Hello all. My sweet wife got me a Mossberg 500 for Christmas after a year of telling her I wanted one. It's the stock gun, but it came with a pistol grip and both the long and short barrels. I'm fairly new to gun ownership (just got my first handgun about 6 months ago) and this is my first shotgun. Does anyone have any suggestions for other important/necessary accessories that I should get? Recommendations on ammo? Any general advice about this particular model that a newbie should know about? Thanks in advance!
New 500 owner advice
- Thread starter dstrahan
- Start date
dstrahan said:
Welcome to the forum!
Your wife certainly made a good decision on getting you a 500, you just can't go wrong with a tried and true platform. Really, there isn't much to do other than buy some ammo (Federal value pack for practice and lots of it... And as many full power 00 buck/ slugs you can afford) so you can take it to the range and give her a proper break in.
First, give it a good cleaning and lube as you would any new firearm, then ditch that pistol grip (their a pain in the butt to controll and will wear on your wrist)... They have their place, but IMO not on a home defense/field gun.
Honestly, I would run through at least 500 shells before you decide on any major accessories, as becoming familiar with the platform, and shotgunning in general, is much more important than what gadgets you hang off of it! Maybe a sling and a buttstock elastic shell holder to start... As these can be had for less than $20 and are quite functional.
Go through some shells, have a blast and don't forget to post some pics of your new scattergun!
I'll pass this along to you to get you started on the difference between owning a shotgun and fighting with one. There's also a great deal of info on this forum about that, as well as how to shoot one without breaking your shoulder.
There's a number of topics on the Box 'o Truth about shotgunning so this is just the homepage. I'll leave it to you to browse thru them at your leisure. Welcome aboard.
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/theboxotruth.htm
PS: Ammo. Kinda like underwear, everyone has their fav. One of the advantages of a shotgun is the wide variety of ammo it can use. From slugs to birdshot, and it can get very confusing.
There's a number of topics on the Box 'o Truth about shotgunning so this is just the homepage. I'll leave it to you to browse thru them at your leisure. Welcome aboard.
http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/theboxotruth.htmPS: Ammo. Kinda like underwear, everyone has their fav. One of the advantages of a shotgun is the wide variety of ammo it can use. From slugs to birdshot, and it can get very confusing.
Thanks everyone. I'm looking forward to getting out and shooting it. But as long as our schedule is stuffed, I've been keeping myself entertained by swapping out barrels, practicing loading & unloading after picking up some snap caps and just getting familiar with it. It'll be cleaning (& picture time) tomorrow.
I picked up a couple boxes of the federal ammo at Walmart for practice. Any opinions on what to get for home defense and skeet shooting?
I picked up a couple boxes of the federal ammo at Walmart for practice. Any opinions on what to get for home defense and skeet shooting?
dstrahan said:
There are many many many ideas on what is best for home defense rounds. Take a look here and you will get a good idea on what you need for your home and situation.
viewtopic.php?f=37&t=331
There are no necessary accessories....aside from ammo. The more you shoot you may find a few things that you want to try, but none are necessary for shooting and getting familiar with the gun.
For low recoil shooting plain ole birdshot is the best choice. The 100 round packs from WM, Meijer etc are pretty good deals.
For something a little heavier try some buck shot or slugs.
You can safely shoot any 2 3/4" or 3" shell of the appropriate gauge for your gun..
I would avoid the sabot slugs unless you have a rifled barrel. It will not harm you or the barrel but they are expensive and without the rifling in the barrel will be very inaccurate.
For low recoil shooting plain ole birdshot is the best choice. The 100 round packs from WM, Meijer etc are pretty good deals.
For something a little heavier try some buck shot or slugs.
You can safely shoot any 2 3/4" or 3" shell of the appropriate gauge for your gun..
I would avoid the sabot slugs unless you have a rifled barrel. It will not harm you or the barrel but they are expensive and without the rifling in the barrel will be very inaccurate.
dstrahan said:
Basic shotshell info you might find useful: http://www.shotgunworld.com/amm.html
Also there are a couple different common slug designs.
Brenneke, which is (as one person here put it) capable of punching a beer can size hole thru practically anything. It will go clean thru a 4 cyl. engine block. http://www.brennekeusa.com/cms/
Foster style: Which are more common and less expensive, but are a softer alloy and tend to mushroom on impact. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun_slug
There are a few more special purpose slugs, but usually are hard to find and expensive.
Slugs are generally good for large game - mule deer, wild pigs, rhino's, etc.; and for bad guys wearing Level IIIa body armor.
Home defense is a tricky subject, since much depends on your location, home construction, neighbors in range, etc. You are responsible for every pellet that leaves your gun. Anything that is powerful enough to stop a bad guy is also powerful enough to penetrate several layers of common sheet rock in a typical home or apartment. Don't miss.