il-todd

I am thinking of upgrading my shotgun set up for next year. Does anyone have any recomendations of a good gun/barrel set up as well as a good scope. I have always shot open sights, but may want to switch to a scope. I hunt in Illinois so shotguns are only legal.
Thanks.

bigcountry

Oh, I got to hurry before slugman comes on with his single shot recommendation.

I have a 870 slug, and a gold slug. One thing I can tell ya, the gold's semi-action really takes the kick out of slugs. I don't mind to shoot it all day. (if I could afford the slugs). The 870 is a royal pain. Litterly.

When looking for one, get a good recoil pad. They ain't much and worth it. Also cantilever barrels are the way to go. I only paid 650 for my gold a few years ago, but recently prices have skyrocketed. I wouldn't pay the 850 or so they are asking for now.

I would go with a good 1187 first. Barrels are much cheaper and I don't see much accuracy difference in my 870 and Gold.

johnch

If you are hunt where you shots are less than 75 yds ,IMO go with a 11 /87 smooth bore and buy a Aim Tech scope mount ,try Brenneke KO slugs . I am getting sub 3" at 100 yd groups.

If you may shoot 75 + yds get a 11/87 fully rifled barrel with canaleaver scope mount .
Try the Brenneke KO sabots , several freinds rave about the groups they get .

jcchartboy

The answer to this question will quickly split into two directions. This will depend on what type of action are you considering. Basically it is single shot and bolt actions vs. all others. I will leave the debating to others on which one to chose. However I can give you a lot of info on the singles/bolts as that is the road I have chosen.

Bolt Actions.. Here are your choices in guns below 500$..... Savage 210F , Mossberg 695, Marlin Slugmaster. Out of these three, the only one I would avoid is the Marlin, which is no longer even made...... I personally dislike muzzlebreaks, so that ruled out the Mossbergs for me. (they too are discontinued ). I will say though that the Mossbergs may be the best choice if money is a concern, ( 200$ used w/inexpensive scope and rings available right now on an online gun auction sight)....... That leaves the Savage 210 as my personal choice, and the slug gun I currently own. These guns will run around 350$ new, and can be found used slightly cheaper.

Single shots...Only one real choice for a dedicated slug gun. The Harrington and Richardson Ultra slug. What can I say? It has an oversized 10ga barrel, and is very accurate. Oh, and if you forget about the oversized barrel, you will remember when you pick it up!

As Far as scopes go....go variable if you can..... I had a 1-4 on my gun, just went to a 2-7. Unless cost is a real concern, there is really no reason to go down to the 1-4. The 2-7 will be much more adaptable. Also try to go with a dedicated "shotgun" scope. The reason is that they will be parallax adjusted at 75yrds instead of 150yrds, possibly helping w/accuracy.

This should get things started..If you want to know more let me know..

Mounting scopes for some of these guns is topic as well....FYI

rob1

I hunt mostly here in Ohio so, it's slug guns for me too. I also shoot a Browning Gold w/ cantilever. I use a Simmons Pro-Diamond 1.5 X 5. An excellent slug gun scope for the money. I have to agree that the semi-auto really tames the recoil. I picked mine up " used ", at a local gun dealer, and added the scope later. You can probably find a reasonably priced " used " one as well.

i shoot stuff

winchest 12 gauge black shadow with fully rifled barrel and lightfield slugs is a awesome setup got my doe this year running at 80 yards in THICK THICK THICK trees. that set up is awesome. and i would say a red dot scope. if u want one i can sell u one for 40 bucks