Mossberg Ghost Ring Users?

[Rumble]

Anyone out there use a Mossberg 500 (or similar model) with the factory Ghost Ring sights? If so, can you let me know where (or about where, since I know everyone has different settings) your rear aperture is located elevation-wise?

I've been trying to sight in my gun at 50 yards, and I've got the elevation maxed out, but it's still hitting 8-10" low. I've made an effort to use the ghost rings properly, so I'm not sure what it is I'm doing incorrectly at this point (although it's probably flinching - holy heck does the gun kick), but I thought that if anyone out there had similar elevation issues with their sights, it might rule out certain things.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Oldnamvet]

Try having someone else shoot it once and see if they get roughly the same POI. Various good recoil pads will help avoid/cure that possible flinch.

 

[Fumbler]

Wow, I have the exact opposite problem.

I added the ghost ring set to a 500 that I modified myself.
I cut the barrel down from 24" to 18.5 and took off the vent rib.

I have the elevation bottomed out as low as it will go and luckily it's the correct height.
Any farther and I'd have to get a taller front sight.

What length barrel is it? I think if you added it to a long barrel that has the factory choke tubes then you might have the low problem. As you move the front sight farther forward your POI will go down. Plus factory barrels are expanded before they thread them for tubes. If it's been expanded then it would naturally make the front sight taller.

Are you shooting the gun of of a rest?
Try that and also let someone else shoot it just to check how you compare.

Try different ammo too.

If the gun still shoots low then you can file down the front sight a little at a time until it hits POA.

 

[nitesite]

I have a 590 with factory ghost ring sights, so I just put my Lyman digital micrometer to it to check for you.

The horizontal (mid-line) index mark on the rear aperture is 0.575" above the receiver. This is with my shotgun sights regulated for 50-yards.

The front sight height, measured by touching the micrometer to the barrel where it meets the brazed sight base, is 0.808".

I wish I could shoot your particular gun just to see if it shoots the same for me.

Let me just say that shooting a 12-ga with slugs from a bench rest is going to be brutal on you. Same with full buckshot loads. Your torso is leaning too far forward, and the full recoil is going to drive back into you in a most unpleasant way. When you use shooting bags or any kind of a bench rest, it's a sure recipie for breaking your eyeglasses or having your thumb hit you HARD in the cheek. Your upper body is positioned to be stationary and your butt is behind you acting as an anchor for your entire spinal column.

Try shooting while standing up, and feel free to use shooting sticks or a vertical post if you feel the need to steady your aim. Shift your weight a little forward onto your front foot, elbow held quite high to roll muscle over your shoulder socket, and just rock with the recoil so your weight is now more on both feet.

I've helped several recoil-shy slug shooters to not be afraid of the 12-ga recoil they once cringed from. I've even used a garage push-broom as a vertical support to help steady the gun and (once they were able to absorb the recoil by standing up and moving with the gun) everything became much easier for them.

Even sitting cross-legged with your feet pulled in tight, and using your elbows on your knees for a rest, allows your body to rock backwards under recoil far better than hunched over a table or truck hood.

Hope this helps.

Dave (nitesite)

 

[Rumble]

Hey, thanks all for the advice. To answer some questions, it's a 20" barrel, and I was shooting off of a rest. I'm not sure if the barrel is long enough to cause the sighting issue I'm having. I'll measure the sights, too, to see what kind of height it's sitting above the barrel.

And, I'll definitely try some standing shots. I've punched myself in the face once with this gun, and that was enough. I'll let people know how it turns out!

 

[goon]

One thing you might try - if it does turn out to be the sights you could either switch the front sight with a shorter blade or just file the existing one down to bring your POI up. I have done that on a few guns. It works great but you have to go slow because you can't put metal back if you take too much off.

 

[EHCRain10]

fumbler how did you remove the vent rib from your barrel?

 

[Fumbler]

With a vice grip and a lot of muscle.

I cut the rib (hacksaw) behind the point that it's attached near the muzzle.
Clamp on the vice grip, and twist the sucker til it pops off.
Cut the rib again near the chamber end and the rib should slide off of the little posts.
Grab each post with the vice grips and twist off.
It leaves little marred up humps where the posts were soldered on. You can dremel them flush and refinish the barrel.

 

[DAVIDSDIVAD]

hmm, my ghost rings were sighted in dead-on from the factory, so that's really strange that your gun is shooting so low.


about the kick: have you considered a Knoxx industries stock?

The compstock I have really tames the recoil of heavy loads.