finishing my shotgun?

[ls81]

I've mentioned this zombie themed 12ga before hee it has a ultimate arms adjustable stock and shell holder and a toolless weaver scope mount with rails on the side of the receiver. the forend is stock and the entire gun was painted in that ridiculous zombie paint job. It is primarily a range toy because its been my experience that light loads and a zombie shotgun attract new shooters and friends to it.

I want to finish it up and keep the zombie theme alive for the fun factor. I am thinking that i may want to replace the forend to something a little more grippy than the stock plastic. also when i get my barrel situation figured out (new barrel comes in from mossberg) i would like to cover it with a heat shield and possibly put a just for looks muzzle brake/ standoff on the front(would prefer slip on but not opposed to having a barrel threaded).

Later i want to add an inexpensive red dot sight to the rail mount.

Any helpful suggestions would be nice.

This is not a home defense shotgun so there really is no practical factor other than looks.

 

[oli700]

Primary Arms has good and reliable red dots that are inexpensive. But since you think the zombie thing is going to lure in people new to shooting I think a new shooter will be put off on how awkward the "cheek weld" you have to adopt to be able to see through the red dot sights.
They are tall once mounted forcing you to kinda extend your head up to more of a lower jaw weld. The shotgun is designed specific to sighting down the top of the receiver
I have also mounted a refex to a 500 and it almost ran out of adjustment before it was actually hitting with a halfway good cheek weld.
A red dot or reflex adjusted to its extreme on windage or elevation loses its greatest attribute, unlimited eye big eye box utilizing the entire lense.
The only way to get a proper cheek weld it to get a stock with a cheek riser or buy something like a strap on cheek riser.
People do it with a standard shotgun combed stock but I need a good cheek weld and unless a guy has eyes where his forehead is, he will have a crappy hold, but if your ok with it then that's cool too but it is limiting potential.

 

[ls81]

i hadn't really thought about the cheek weld I am thinking optic because of a potential breacher unless i tap the top of that for a sight i am not sure exactly how i would be aiming this thing.

I haven't figured out what it is about this thing but my wifes friends all love to shoot it with light target loads and the adjustable stock it fits nearly everyone and has a fun to shoot factor. It sits in my safe next to my traditional wood stock 500 but no one wants to shoot that.

 

[oli700]

lol, yeah wives friends are always.....wives friends.
Throw a laser on it .......that'll give 'em a woody .
Since you have a telescoping stock it might be a little better on the cheek weld front, I know its usually better for ghost ring sights, but usually a red dot is taller yet.
I actually made my reflex work with a Knoxx stock coupled with their PowerPak option....but then it was entirely to butt heavy and ultimately changed it ......then I put back the Knoxx minus the power pack, another story
If you go Primary Arms red dot and it doesn't work out , their customer service is beyond awesome and I am sure they will take it back no questions

 

[aksavanaman]

+1 On primary arms, I've actually got one "testing" right now... I think its the MDL-06... I wanted to see how long it would stay on at level 1.... Going on two months now and still not dead...

 

[ls81]

did a little research kind of interested in the ati halo heat shield now for the simple fact it has a look that i am looking for and it puts ghost ring sights on a shotgun that may or may not have a breacher end depending on if i can find one that will work easily and affordably.

 

[oli700]

might be the ticket for you. Not trying to nit pick but I never really liked sights mounted on a heat shield because heat shields can and will move or get knocked of kilter taking your sights with it.......just a heads up

Some heat shields don't like the A1 barrel thickness or the breacher barrels so make sure to research that out before you commit

 

[ls81]

i don't particularly like the concept of the sights on the heat shield but my plan is to go with the standard security barrel from mossberg and maybe later have it threaded to accept a breacher choke again purely to fit the look of the shotgun i want to achieve. or perhaps someone makes a half way decent slip on muzzle device. I think the sights being on the heat shield gives me 2 advantages They are high enough to clear any standoff that i use and they give me the option to save a little cash for a half way decent red dot. and if it turns out that they remain accurate then i can use that cash to buy me a pallet of ammo to run through it.

 

[oli700]

sound like a plan, have fun with it, careful with the new shooters

 

[ls81]

Good Eye protection, good hearing protection, and a little common sense combine those with the big and heavy 500 i'm building to help tame recoil and it should be a good safe time for many. 12ga may not be the ideal choice for first shotgun to shoot but there are so many options for light target loads that it works out just fine.

I like to take friends shooting especially those of my friends who may not have gone before or who may have had a bad experience. I have one friend who would never own a handgun. after a couple range trips he bought a herritage 22 rough rider revolver he then swore he wouldn't want anything semi automatic because here in pa there is no hunting with semi auto. Now he owns a sccy cpx-2 pistol and is making plans to find and purchase a sub 2000.

 

[oli700]

right on, you know what they say about common since.......it aint that common lol

 

[Yacol J]

If you get a big enough sight, you wont need a riser. I have a 44 mm sight on my shotgun with no riser. I have a 34 mm sight in my 464 spx. I had to raise the cheek riser on the 464 spx after I added the sight. It also has alot more comb. Here's pics of each gun. Btw both sights are 40 dollar red/green dot sights from Wal mart. Both have stayed true for some years now. View attachment 5837

 

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