Looking for a new gun....

[klee]

I'm in the market for a new gun. Somethings wrong with my Mossberg 20 gauge deer rifle. I'm also looking for a bird gun in a 20 gauge. I have narrowed my choices down to Remington 11-87 auto for bird. I'm thinking about a Remington 11-87 Sportsman for deer or Browning deer rifle. I'd like the deer rifle to have a scope mount. I don't know much about the 11-87 so any info would be nice.

What I'm looking for:

- want to spend under $800

- Not too heavey (I am a lady)

- shorter stock (I have short arms)

- Not too much recoil power

[jay83196]

1187 is heavy I had one and sold it for a rifle, it was,a good gun and its probably least expensive auto loader. I love my Browning rifles, I have several they are not on the light side but light is just more recoil in a deer rifle, a shotgun light is nice for walking in fields etc. If your set on an auto then for price that's really it or if you want shotgun with both barrels.

[Kettle]

Remington 870 wingmaster, it is a pump but fool proof and durable. Easy to take apart and clean. I have one form the earl 80's with more than 20,000 rounds through it and it functions like new! they do make rifled barrels for them, with scope mounts for it, accurate to about 100 yards. I gun with a bird barrel and deer barrel should combine to about 700$, there are a few variances in the wingmasters, there are more expensive ones all the same parts just more engravings on them and such

kettle

[klee]

I was just at the store earlier, and they had a really nice and light remington 11-87 for about $700 bird gun. I'm looking for more of a shotgun for deer, not rifle; sorry there was confusion in my post.

[Muthagoose]

So get a good slug barrel for the 1187 and your set..

[jay83196]

So do you plan on getting rifled barrel later or shooting rifled regular slugs? The auto for a bird gun is nice but I'd prefer the pump or bolt action for deer hunting so depends what plan on doing more of in my mind thats just me. I'm not a big fan of auto for deer most cases the recoil is enough you have to reset before just firing off another shot anyway. If you don't need a auto look into a Browning bps (pump). Good luck always fun getting a new gun, 1187 is nice and if fits you well that's most important thing.

[klee]

I want a gun that I can just change the barrel instead of having two guns for two different things. I would buy the bird gun first, and buy a slug barrel for it later. I currently have a Mossberg super bantam 500 pump-action combo in a 20ga and I love it. Somehow I took it to the range this weekend, and the deer barrel is not sighting in to the middle of the target. I would aim for the orange target, but when I fire it hits to the left, to the right, up or below the target. I don't know if I have a bad barrel or just not good at sighting it. I was shooting sabot slugs. I heard that sabot slugs were way better than reg slugs. We decided to try a remington slugger shell and it was able to hit the orange target a little on the bottem. Could it be the bullets or a bad barrel? I know we're not suppose to use a reg slug in a rifle barrel because it messes up the barrel inside. We shot at 5 yds to 25 yards and it would be off. Even my husband couldn't get it to hit the orange target. His 12ga shot gun for deer was sighted perfectly. I prefer pump for deer hunting. If I can't find a combo I like, than I might just have to have two different guns. Jay, I do like that browning bps pump. Everyone in our family owns a Browning, and we've never been disappointed. My husband has a Remington 410 that he uses for small game. I don't really like the Remington's because they are so heavy, and the metal on the gun seems to rust easily if not well taken care of. Everytime I go to the store and ask for a good bird/deer combo, they always point me to the Remington 870; which I don't like. I also like Benelli guns, but they are so out of my price range. I thought they had a combo too?

I wonder if I put a scope on my Mossberg and try to see if I can sight it to see if it is the barrel or the rifle sight.

I also have an A5 Light Twenty made in Japan that I plan on just buying a slug barrel for. I can't seem to find a place that sells it. Any ideas?

My choices so far are:

Bird- Auto

- Benelli Ultra Light

- Remington 11-87

Deer- Pump

- Browning BPS Rilfed Deer Hunter

- Browning A5 auto

[jay83196]

Make sure barrel on tight, if you used regular slug you could have messed up the rifling possibly but not sure. Shouldn't be that off that close. Different slugs shoot differently if switching brands weight etc you may need to resight in every time.

