I had one too. I had one of the first years of midel 500's with the accu choke. But I found that the fully rifled slug barrel was much much more accurate. Then our state made rifles legal in ever county for deer, so unless you can only have one gun, it makes shooting a slug gun pretty pointless.
Yea mine has a riot barrel on out loaded in the safe as a home gun. I dont use it anymore. I shoot the 870 for dove n turkey. Dont use a shotgun unless your doggin deer (i dont dog drive..its illegal in my part of state anyway)or chasing a wounded buck...
I sold my Mossberg 500 with 2 barrels to partially fund my Browning 3.5" gold hunter semi auto. Mmm walnut.....
I've shot all of my deer with rifled slugs out of a smoothbore 12 ga. As long as you realize you won't be getting rifle like range or accuracy, they are pretty deadly! I've never had a deer take a single step after being hit.
I have always wanted to shoot one bit then think why. I can shoot a rifle and have longer range and accuracy
I still remember the first time I ever shot a slug. I was 16 and had just gotten an 870 12 ga (I asked my parents for a shotgun instead of a class ring). I had never shot anything larger than a .22, and chose a 1 oz slug as my first shot out of a shotgun because I wanted to get ready for deer season (we used to only be allowed to use shotguns)! I remember pulling the trigger while aiming at a mound of dirt, and immediately dropped the gun in the grass when if fired!! I stared at it on the ground for a minute or two and wondered how anything could kick so much!! I finally got the nerve to fire 3 more shots, but that was it for me! I was even a little scared to try out clay pigeon shooting a month later because I thought that birdshot would kick as much as a slug did! Luckily I soon learned the right technique to tame some of the kick of a slug. I'm not gonna lie though, they still kick! The most I've ever shot in one sitting was 20 rounds before I starting flinching and anticipating the shot. It's way more than a .270 or 30-06 IMO.
I have shot slugs at stuff when I was younger. 3.5" turkey shot is pretty power full. I couldnt believe it first time I shot it!!!
Haha, a buddy of mine used to own a Mossberg 835. One of his favorite things to do was get someone not familiar with guns and let them shoot it. He'd put two light game loads in, and that 3rd was always a 3.5" turkey load! It was pretty mean (especially when he'd do it to girls) but it was still funny to watch. That gun hit the dirt just about every time that turkey load was shot!
i used to do the same with a revolver , i would load 5 38 wadcutters and the last shot was a .357 it never got old.
My 870 3" would give me a bloody nose and black eye when I used it to hunt Geese. Note I did not say kill Geese! Must have been the way I held the thing. I would normally take my 06 and 1187 to the range on the same day. The 06 doesn't kick half as bad as the 1187. The 870 would knockout the 1187 in 4-5 rounds if it was a boxing match. Great gun though.
870 particulary with alloy reciever are notorious for mule kicks with slugs. Has to do with the configuration of the stock. There is a rifled barrel available available for the 870.
I dont think any of the 870's have an alloy receiver, they have always been milled from a billet, if I remember correctly. The Mossberg's, however, have always had an alloy receiver. Dont think it affects any of their reliability, though, because the bolts all lock into a barrel extension and this keeps stress from acting on the receivers.
