For a HD shotgun, is it better to have ghost ring sights or.

[lexcruiser 12]

.. would something like a Reflex red dot sight be useful?

I'm looking into the Mossberg 590 and I know it comes with a slew of different configurations...

 

Was looking at the different sight combo's (bead, 3dot, ghost ring) and was thinking if I should just go with the bead version (less money), then just purchase a picatinny rail and install something like a red dot reflex sight of some kind.

 

Would that stand up to the recoil of a 12gauge shot? Is it even useful?

 

Would appreciate everyone's thoughts. =)

[Malsua 1,422]

Don't bother with sights. Get a light.

 

Cheap red dots will fly apart on shotguns and you won't be aiming.

 

A laser is different though, if you want to stick one of those on there.

[TommyRuss 6]

I'm a big fan of the ghost ring sights on my Mossy 590A1. I also have the Surefire forend light.

[Caine 147]

A lot of it is personal preference. My 590A1 has the factory ghost ring set up, and for me at least, it works well. My NEF Pardner Pump (basically an 870 clone) has a bead sight. That works fine for most things too.

 

The biggest difference I see is the cheek weld. Shotguns with the ghost ring require your face to sit just a little bit higher on the stock. Adding a red dot sight will also require a slightly different cheek weld.

 

I don't like the 3 dot set up as I find it's slower compared to a ghost ring or a bead. Some people love them as they closely mimic the sight picture of a handgun.

 

If you do go with a bead sight, one worthwhile addition may be adding an XS BigDot over the bead. The instructor in a shotgun class I took had this set up and it seems to work really well. It's almost the best of both worlds... you have a nice big sight out front and you don't have to adjust your cheek to properly see it.

 

Good choice on the 590A1 tho - they're rock solid shotguns.

[Guest]

my thoughts on a shotgun in a HD situation..

 

point..

click...

done...

 

as stated a flashlight on a momentary switch would be a lot more useful IMO..

[djg0770 481]

my thoughts on a shotgun in a HD situation..

 

point..

click...

done...

 

My thoughts too. A HD situation will most likely be 7yds or less... I highly doubt there will be any time for aiming.

[Chad 3]

Don't bother with sights. Get a light.

 

:text-yeahthat:

[Ray Ray 3,566]

my thoughts on a shotgun in a HD situation..

 

point..

click...

done...

 

My thoughts too. A HD situation will most likely be 7yds or less... I highly doubt there will be any time for aiming.

 

Aiming a shotgun? NEVER!!!

[djg0770 481]

my thoughts on a shotgun in a HD situation..

 

point..

click...

done...

 

My thoughts too. A HD situation will most likely be 7yds or less... I highly doubt there will be any time for aiming.

 

Aiming a shotgun? NEVER!!!

 

Ray is of the sweep and shoot school. He's investigating tracer shotgun shells.

[Ray Ray 3,566]

I'm the best around with an 870, and I'll prove it!

[Caine 147]

While I understand the reasoning behind all the "point and shoot" comments, it goes against my instincts to not aim. And since I shoot pretty poorly even when I aim, I can only imagine the result if I spray and pray

I hope you guys at least pattern whatever you're using for HD shotgun ammo in you HD shotgun so you have an idea of how the round will behave at the various distances you may encounter.

[Malsua 1,422]

While I understand the reasoning behind all the "point and shoot" comments, it goes against my instincts to not aim. And since I shoot pretty poorly even when I aim, I can only imagine the result if I spray and pray

I hope you guys at least pattern whatever you're using for HD shotgun ammo in you HD shotgun so you have an idea of how the round will behave at the various distances you may encounter.

 

When I say "not aiming", I mean, you're not going to mount it to your shoulder, rest your cheek on the stock, look down the length and take a measured shot. It's going to be a quick...thattaway...boom. You may or may not get it to your shoulder but the barrel will be pointed at the bad guy. Home defense distances are close. If you get a good light and the bad guy is illuminated, chances are good he's under the cover of the projectile. Same with a laser. Get the dot on the bad guy and you don't need to aim.

