[nebeel]

Hey everyone,

Going to get a deer later on this year, and as much as firearms have been a part of my life for quite a while, this will be my first time putting 4 legged wild meat in the freezer :)

I'm not very familiar at all with shotguns, other than my Mossberg 500 with 18" smoothbore barrel. I would also like to keep cost as economical as possible, not looking for a high end custom gun.

Few questions I guess....

1. What is a good shotgun for a a deer (whitetail)?
2. Do I absolutely "need" a rifled barrel?
3. Scope vs. Open Sights?
4. Anything else I'm missing?

Thanks!

[AJumbo]

If your shotgun has interchangable choke tubes, rifled tubes are available. They help a lot; having decent sights on the gun helps more. You might even be able to find a suitable barrel for your M500 that has both sights and interchangeable tubes; it would probably be cheaper than a whole new gun.

Whatever solution you choose, you're going to need to invest some money in ammo and PRACTICE. Slugs hit hard, but they're not a death ray. Placement is as critical as with any other hunting arm.

[PonyKiller]

if you have a mossberg 500, you can buy your choice of slug barrels, can order one with rifle sights on it already, or with a cantilever scope mount, and your choice of scope. if you chose the scope mount, i love mine with a compact fixed low power scope. barrels run you less than 175, optics is on you as to what you spend

[oneounceload]

Do you have to use a shotgun because of your local regs? Typically a rifle is a better choice, although some places mandate a shotgun
Rifled barrels are for sabot slugs, smoothbore for the others

[nebeel]

To be honest, I have no idea if my 500 has interchangeable choke tubes (or really how to check). It has the ribbed bird barrel that was "bubba'd" down to 18" and has a collapsible m4 style stock. Not sure if it's worth trying to turn it into a slug gun or not.

[nebeel]

Do you have to use a shotgun because of your local regs? Typically a rifle is a better choice, although some places mandate a shotgun
Rifled barrels are for sabot slugs, smoothbore for the others

Unfortunately, yes, I am limited to a shotgun by local regulations. If I could use a rifle I'd be in much more familiar territory :)

[tacxted]

1. What is a good shotgun for a a deer (whitetail)?
ive read hunters use .410 to 10g, slugs and buckshot. ill be hunting this year with my 12g 18" barrel with a remington extended rifled choke tube using regular foster type slugs. winchester super x printed good for me.

2. Do I absolutely "need" a rifled barrel?
i decided 3" of rifling will be enough for me. plenty of handguns have 3" barrels, and they dont have the sight radius a longarm can give you...

3. Scope vs. Open Sights?
ill be using the ghost ring sights that came on my gun. recently i have been toying with the idea of a quick detach scope, i really havent looked into it.

4. Anything else I'm missing?
if funds allow it i would suggest getting a rifled slug barrel with a cantilever scope mount and a scope of some sort. that way after deer season you can switch your barrel to your 18" one, and then back again next deer season.

[Chawbaccer]

Range time will trump just about any accessory you can buy.

Since you barrel was cut off, most likely it is cylinder bore.

[627PCFan]

500 Barrels are plentiful and cheap. Grab a rifled barrel, throw a scope on and you have a poor mans rifle. It works well in many states and cheap....except for ammo. You wont be blasting when you run $3 per round for a sabot-

[303tom]

Hey everyone,

Going to get a deer later on this year, and as much as firearms have been a part of my life for quite a while, this will be my first time putting 4 legged wild meat in the freezer :)

I'm not very familiar at all with shotguns, other than my Mossberg 500 with 18" smoothbore barrel. I would also like to keep cost as economical as possible, not looking for a high end custom gun.

Few questions I guess....

1. What is a good shotgun for a a deer (whitetail)?
2. Do I absolutely "need" a rifled barrel?
3. Scope vs. Open Sights?
4. Anything else I'm missing?

Thanks!
You can get a barrel for her for under 200 bucks.............
http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Detail.aspx?pid=723770A&catid=8022

[nebeel]

Thanks for the advice everyone, looks like I'll probably just look for a rifled barrel (cantilever?) that I can put a scope on and make sure I get some range time in.

Any suggestions on a decent scope that won't break the bank? I found one barrel/scope combo, but not sure if the scope is any good or not.

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=705661#productChart

[PapaG]

My son picked up a Mossberg rifled barrel with cantilever mount and scope at Gander on closeout for under 150 a couple years ago. He's gotten a dozen deer with it so far. Lightfield Hybred slugs.

Check out Ebay and Gunbroker for bargain barrels.

[PapaG]

Just took a look at ebay and found several ranging from $81 to 225. You might try your smoothbore and Federal Truballs...the only Foster style slug I've found that seems to stay straight in the bore. I've gotten 2 1/2" groups at sixty yards out of my smoothbore Remington.
We took in a 20" Remington 870 rifled barrel with iron sights the other day and priced it at $100.