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New To Hunting & Shotguns

Water Monkey

The man, the myth, the monkey
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Hey guys,

Looking to pick up a 930 spx soon for home defense and a bunch of my buddies also have shotguns. A bunch of them were talking about doing some hunting this fall (Turkey or Deer) so it got me thinking.

I've never been hunting before and neither have my friends. Will my 930 spx be suitable for hunting with a cylinder bore and an 18.5" barrel length?

It was mentioned in one of my threads (didn't see this hunting section when I posted it) that if I do turkey hunting I would need a choke on my barrel. Seems the 930 spx isn't equipped to accept a choke on the barrel, correct?

So, would it be wise to end up getting a 24" turkey barrel from mossberg? And if so can I also use this barrel for hunting deer with a slug if I take out the choke or is the barrel dedicated for turkey hunting?

Thanks for your help!

Water Monkey
 
You will have to have choke tubes installed into your barrel in order to turkey hunt with the 930. Any gunsmith can do this and the cost varies. I have been thinking of having mine done too.
You can buy another barrel that accepts chokes. For turkey, use no less than the full choke, but you will more than likely want an aftermarket "turkey" choke tube. There are LOTS to choosed from in all different price ranges.
You can deer hunt with slugs with the barrel that comes on the SPX. The sights are plenty good for that. If you decide to buy a barrel with choke tubes, you can use the modified or improved cylinder tubes to shoot slugs. Just shoot both tubes and see what groups the best.
Personally, I would buy the 24" turkey barrel and turkey hunt with that. I would use the standard SPX configuration for deer. The ghost rings that come on the shotgun lend themselves to slug shooting and hunting, not just home defense.
 
tcecil88 said:
You will have to have choke tubes installed into your barrel in order to turkey hunt with the 930. Any gunsmith can do this and the cost varies. I have been thinking of having mine done too.
You can buy another barrel that accepts chokes. For turkey, use no less than the full choke, but you will more than likely want an aftermarket "turkey" choke tube. There are LOTS to choosed from in all different price ranges.
You can deer hunt with slugs with the barrel that comes on the SPX. The sights are plenty good for that. If you decide to buy a barrel with choke tubes, you can use the modified or improved cylinder tubes to shoot slugs. Just shoot both tubes and see what groups the best.
Personally, I would buy the 24" turkey barrel and turkey hunt with that. I would use the standard SPX configuration for deer. The ghost rings that come on the shotgun lend themselves to slug shooting and hunting, not just home defense.

Thanks tcecil88 you've been extremely helpful!

I'm not keen on going to a gunsmith at this point. That and where I live gunsmiths are few and far between.

I finally grabbed the manual online and it answered a lot of my questions regarding the shotgun and the other barrel information. I originally thought you could take the choke off and shoot the slugs and I quickly realized after reading that would probably be a really retarded thing to do as it would screw up the threads where the choke attaches. So basically what you are saying is I would need another choke tube to shoot slugs if that's what I wanted to do with that 24" barrel?

I'm probably going to take your advice and get a turkey barrel IF that's the game that's decided we will hunt this fall. Otherwise I'll keep the stock 930 spx barrel for rifled slugs when deer.

But I do have a question as you raised the issue in my first thread which is the ammunition limit the gun can handle based on state laws. Looks like in NY the capacity can not exceed 6 rounds.

I was searching and I can't seem to find a vendor which sells Mossberg's original magazine cap and spring for the 5 round shotguns. Would it just be better to contact Mossberg for the parts when the time comes for hunting or are you aware of any vendors which supply these components?

Sorry if my questions seem basic and novice because they are. I just don't want to do any bonehead moves once I get this shotgun in my hands.

My best,

Water Monkey
 
SHOOTER13 said:
Welcome to the Mossberg Owners Forum Water Monkey !!

Thanks Shooter13 great to be here getting a lot of information from the stickies and filling in any blanks I have with some great posters here.

Water Monkey
 
Contact Mossberg Customer Service. They can get you the correct magazine cap and mag spring for what you want to do. I would imagine that the cap and spring from the basic 930 would be what you want.
To shoot slugs from the 24" barrel, you would need either the cylinder, improved cylinder, or modified choke tubes. Improved cylinder is typically what you would want, but a modified tube would allow you to shoot slugs and hunt small game and upland birds, but not turkey.
The problem with shooting slugs from the turkey barrel is the sighting system will not be as precise as the ghost ring sights on the SPX. At best they will be an adjustable set of fiber optics, at worst you will get a bead sight.
 
Good advice from TCecil! I absolutely agree!

I'll add that the turkey barrel comes with 3 chokes I believe, as long as you order the turkey barrel with "accu-choke" set, but, I dont believe any of the chokes are the improved or modified. Adjustable fiber optics arent so bad, its what my daughter uses and really enjoys! She has done well with them for bird hunting even, though the GRS as TCecil mentioned my be the better option for slugs, even with the shorter barrel.
 
tcecil88 said:
You will have to have choke tubes installed into your barrel in order to turkey hunt with the 930.

There is one other alternative that I am aware of.

Water Monkey, Hornady has a new load that uses a special shot cup that claims turkey gun patterns without the need for a turkey choke. it might be worth trying if you are unsure if you want to dump the cash to get the SPX barrel drilled and tapped for chokes. I have not yet tried it myself so I cannot attest to their claims.

Aside from that, all the advise allredy given is spot on.

Hornadys web site

Video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5SWoT3h63A[/youtube]
 
This guy has great information.
I am sure that he has been killin' Turkeys since before most of us were born.
As you can see by the age of gun he is using here, no XX-FULL turkey chokes for him.
A full choke and pheasant loads will take down turkeys.

