Multi purpose shotgun

[DannyO]

Looking to buy a shotgun to sevre a wide range of duties. I want a 12g. I would like to use the gun for turkey and deer hunting but would also like something that would be useful for home defense. The only shotgun I really have shot is a Mossberg 590. Would this be a good choice for me? I am fairly new to shotgunning but my shooting buddies want me to start hunting.
Any advice would be appreciated.


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"Some people spend an entire liftime wondering if they made a difference. Marines don't have that problem."
Semper Fi

[jthuang]

Danny,

I'm no hunter, but I do own a Mossberg 590.

I would check with your game regulations first. Game regulations will restrict the number of shells your shotgun may hold, the type of ammunition you can use, and so on.

For the 590, that 9 shot magazine tube is probably going to be plugged for hunting. This is not a problem, as you can either buy a plug or you can take a broomstick and cut it down to the proper length.

In certain areas of Pennsylvania, you cannot use buckshot to hunt deer. I don't know if it's the same in your area, but you see how that limits hunters to slugs. The 590's standard bead sight is not what you want for lobbing slugs at a deer -- you want rifle or ghost ring sights. So in this respect, the stock 590, unless you buy the ghost ring version, is probably not a very good deer gun. But you can always buy a set of Mossberg ghost rings from Brownell's for $40-50 or so.

For turkey hunting, I would imagine that you need a longer barrel than the 20" offering of the M590, in addition to an extra tight turkey choke. Turkeys are cunning little creatures, so you really need a shotgun that can reach out and touch them (at longer distances) with birdshot.

My suggestion is to get a Mossberg 500 with interchangeable barrels.

Justin

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Justin T. Huang, Esq.
late of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

[PJR]

As was noted, you need better sighting than a bead can offer. You also need choke tubes so you can put out those tight patterns needed for turkey. The Remington 870 with a 20" rifle sight, smoothbore with interchangeable chokes would be my choice. You would then need an extended extra-full turkey choke and probably an extended rifle choke for precision slug shooting. Other useful options include a saddle type mount for a scope and an extended safety button. The larger safety button is great because you can easily snap off the safety as you put your finger into the trigger guard. Don't worry about the short barrel for turkey hunting, barrel length does not materially affect pattern size. It does affect handling and swing momentum but these don't matter when hunting turkey as much as when you are wingshooting.

I'm pretty sure Remington doesn't offer the 20" barrel with changeable chokes. I believe it is only offered in imp. cylinder smoothbore or fully rifled.

I would suggest what I bought because I bought it for the same purpose as a do everything shotgun. A Remington 870 combo with two barrels. A 28" vent ribbed barrel with changeable choke to be used for turkey, duck, etc. The other barrel I would suggest is the 20" imp. cylinder smoothbore with rifle sights. I suggest the smoothbore over the fully rifled barrel because you can use the short barrel for home defense, hunt with buckshot in it without having to use the long barrel on deer, and you can still shoot rifled slugs from it with very good accuracy. The rifle sights are very nice and they work well for shooting buckshot.

[Dave McC]

There's lots of ways to do this, my suggestions are....

Remington makes the 870 Express in a Turkey Combo. That gives you one 20" bbl with rifle sights and set up for choke tubes, and one vent rib 21" bbl also with tubes. With a rifled tube for slugs/deer, IC and Mod tubes for general shooting and an extra full tube for turkey, you're set.

BTW, a 21" bbled 870 has the same sight radius as a 28" bbled O/U or SXS.

Oh,yes, sling swivel studs would be nice also. Don't go overboard on the accessories tho,it's a slippery slope...

[KOG]

While the 590 is a good shotgun, I think that's better for HD. Plus, you can only use 590 barrels and the largest barrel is 20", I think. The ghost ring sight version is nice, but the gun is heavy.

If you want a Moss, get the M500. It has a 5+1 capacity and there's a dowel you can put in the mag tube to restrict the capacity for hunting. They are often sold with 28" and 18" barrels as a set and there are more barrels available to choose from, plus they sell for low prices. Or, go the Remington route and don't forget to look at Winchester. I'd try a few if possible and check into all the options that each offers in comparison to what you want to do with it. Good luck.

[PJR]

KilgorII:

Remington's Special Purpose Turkey comes with a rifle sighted 20" barrel and Rem Chokes. They also offer a 20" rifled sighted, Rem Choke replacement barrel.

Thanks for letting me know! I have stamped out my little bit of ignorance for the day. I can quit now. lol