Can someone explain barrels to me?

[MNCPRGUY]

I'm looking at a Mossberg Super Bantam 20 ga. for my son. I realize that one gun won't do everything as well as a gun specifically designed for one purpose, but it's affordable and seems to be a good starter. The intent is to do some trap, pheasant, and deer hunting with it.

When I asked the dealer about interchangeable barrels, he started rambling and lost me. I didn't have time to ask a lot of questions and thought I'd be able to figure it out quickly on the internet. I was wrong! The dealer was telling me the barrel that was on the gun wouldn't need to be changed and would shoot cheaper ammo than if I got a rifled slug barrel. I believe he also said it had turkey sights on it if that helps clarify which barrel he was referring to.

Does this make sense to anyone and can you shed more light on the subject for me? Also, I'm wondering what impact the barrels have on the ability to put a scope on it for deer hunting.

Thanks in Advance!

[Hoey]

Looked, thinking along the lines of beer, as in barrels of beer.

[lawdog]

Barrels vary in length, chokes, sights, and in the case of slug barrels, smooth or rifled.

You can do a lot with a fairly standard barrel with screw in chokes and a vent rib. For a kid, you don't need anything else. You can even put some open iron sights on it for shooting foster style slugs for deer if you need them, they make ones that clamp right onto the vent rib (it won't shoot sabots as it is smooth bored not rifled and that is what he was talking about with shooting cheaper slugs).

[outdoors247]

I would be a little concerned if he said turkey sights. Most turkey barrels are short (22"). I would want something a little longer for upland birds and waterfowl if you ever get into that. This is personal preference and I know others may disagree.

As far as turkey sights, I believe it just a double bead or double sight. This in not a bad idea for a beginner as it helps them line on the target better.

If you want a multi species gun I would purchase a rifled cantilever barrel for deer hunting. This way you have the scope mount attached to the barrel and don't have to drill holes to mount on the gun. This way you can pull off the smooth bore barrel and put on the rifled barrel and you are ready to go.

The advancements made with sabot slugs I would never go back to rifled slugs. Yes, the sabot slugs are much more expensive than rifled slugs but when you look at it, how many slugs do you shoot each year? Maybe a box or two to sight it in and a couple more shells for a deer if you are lucky enough. Just my two cents.

[Ufatz]

Okay. You want simple, here it is. Buy the boy a nice 20-guage gun, with choke set if you wish. You don't need a scope for a kid to go deer hunting-get him a couple boxes of slugs and some paper plates. When he can hit a plate 4 oughta 5 times at 50 yards he can go deer hunting.

The same gun with the full or mod choke is for ducks and birds.

Hows that. It has worked for years....and before there were barrels with interchangable chokes too. My first deer, 16 ga slug, thirty yards, 1950.

Simple...

It is unfortunate that too many people today want to make things more complicated than they need to be. Sure.....you CAN do a lot of fixin' and tweakin' and playin'...but we're trying to get a kid into hunting here. Not make him the Universal Soldier!! LOL...

[Tom7227]

The same gun with the full or mod choke is for ducks and birds.

Don't you mean modified or improved cylinder? Full chokes and steel shot don't mix very well.

[toddb]

4 out of 5 times? Why not 5 out of 5 times. Give the kid tools to be an effective and humane hunter, not a half a$$ed setup that probably hurts to shoot and is not the most accurate. IMHO nothing will turn a kid off from hunting is lack of success these days. Get him the best stuff that fits (and is affordable) and go from there. You got all summer to find something right...

Here is a review of the Mossberg http://www.outdoorlife.com/photos/galler...node-1001359234 Sounds like it may be a kicker with slugs.

Slug barrel with cantilever mount for scope

http://www.mossberg.com/product/shotguns-pump-action-500-super-bantam-slugster/54256 (not sure if this barrel option is available in a combo)

You son would be well suited for deer with this setup and a low power scope for deer. It is what I would want if I was your son.

The dual bead vent rib barrel with interchangeable chokes that come with the gun should be adequate for any field or target situation. Looks like the combo may only come with the rifled barrel setup for open sights. I would research a little and see what combos are available, maybe you can get the rifled barrel (with cantilever scope mount) and smoothbore as a combo for a reasonable price. If it was me I would keep my slug barrel and shotshell barrel seperate.

[MNCPRGUY]

Great responses. Thanks all and keep 'em coming!

[Ufatz]

Yeah, you guys are all right of course.

[Cheetah]

I lean more towards what Ufatz said. Keep it simple and inexpensive. Spend more time in the field to put your son in a position to get a nice close shot on a deer so he can use an open-sight setup. I feel the scope is unnecessary, and actually a hindrance when I took my young cousin out for his first deer hunt two seasons ago.

[outdoors247]

I agree, scopes are not for everyone. If you want to go with a scope I would look into red dot scopes. I switched over to a red dot about 10 years ago and would not go back to a cross hair magnified scope. You sight it in and once you are good just put the red dot on the target and pull the trigger. These scopes are very reasonably priced too. Should be able to get into a pretty nice one for under $75.00. Just another thing to ponder.

[toddb]

Of course we are . We all have opinions, not sayin they are correct but in our own minds we are... I am sure there are guys on both sides of the fence on this issue, I just happen to be on the other side.

[outdoors247]

You are correct Todd. When someone comes on here and asks a broad question like the OP you are going to have many opinions. There is no rights and wrongs, just what others have found that works for them. It's up to the OP to filter through the responses and make his own decision. What works for one guy doesn't work for everyone.

[MNCPRGUY]

...It's up to the OP to filter through the responses and make his own decision.