I must admit that the new Hornady loads look real interesting. I hunt with a pump, so 2 3/4" shells are much more manageable than 3".

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP2LjiKL33g&feature=plcp&context=C453dfb2VDvjVQa1PpcFOFaXkK6fyUjWqNlln2cOSmtxp2e2Wg9Oc%3D[/youtube]
 
The Hornady ammunition does look good. Price is not bad either. If it does what it claims, that would be a very good alternative to a traditional setup. Careful patterning would be required IMO but everyone here already knows to pattern your gun. I think for a first timer this could be the ticket to help keep the cost down. It would be nice to not have to dump a bunch of money into chokes and ammo.
It is also nice to see a company come out with a less expensive turkey load. The rage the last few years has been to the heavy metal loads that run upwards of $40/10. That is ridiculous.
I shoot an 835 with the factory turkey tube and a 2 oz. Winchester Supreme #5 load. I have tighter chokes than the .690 factory tube, but the .690 performs the best with this load. I also have several boxes of this load which is the another reason I stick with it. Walmart typically has them for around $11- $12 box of 10.
 
The guy that owns the property I hunt uses an old fixed choke (modified or improved) Remington 870 20g. His load of choice is the cheap Remington field loads in #6 that he buys in boxes of 25. His wife and brother all use a similar setup and between the three of them they take at least one bird a year. I've not heard them mention any misses nor have they missed one while I've been hunting with him.

They have proven to me that it's not about the equipment as much as it is knowing the limitations of your equipment and working within them
 
MikeD said:
They have proven to me that it's not about the equipment as much as it is knowing the limitations of your equipment and working within them

I certainly agree with this. I used to be in the "if its new I gotta have it" camp. Now, not so much. I pretty much stick with what works for me and use the money I save for other things.
 
Hey guys,

Finally circled back to this thread. Thanks for all the advice.

Believe it or not <I'm walking on air... sorry couldn't resist> ----- I still havent patterned my shotty because the ranges here absolutely suck and I can only shoot at 50 yards. I'm good at slugs now! I have a call into another range a little bit away from me that may allow me to shoot at 25 yards to pattern.

I'll look into Hornady but I have to say my local gun and ammo shops have limited in regards to ammo diversity (main Winchester ammo with some small amounts of Federal and even limited Remmington). I think I saw that ammo at Dicks Sporting Goods but I believe it was a 3 inch shot shell. I may have to order these from Cheaper than Dirt when the ammo becomes available. Looks like ammo sales seem to be escalating the sooner we get to election time.
 
Water Monkey, do you have any state game areas or public land where shooting is allowed?

Where I live we can shoot on state land as long as we follow the rules regarding distance from dwellings, shooting hours, and have a sufficient back stop ( I like to shoot into a hill).

Just make sure you verify the laws of the area you are in and the rules of the states game agency. Also make sure it is obvious you are target shooting and not hunting (Or make sure you have a license and that something you can shoot is in season :-D )
 
I live in suburbia NY. Range firing is all I can do unless I want to drive approx 2 hours into a more rural area of NY and then I could probably do what you suggest. However to drive 4 hours round trip to pattern a shotgun which will only take me about 1 hour to do kinda kills the fun.

But I've been talking to some established NY firearm owners and I may be able to patter at 25 yards at some ranges (just waiting to hear from those ranges). The main range I've been going to is known to have the least restrictions on ammo used. They have a mobile target for the Shotgun Range but it never has a board in it so attaching a target to is becomes near to impossible. Some ranges here only allow slugs while others only allow shot. One indoor range allows a shotgun but only frangible shot which you can ONLY purchase from them at $2.00 a round (rip off).

Can you feel my frustration!

I have scheduled a Hunter Ed course in June so I should be all set with proper permits by the November turkey season.
 
I feel your friustration. The local indoor range only allows slugs/buck anf the outdoor range has it's patterning range right next to the pistol range so I have to wait until they are done to check my targets. That amounts to a lot of down time when I am only firing 1-2 shots at a time.

Fortunately I'm only 20-40 minutes from public land and/or friends property.
 
OK I ordered a 10 round box of 3" Hornady #5 Magnum Turkey Load along with some other buck shot I wanted to pattern. Hopefully it gets here by next week so I can test pattern the following:

Federal 00 Buck 1140fps 2 3/4"
Hornady # 5 turkey 3" 1600fps
Hornady Zombie Max 00 Buck 2 3/4"1600fps
Hornady TAP 00 Buck 2 3/4" 1600fps
Winchester PDX 1 2 3/4" fps not listed
Winchester Super X 00 Buck 2 3/4" fps not listed
 
Water Monkey said:
Hey guys,

Looking to pick up a 930 spx soon for home defense and a bunch of my buddies also have shotguns. A bunch of them were talking about doing some hunting this fall (Turkey or Deer) so it got me thinking.

So, would it be wise to end up getting a 24" turkey barrel from mossberg? And if so can I also use this barrel for hunting deer with a slug if I take out the choke or is the barrel dedicated for turkey hunting?

Thanks for your help!

Water Monkey


I don't know if you have seen my topic on patterning for turkey...but, It's worth a look...

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=3068
 
Tried out the Hornady # 5 Magnum Turkey Load on the 18.5" Cylinder barrel on my 930 SPX.

15 yards was a tight pattern, 25 yards the pattern spread, and 35 yards it was obviously spread a lot more.

I think based on this test you will need a choke to keep the pattern tighter up to the recommended 35-40 yards for turkey hunting.

I posted the 15 yard and 35 yard shots in this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=3946
 
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