Just bought a new shotguun

Sundown

a 12ga. Mosberg 500 Have 3 boxes of 00 buck in the safe. Plan to take it out next weekend to get a feel for it.

Anyone got any advice for me? 'Preciate it.

Village Idiot

What do you want to do with it, shoot birds, deer, skeet, people?

Sundown

The 500 is more for home protection short and nasty looking.

Gator Bait

 
Hey Sundown,

I gather that you are well versed in the gun laws up there? I grew up in Walpole back when we could step out the back door and target shoot when ever we wanted. Times have changed. Now with all the politics involved the State of Massachusetts and many of the voters don't have a great deal of respect for your Second Amendment rights. Even down here where everyone and anyone can and does own a gun you have to be very careful when and where you fire it. The legal hassles are incredible with mandatory jail time involving years for a stupid mistake. I have a concealed weapons permit just in case I ever get pulled over and have any of my guns in the car. The bad guys don't get permits and the cops take that into consideration. The Florida permit is honored by 34 other states so if I choose to take any of my target guns on vacation with me I'm covered. The permits are also a great education in the local gun laws.

 

Sundown

and that's the truth. I've had a LTC high-cap for many years. And, you're right, the draconian laws that were enacted in the 80's are slowly going away.
Only time I carry is when we go into Boston. Feel pretty safe out here in the 'burbs.
Got the shotgun for home protection and I have to get out and see what it will do and what to expect when I pull the trigger. I was hoping someone out there had some words of wisdom for me.

Mass LTC isn't recognized by Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island or Connecticut! How's that for a slap in the face.

You wouldn't believe what we have to go through up here to get out licenses either! Not fun.

Fidel

First off, clean and lubricate the weapon. Then cycle the pump action a few dozen times to knock off any burrs left over from the manufacturing process. This will smooth the action over time and will also enable the weapon to more easily chamber shells and eject the spent casings.

Remember that a shotgun is a pointing weapon and not an aiming weapon. The 500 likely only has a simple ball sight on the front of the barrel. Just point at center mass of your target and allow the weapon to rise as you shoot - the recoil impact will be less if you don't fight it.

Spend some time mounting the weapon from a low carry. You want to get to a point where it feels natural mounting the stock to your cheek, then to your shoulder, then acquiring your target and discharging the weapon. In that order. It is a different process than firing a rifle.

When you're ready for live fire run a box or two of low brass 2-3/4" #7 or #8 shells through it to get a feel for light recoil. Then blow a few of your #00 through it. If it is chambered for 3" shells then blast a few of those as well to feel maximum recoil. I doubt it is able to fire 3-1/2" high brass magnum shells, but if it is and if you're feeling particularly randy then go for it.

Then clean it really well. Shotguns are notoriously dirty after a couple boxes of shells, and less expensive models are more prone to hanging when not properly maintained.

Village Idiot

The most important preparation is to pray to God that you never use it.

Gator Bait

 
LOL, I have a brother on Cape Cod that loves to shoot and I have heard all the horror stories from him concerning the gun laws up there. I know it's no fun. Down here you can spend the morning at the gun show taking the class for $60, fire one shot at the range and be done shortly after noon. Mail all your paperwork in and about three weeks later the permit is in the mail and is now good for 7 years. Mine took for ever because the FBI couldn't read my fingerprints . . . twice! LOL, if that happens the State recognizes that it isn't your fault and issues the permit anyway.

That's amazing that even Vermont or the rest of New England won't recognize your license. For a State like Vermont that doesn't have any gun laws that is saying a lot!

Good luck with the shotgun Sundown,

Blair

 

BigA

Thats why i live up here in the Midwest, MN and ND, you dont need a permit to carry a shotgun or rifle, in ND i dont even need to have my gun cased unless i am in town, but a conceal and carry permit are only if you are carrying a gun on a person not in a vehicle.
I hunt every weekend in the fall. i shoot on a league for sporting clays and hunt deer. and i dont need a permit to carry my guns.
but if you are wanting advice on how to shoot your gun i can help you, just send me and email, there are a lot of things that go into it, you need to be safe!

