A

Thanks!

 

[Benjamin]

2--Best shells for HD?

You will get a variety of answers for this. Long story short: if you're in a heavily built up environment, go with birdshot. If you're no, buckshot is probably the best bet.***** Whatever you choose, practice, familiarize yourself with it.

5--What about 12 Ga. flares?

They are safe to use, provided that your shotgun is of the same gauge.

6--Pros and cons (if any) for heat shields.
Pro: some think they look cool
Con: eats up your money, adds weight, doesn't do anything appreciable

7--Any other ideas on how to trick up a Mossy 500A
Yes. Run two cases of ammo thru it.

AFTER THIS, you will have a much better idea of what, if anything your shotgun actually *needs*
If you're planning to use it for HD, it's not a good idea to hang all sorts of crap off of it so that it looks cool. Better to keep it so that it works every time.

***** A resident guru suggests that, within shotgun range, the actual load doesn't much matter. The phrase 'could be loaded with breath mints' has been used from time to time.

 

[NINE]

I've got a REM 870 Marine Mag(basically the same design), and I love that short shotty! I've shot small-game(ducks, wild chicken, squirrel etc.)with No.4 shot. (in a 18inch cylinder bore barrel, the spread negates total destruction of the meat providing you are not 6 feet away, and just one pellet has to hit)
3 inch slugs, pick your favorite flavour for both black bear and moose. I like Winchester's "Super X".
A cool thing to have on your shotgun is one of those slip on shell holders on the stock, I have one and it's almost always holding 5 3inch 000 buck, you know... just in case.

 

[huntsman]

Now what

If you going to use it as a field gun I'd forget about the bells and whistles,The more you got on the greater chance you have of snaging in the brush.You'll need an assortment of ammo,start with 00 buck and maybe #4 buck some birdshot 7-1/2 or 8 and I use 4-6 for turkey,rabbits,pheasant and other critters.As for big game buy slugs,try a couple different brands and see which shoots best,I like the 2-3/4" brenneke's.If you gun is cyl bore you might think about having choke tubes in stalled this would give you a great deal of versatility on game were longer shots are needed.
I also thought about a 1 gun system,I would sell all my shotguns and pick up an 870 marine mag have choke tubes installed and some type of sights for deer with slugs.But I couldn't come up with a sight that I felt wouldn't be a hindrence when wingshooting.I think I could get along just fine with my stainless 357mag KGP141 a Marine mag and maybe a stainless 10/22

 

[Dave McC]

ONE shotgun is all one "Needs" in an all around system, like most compromises it's less than ideal for any particular mission. Your Mossy will work.

Try different slugs to see which will group best. Leave the sabots alone, except for rare exceptions, the full bore slugs work better in smoothbores. And, the cut a bigger hole, which may be important in bear country. A standard bead sight will work with slugs up to maybe 50 yards, further with a bit of expertise.

Re heat shields, save your money.They're cosmetic, not functional.

As for HD loads, meaure the longest shot possible in your home and add one yard for GPs. I bet your 500 will put ANY load you have into 3-5" at that range.

The old FBI database said (and maybe still does) that shotgun one shot effectiveness approaches 98%, regardless of gauge or load.

If this were me, I'd stock up on a good slug(Only to be found by range testing),some full power 00(no "Tactical"/low recoil buck), a box of two of 1 1/4 oz #6 shot loads, a mess of AA trap loads in 7 1/2, and whatever steel loads for waterfowl are proper for your area and game.

 

[Dead]

For home defence I would go with a min of #2 lead shot! They wont go that far, and still have enough energy/peneration to be effective (I think so at least).