[crazyboy 13]

I hope you guys at least pattern whatever you're using for HD shotgun ammo in you HD shotgun so you have an idea of how the round will behave at the various distances you may encounter.

 

Yup, the pattern wont be anything in such short distances.

[MedicYeti 96]

A flashing light. One that flashes mores code "Your dead"

[NJgunowner86 0]

you won't be aiming.

 

Of course, you don't need to aim a shotgun at all. Just point it in the general direction of the bad guy and it will unleash a cloud of pellets that will hit everyone in the room and send them flying back 10ft just like in the movies. That is, if you even need to shoot. The shuck-shuck noise a shotgun makes will instantly strike fear into the hearts of crackheads and psychopaths alike and send them fleeing in terror, their underwear soaked in fecal matter.

 

:roll: :roll: :roll:

 

I really hope you guys pattern your various loads at various distances. Please tell me you do. I really hope you practice using that thing if god forbid you ever have to use it.

 

I have found many buckshot loads to make nothing more than one big hole at as far away as 15 yards from a 18.5 & 19" barreled cylinder bore shotguns. Every shotgun will pattern every load fairly differently. I've seen buckshot loads make a fist size spread at 20 yards in my 18.5". I was shooting Federal Flite-Control LE buckshot making an 18" spread at 50 yards a week ago. Chew on those numbers for a second please.

 

If you are thinking you're not going to need to place that .72" hole in a good spot you are sadly mistaken. At an average HD distance of 7-10 yards (that's 21-30 feet. How far is your bed from the bedroom door? How long is the longest hallway in your house?) you will in fact need a well placed shot because you are going to have little to no spread at all at an HD distance even with typical #4 or 00 buckshot.

 

I honestly wouldn't care what the heck you use, but the fact that I'm stuck in Suburbia and you could very well be my neighbor and send some 00 buck into my living room the night you get robbed is a little troubling.

[Malsua 1,422]

There is no need to pattern a shotgun for home defense.

 

None.

 

zero.

 

There is effectively no spread at HD distances. If you believe that you're going to raise a shotgun to your shoulder, rest your cheek on the stock, line up bad guy in cross hairs and squeeze the trigger ever so gently, you haven't thoughtfully analyzed how these situations occur.

[Caine 147]

Sorry Mal, but we're going to have to agree to disagree. I can only speak for myself, but, whenever my hand touches the grip of a shotgun, the butt of the stock always ends up in the general vicinity of my shoulder. Even if the shotgun is pointed straight down at the floor between my legs, the side of the stock is touching the outer portion of my chest just inside of the shoulder socket. Again tho, that's just me.

 

Also going to have to disagree about patterning. Maybe your house is set up different than mine, I dunno, but there COULD be a situation where I am shooting past 7yds... namely from the bedroom to the end of the hallway or from the end of the hallway into the living room and/or dining room. Ideally I would never leave the bedroom, as I don't have kids I would need to corral, so maybe it's a moot point.

 

:confusion-shrug:

[coldsolderjoint 84]

Sorry Mal, but we're going to have to agree to disagree. I can only speak for myself, but, whenever my hand touches the grip of a shotgun, the butt of the stock always ends up in the general vicinity of my shoulder. Even if the shotgun is pointed straight down at the floor between my legs, the side of the stock is touching the outer portion of my chest just inside of the shoulder socket. Again tho, that's just me.

 

Also going to have to disagree about patterning. Maybe your house is set up different than mine, I dunno, but there COULD be a situation where I am shooting past 7yds... namely from the bedroom to the end of the hallway or from the end of the hallway into the living room and/or dining room. Ideally I would never leave the bedroom, as I don't have kids I would need to corral, so maybe it's a moot point.

 

:confusion-shrug:

 

This is all purely situational.. but if you had the time to get the shot off accuratley at further than 7 yards.. depending on the circumstances, a prosecutor could argue that your life was not really in danger and you had time to premeditate a murder.

 

Just Saying...

