Was in the market for a slug gun and picked up a brand new mossberg 500 with 24" rifled, ported barrel at dick's sporting goods. On sale for $199, same price as the made in china NEF pardner they tried to talk me into at gander mountain 
The pardner seemed nice, but I just couldn't bring myself to go with the made in china gun. Have to say that despite a few rattling parts, I like the mossberg better.
I gave the gun a quick once over with a bore snake and some gun scrubber,nothing major. Shot some rem oil on it and took it to the range today.
Put 20 rounds of 2-3/4" slugs through it in about 15 minutes and it ran flawlessly. Loaded both from the mag, and from dropping a shell onto the carrier. Ejected every round cleanly, whether cycled fast or slow.
I shot from a portable shooting bench, resting my elbows on the table, but not resting the run on anything. Sighting with the factory iron sights. Target was set at 100 feet, and I used an "official 100 yard sight in" target. The orange bullseye, with white cross grid through it.
First five shots were brenneke KO slugs (plain old 2-3/4" slugs).
All 5 shots were in the orange bullseye. The first about 9:00, the rest spread out towards 6:00. Nothing impressive, but they all would have been good enough for a deer at that range. Possible these would be more accurate, as it was the first time I had ever shot the gun, and the first time I'd shot at all in a few months.
Recoil wasn't fun anymore and I put on a hunting vest so there was more than a T-shirt between me and the gun. It has a good buttpad on it, but not that good....
Next five: Brenneke KO sabot slugs
These grouped tighter than the regular KO's but were all high. 2 in the top edge of the orange, and 3 just above it. The rifled barrel seemed to stabilize them very well. They not only punched clean round holes, but the "key" grooves that mate the slug and sabot were cleanly cut into the paper.
New target and some pondering why I didn't get a 20 gauge
Next Five: Remington Sluggers- 2-3/4" 1 oz slugs
These grouped just slightly better than either of the KO slugs, but were consistently low, just catching the bottom edge of the orange bullseye.
Last Five: Remington Copper Solid Sabots (2-3/4")
These were my favorite and are probably what I will take deer hunting. They grouped MUCH tighter than any of the other slugs. 3 shots were overlapped, stretchting from left to right across the center of the bullseye, with the other 2 shots about a half inch below and to the right also touching each other.
What I liked almost as much as the accuracy, is the ballistics of these bad boys. They have the lowest muzzle energy (according to the box) of any of the slugs I shot today, but retain their energy so much better that they actually carry more at 25 yards and farther. So you don't have the recoil of the other slugs, but pack more punch where it counts. They do cost about $11 a box though unfortunately.....
I did have a box of litefield hybrid expansion sabot slugs left to try, but decided to save them for another day. They're 1-1/4 oz slugs, and have the highest muzzle energy of any of the slugs I brought, I figured that would be better suited for a fresh shoulder on another day.
I wanted to shoot my .22 rifle some at that point and make sure I wasn't developing a flinch, but the guy I had brought shooting with me was hogging it, so I got out my .243 instead. After about 15 rounds, my shoulder started to twitch and I decided it was time to get the pistols out.
Before my next range trip I'm going to buy a few more boxes of the copper solids.....and another .22 rifle
The pardner seemed nice, but I just couldn't bring myself to go with the made in china gun. Have to say that despite a few rattling parts, I like the mossberg better.I gave the gun a quick once over with a bore snake and some gun scrubber,nothing major. Shot some rem oil on it and took it to the range today.
Put 20 rounds of 2-3/4" slugs through it in about 15 minutes and it ran flawlessly. Loaded both from the mag, and from dropping a shell onto the carrier. Ejected every round cleanly, whether cycled fast or slow.
I shot from a portable shooting bench, resting my elbows on the table, but not resting the run on anything. Sighting with the factory iron sights. Target was set at 100 feet, and I used an "official 100 yard sight in" target. The orange bullseye, with white cross grid through it.
First five shots were brenneke KO slugs (plain old 2-3/4" slugs).
All 5 shots were in the orange bullseye. The first about 9:00, the rest spread out towards 6:00. Nothing impressive, but they all would have been good enough for a deer at that range. Possible these would be more accurate, as it was the first time I had ever shot the gun, and the first time I'd shot at all in a few months.
Recoil wasn't fun anymore and I put on a hunting vest so there was more than a T-shirt between me and the gun. It has a good buttpad on it, but not that good....
Next five: Brenneke KO sabot slugs
These grouped tighter than the regular KO's but were all high. 2 in the top edge of the orange, and 3 just above it. The rifled barrel seemed to stabilize them very well. They not only punched clean round holes, but the "key" grooves that mate the slug and sabot were cleanly cut into the paper.
New target and some pondering why I didn't get a 20 gauge
Next Five: Remington Sluggers- 2-3/4" 1 oz slugs
These grouped just slightly better than either of the KO slugs, but were consistently low, just catching the bottom edge of the orange bullseye.
Last Five: Remington Copper Solid Sabots (2-3/4")
These were my favorite and are probably what I will take deer hunting. They grouped MUCH tighter than any of the other slugs. 3 shots were overlapped, stretchting from left to right across the center of the bullseye, with the other 2 shots about a half inch below and to the right also touching each other.
What I liked almost as much as the accuracy, is the ballistics of these bad boys. They have the lowest muzzle energy (according to the box) of any of the slugs I shot today, but retain their energy so much better that they actually carry more at 25 yards and farther. So you don't have the recoil of the other slugs, but pack more punch where it counts. They do cost about $11 a box though unfortunately.....
I did have a box of litefield hybrid expansion sabot slugs left to try, but decided to save them for another day. They're 1-1/4 oz slugs, and have the highest muzzle energy of any of the slugs I brought, I figured that would be better suited for a fresh shoulder on another day.
I wanted to shoot my .22 rifle some at that point and make sure I wasn't developing a flinch, but the guy I had brought shooting with me was hogging it, so I got out my .243 instead. After about 15 rounds, my shoulder started to twitch and I decided it was time to get the pistols out.
Before my next range trip I'm going to buy a few more boxes of the copper solids.....and another .22 rifle