Sundown

Thank Fidel, That's what I was hoping to get. Brand new to this shotgun stuff.

No Trash

Do not aim toward the egg. It is your friend... :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

Sundown

Thanks for the reminder! :laugh:

RogerT

Congrats on your new gun purchase! Used to be part owner of a gun store and have sold many home defense shotguns while there. I personally think that 00 Buck is a poor choice for a home defense round. Think of this.

Someone is in your home, and you are forced to discharge your weapon. A 00 buck round has about 10 pieces of lead approx of a 30 caliber round. (Think 38 special/357 mag size). If you have a significant other in the home or children, can you account for where each of those 10 pieces of lead will go when you fire?

These will penetrate walls in your home and enter other rooms. And at the distances that you would have in a home situation, the pattern of your round inside of 30' or so, will be approx. the size of your fist. And will blow a hole thru a wall about the size of a grapefruit or larger.

A better choice for a home defense round would be a load of 6 shot or 4 shot.

If your gun has changeable choke tubes, Full Choke is the tightest. Modified is the next more open choke, and Improved is the most open in a typical tube setup. They also offer tubes that have skeet choke or open choke that are the widest patterns.

Do yourself a favor, put in the most open choke tube you have, (improved cylinder) downsize your shot to something smaller, (4's or 6's) and pray you never have to use it. Smaller shot sizes will shed energy more quickly as it penetrates a wall and possibly will not kill someone who is on the other side. (ie: wife, kids, pets)

Generally, if someone is in your home that should not be there, the sound of a shotgun slide being racked is enough to either persuade them to leave immediatly or stop what they are doing and give you their undivided attention. I like to call that sound of a shotgun slide being racked the "Univeral sound of Fear"

Sorry to be so wordy, just wanted to shed some light on the subject.

Roger

Jeffersonian

Speaking of the stock, are you planning on using it or will you take it off and use the pistol grip? For home defense, that's the way to go, IMHO, insofar as it makes the weapon that much easier to swing onto target.

As for the loads, if you've got others in the house you might want to keep lighter loads - #4 or smaller - to keep wall penetration to a minimum. It'll still ruin a bad guy's day, after all, but it won't be going through wallboard with any kind of energy to hurt someone you don't want to. If you're certain your stray shot isn't going to hurt a loved one...well, 00 is a nice tool to bring to a meeting where serious interpersonal differences will be resolved.

427sohc

Where are you going to try it out? Angle Tree Stone?

Fidel

I'll humbly disagree with your point about the pistol grip being easier to keep on target.

While it will lessen the radius and make the gun easier/faster to swing around a room or a corner, it also makes the pivot point your wrist and it is harder to stop that swing on target. It is also harder to control upward swing of the weapon due to recoil to lay subsequent rounds on target.

If you learn to mount a shotgun properly into the pocket of your shoulder it will move almost like a natural extension of your arm, making the acts of acquiring and eliminating your target fell more natural.

Jeffersonian

Oh, I think the pistol grip, along with a low-slung carry, is almost certainly less accurate than a traditional shoulder firing position. I also agree that shots 2 through n will be harder to control. But shot #1 will be much easier and faster with a pistol grip, especially for a shotgun newbie, and that's important in such a situation.

My concern about swinging wasn't so much the pivot point or inertia of the gun, but with obstruction and snagging issues. A full stock will give you more of both. If he wants to go to a skeet/trap range and practice shouldering the weapon and squeezing off rounds, that can be minimized.

Fidel

Not to argue or belabor the point any further, I will just say that the appropriate level of familiarity and/or training with the weapon in every configuration is a necessity (with any weapon actually) before it should ever be considered for use in a self-protection situation.