[Caine 147]

This is all purely situational.. but if you had the time to get the shot off accuratley at further than 7 yards.. depending on the circumstances, a prosecutor could argue that your life was not really in danger and you had time to premeditate a murder.

 

Just Saying...

Agreed - like I said, I don't really have a reason to leave the bedroom.

[Malsua 1,422]

Sorry Mal, but we're going to have to agree to disagree. I can only speak for myself, but, whenever my hand touches the grip of a shotgun, the butt of the stock always ends up in the general vicinity of my shoulder. Even if the shotgun is pointed straight down at the floor between my legs, the side of the stock is touching the outer portion of my chest just inside of the shoulder socket. Again tho, that's just me.

 

Also going to have to disagree about patterning. Maybe your house is set up different than mine, I dunno, but there COULD be a situation where I am shooting past 7yds... namely from the bedroom to the end of the hallway or from the end of the hallway into the living room and/or dining room. Ideally I would never leave the bedroom, as I don't have kids I would need to corral, so maybe it's a moot point.

 

:confusion-shrug:

 

People seem to misunderstand what I'm saying here. You have 500 milliseconds to shoot. Go. Did you get it to your shoulder? Perhaps. Were you able to thoughtfully aim? No. Think of it like the Tueller drill. If you can aim thoughtfully and have it in the firing, aimed position, by all means, do so. You can't count on that so you shouldn't count on that. This is why a light or a laser is important. When the perp is lit up and it's go time, fire.

 

Even at 25 feet, the pattern for any shotgun round, is going to be 5 inches or so through an 18 inch barrel.

[Jon 264]

I have to say I disagree with some of this info being posted. I took my 870 to the range with the bird-hunting barrel(unsure of the length but it's way longer than my slug barrel) and a full choke and at 7 yards it was making 12"+ holes with 00 buck.

[Malsua 1,422]

I have to say I disagree with some of this info being posted. I took my 870 to the range with the bird-hunting barrel(unsure of the length but it's way longer than my slug barrel) and a full choke and at 7 yards it was making 12"+ holes with 00 buck.

 

That's pretty bad.

[Caine 147]

And sadly, that's the problem. Different guns handle different loads differently.

 

I get where you're coming from Mal, particularly about the reference to the Tueller drill. Can I shoulder a gun and get off an accurate shot in 1.5 seconds or less. Dunno.

I guess to me, the shotgun is more of a "honey, did you hear that?" *glass shatters downstairs* "Call 911" while I grab the shotgun. In that scenario I should have at least 5-10 seconds to grab the gun and wait. If someone is already in the bedroom before I realize something is wrong, I'm probably not even gonna have time to grab the shotgun (might be a storage issue with my setup).

[NJgunowner86 0]

I have to say I disagree with some of this info being posted. I took my 870 to the range with the bird-hunting barrel(unsure of the length but it's way longer than my slug barrel) and a full choke and at 7 yards it was making 12"+ holes with 00 buck.

 

Yeah, that's awful man....I've used four different shotguns 19", two 18.5", and a 28" and at 7 yards with buck I've never seen anything besides one big hole. Might want to try out a different barrrel. My "research" is far from conclusive as 4 guns is a miniscule sample, but yeah.

[Ray Ray 3,566]

You shouldn't even be using a shotgun for Home Defense, what are you guys trying to do, kill the bad guy and the 2 guys next to him? You should be calling 9-1-1 and waiting in a locked bathroom for the good guys to come and save you.

[robot_hell 72]

I have to say I disagree with some of this info being posted. I took my 870 to the range with the bird-hunting barrel(unsure of the length but it's way longer than my slug barrel) and a full choke and at 7 yards it was making 12"+ holes with 00 buck.

 

Try some steel shot or plated lead 8-)

[djg0770 481]

just use slugs

[crazyboy 13]

I have to say I disagree with some of this info being posted. I took my 870 to the range with the bird-hunting barrel(unsure of the length but it's way longer than my slug barrel) and a full choke and at 7 yards it was making 12"+ holes with 00 buck.

 

 

Something's just not right there.