[Kettle]

If you are going to go with a pump I would honestly suggest anything but the browning BPS, it is horrible to take apart and it jams if you shoot to vertical

Kettle

[picksbigwagon]

Klee, I would start with making sure the barrel was tight. I would also make sure that the stock is screwed down tight to the shotgun action (mine had loosened and it made a difference). While sighting it in, did you make sure the sights were screwed down tight as well? with the shots going all over the place, something was loose. B-square makes a scope mount for mossberg shotguns, but it is mounted to the receiver and no the barrel so if the barrel is not installed correctly or tightly, it won't shoot straight.

If you shot foster style slugs (the 1.99 for 5 shells kind) through your rifled barrel, you might have lead build up and it will need a good cleaning and de-leading to clean up the rifling inside the barrel.

If it used to shoot well for you, it still should. I have been using mine for 14+ years and it still shoots straight, I just have a problem of aiming it straight all the time....

[pulleye16]

I'm in the same boat but with 12 gauges. Talk with some people who bought 11-87's currently and with dealers, rumors are Remingtons quality on those guns are not doing very well! Been a long time remington guy but my next gun, which I'm buying this year, will be a different brand. Nova or M37 is what I'm looking at. Nova plus failed as the trigger gaurd is HUGE! M37 is pushing the the price point but the waterfowl version is do-able.

[LightningBG]

I think you have something loose with the mossberg as well.

If your set on getting a new gun, that 1187 does have a bunch of extra barrels available. I'd look into a barrel with a cantilever scope mount, so you don't have to re-sight every time you switch barrels.

[klee]

I will have to take it apart again, clean it, and make sure everything is tighten.

The sabot slugs are so expensive, but I heard they are more accurate even when shot at 100 yds. I probably won't be shooting that far. So instead of shooting the sabot slugs, I tried the reg cheap slugs from remington for 5 bucks a box and it shot better than the sabot. Now I know that it messes up the inside of the rifle barrel right? But is it safe to keep shooting reg slugs through this rifle barrel?

Also looking for a slug barrel for the Browning A5 Japan Light Twenty. I've looked everywhere online, but they have nothing for a 20ga. I see the Belgium barrl. Could that be used on the Japan gun?

[picksbigwagon]

If you don't want to shoot the sabot slugs, then keep your smooth bore barrel on there and shoot the cheaper slugs (foster style) through it. The more you shoot the fosters in the rifled barrel the worse it is going to get. You can, with practice, get good out to 75 yards with the smooth bore barrel and the foster slugs. They also make sights for the bar on top of the barrel (the correct term is slipping my mind)....

[Muthagoose]

Picks ya talking rib??

[goblueM]

if you aren't going to be shooting up to 100 yards, why not just get a bird gun and shoot brenneke slugs through it?

My Benelli M2 shoots them accurate out to about 75 or 80 yards, and is great for upland/waterfowl/turkey to boot

[picksbigwagon]

yeah, that's the ticket Muthagoose. I seem to have come down with a killer cold in the middle of summer.......

Brennke's make good sligs, Federal TruBall slugs are all my smoothbore hunting partners use.

[klee]

So if I wanted to use my A5 Light Twenty with a smooth bore to shoot deer, I would need a modified choke? I was thinking about trying the Federal Truball slug. Is it doable?

[LightningBG]

So if I wanted to use my A5 Light Twenty with a smooth bore to shoot deer, I would need a modified choke? I was thinking about trying the Federal Truball slug. Is it doable?

Rifled slugs are offered by most of the major ammunition makers in a variety of shotgun gauges, including 12, 16, 20, and .410 bore. They used to be made under bore diameter to allow safe passage through any degree of choke, from full to cylinder. Cylinder bore guns are usually recommended for shooting slugs, but in some cases a full or modified choke barrel will give better accuracy with the undersize slugs.