mossberg mariner question about cylinder bore

[hipoint]

Picked up a new toy this morning at the flea market, a mossberg mariner. 400 bucks, might have overpaid a bit, but I like it. Came with a pistol grip and the regular stock, don't think I'll ever need the pistol grip though.

I've never owned a shotty with cylinder bore before, what ranges should I keep 00 Buckshot to with this thing? Also, I have seen where I can send in the barrel to have it threaded for chokes, doing this would seem to do away with the rust preventative finish on the gun so would you folks recommend this or getting another barrel for hunting? I'm leaning towards a smoothbore with rifle sights just to keep around or just forget it and use as is?

I rarely shotgun hunt, but was curious since I've never owned a short barrel (18 in) with cylinder bore before...

 

[oneounceload]

Take the ammo you will want to use and try them at the distances you envision using them to see how your patterns are

 

[hipoint]

haha, probably the best advice is the simplest...

I'll go get some poster boards and see what it'll do, if I'm feeling up to it, I'll snap some pics and post them.

 

[Texan Scott]

Rough rule of thumb: an inch of spread per yard of distance. So, to keep all your shot in a pie-plate sized group, 10-12 yards, about 30-35 feet, roughly two car lengths. For use in or immediately around the house, it makes a VERY potent defend-in-place kinda weapon.

 

[hipoint]

I'll get out there and check the spread, looks like I need to just get a barrel for hunting use if I ever wanted to use it that way.

 

[rcmodel]

The cylinder barrel will work with small shot for upland game birds in the brush.

You can hardly beat a Cyl or Imp Cyl for Kansas quail in the hedge rows.

And I've killed a truck load of Pheasants over the years with an Imp Cyl over bird dogs.
A Cyl would have worked as well.

rc

 

[hipoint]

rc, you're everywhere haha

 

[200Apples]

Texan Scott

Rough rule of thumb: an inch of spread per yard of distance. So, to keep all your shot in a pie-plate sized group, 10-12 yards, about 30-35 feet, roughly two car lengths. For use in or immediately around the house, it makes a VERY potent defend-in-place kinda weapon.

hipoint, consider too that "reduced-recoil"/LE 00 9-pellet buck loads keep a slightly tighter pattern. For example, at 50 feet (not yards), the 9 pellets stayed within the lifesize human head shape on a paper target from an Remington 870 Wingmaster fitted with an 18.5-inch cylinder bore (no choke) barrel.

At 75'/25yds, I was able to keep all 9 pellets of full-power 9-pellet 00 buck on the top half of the 2-1/2 foot-wide paper target using my 12 ga 20" cyl bore-barreled single-shot break-action shotgun.

Forgive the feet-yards confusion; the indoor range where I have patterned both shotguns recently changed their motorized target carriers along with the measurement standard from feet to yards (they still have painted on the floor a 12', 25' and 50' yellow stripe).

What was surprising to me was how through such seemingly-short, no-choke barrels the shot patterns stayed relatively tight.

 

[243winxb]

Buffered ammo makes a big difference in size of the pattern. Federal Premium Vital-Shok Ammunition 12 Gauge 2-3/4" Buffered 00 Copper Plated Buckshot 9 Pellets Box of 5 $7.99 The copper plating keeps the shot from getting deformed, unlike soft lead.http://www.midwayusa.com/product/162380/federal-premium-vital-shok-ammunition-12-gauge-2-3-4-buffered-00-copper-plated-buckshot-9-pellets-box-of-5

 

[Dave Markowitz]

I have a Mariner like yours. Ammo makes a HUGE difference in patterns. E.g., Federal low recoil 00 buck in the Flite Control wads will stay in a 5" - 6" circle at 12 yards, while it will stay on a paper dinner plat at 25 yards. Patterns with the cheap Remington 00 buck from Walmart are about twice as big at both ranges.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk.

 

[Deer_Freak]

Try some Winchester Super X magnum buckshot. Using a Maverick 88 with a 20" barrel I can put 13/14 pellets in a silhouette at 40 yards. There are 15 pellets in a 3" 00 buckshot shell. Winchester has made the current Super X shell for about 20 years. In that time I seen a lot of shotguns tested. I have yet to see a shotgun that shoots another brand better.