Agreed, and I am following up on every comment posted. I never expect to get one definitive answer through forum discussions. I honestly appreciate the opposing views and open dialogue. My son and I are both following this thread closely and becoming more educated in the process.

[PurpleFloyd]

Real world experience- A few years back my son outgrew the first shotgun that I bought him, which was a single shot break action Remington .410 Spartan made by Baikal. When we went shopping I decided to get him a semi-auto because I wanted to give him less recoil so we went shopping and the gun that I ended up buying him was a Mossberg SA-20. it is imported for Mossberg and made in Turkey from what I gather. It was fairly inexpensive for what it was and in looking at it side by side with other youth guns like the 11-87 Rem, the benelli Nova and other guns on the shelves it had much tighter manufacturing tolerances and a much better fit and finish on it's parts. It was also ridiculously light and it looked like an imitation of my Beretta Extrema 2.

I brought that gun home that night and I was very surprised at how well it fit and how quick it pointed. Even though it was light the recoil was tame and he shot some Roosters with it right off the bat from quite a long distance. He also took deer with it every year he hunted with it. Last year he outgrew the gun so I bought him a CZ 712 ALS that has an adjustable stock that he can extend as he grows.

The only issue with the mossberg was that it was a little tight loading and unloading for him.

As far as barrels, it has a 24 inch vent rib barrel with 5 choke tubes.My son used the improved cylinder choke tube when deer hunting and Federal Foster type slugs. The rifled barrels are nice if they are in the budget and if the gun you buy has them available but they are not the end all. I bought a Marlin slugmaster bolt action gun about 20 years ago and had a Winchester Ranger pump with a slug barrel that I still have but recently I switched to using my Beretta Extrema 2 for slug hunting and found it kills deer just as dead as the ones with a rifled barrel.

[countyline]

I'm looking at a Mossberg Super Bantam 20 ga. for my son. I realize that one gun won't do everything as well as a gun specifically designed for one purpose, but it's affordable and seems to be a good starter. The intent is to do some trap, pheasant, and deer hunting with it.

When I asked the dealer about interchangeable barrels, he started rambling and lost me. I didn't have time to ask a lot of questions and thought I'd be able to figure it out quickly on the internet. I was wrong! The dealer was telling me the barrel that was on the gun wouldn't need to be changed and would shoot cheaper ammo than if I got a rifled slug barrel. I believe he also said it had turkey sights on it if that helps clarify which barrel he was referring to.

Does this make sense to anyone and can you shed more light on the subject for me? Also, I'm wondering what impact the barrels have on the ability to put a scope on it for deer hunting.

Thanks in Advance!

I bought my son basically the same gun two years ago. It came with a bird barrel, all three chokes and a ported rifled slug barrel for $315 and some change, inc. tax at F&F. Only bad thing about the gun is it is so light that 3" turkey loads pack a big punch and the ported slug barrel is very load. For a little over three hundred he has a gun to do all. Through out the course of the first summer.I swapped out the factory recoil pad and put on a limb saver. Picked up a turkey choke and a red dot for deer season. The receiver is tapped for scope mounts all ready as well.

[CodyDawg]

I am with Todd on this one in that you should set him up with good equipment and strive for 5 for 5 on the inner half of a paper plate at 75 yards. When you enter in the cold, clothes, unknown distances, and excitement, that group is going to open up considerably. 4 out of 5 at 50 from the bench is probably 2 out of 5 at 50 in real world, deer hunting situations. Teaching him to respect the game by being a proficient shot is something that will last him a lifetime.

Some other thoughts...

Be sure to pattern your bird shot out of the new gun (whatever it is). Some guns with some loads shoot high, low, left, right, etc.

I use a 1.5X6 scope. Love it. Tried a red dot. Hated it. But that is my personal preference.

Let me tell you a story about the first scope I put on a shotgun. Paid $75 for it. It took up residence in a landfill after the first season because it broke. Buying good gear once is cheaper and more enjoyable than buying junk the first time and having to replace it with good gear.

I am of the persuasion that you get what you pay for. Cheap guns made overseas are....well....cheap guns made overseas. Some will work out. Many will not.

Foster or rifled slugs out of smoothbores have killed a lot of deer. They have wounded or missed even more. There is a reason that sabots have become so popular despite the $10-$15 per box pricetag. They flat out shoot better, faster and have better bullet performance on game.

I, too, have a daughter sneaking up on deer hunting age (though I have a couple of years to prepare). What have I lined up? A used Beretta 390 with a used Hastings rifled barrel. Why? It works. Ask me how I know! Is it more money that the $300? Sure, but not a lot more.

Good luck and I hope that you and your son have a great time researching this, practicing and then eventually hunting together. A picture posted to this thread in about...November....would be pretty cool....

[dukhntr]

Another real world experience....My son went through the .410 and the 20ga. single shots. After the first summer with the 20 ga. he decided he needed more power. I was happy because .410 bismuth and 20 ga. steel were getting expensive. (We are mainly waterfowl hunters) I bought him a 12 ga Mossburg 835 Turkey gun, with the 22" ported barrel. He shot trap, and hunted ducks, geese and pheasants with that gun. To this day, he thinks a 26" or 28" barrel is too long. If you are concerned about recoil, there are a lot of light load 12 ga. shells available.

Something to keep in mind is that most of the single shots have an exposed hammer, which is something else to think about safety-wise. When my son started shooting the pump guns, he still got one shell at a time, and learned to make it count.

[bigbucks]

+1

A cantilevered barrel & scope costs about as much as a new shotgun. Nice setup, but unless you're really flush with cash that's not a beginner setup as far as this cat is concerned.d

A 20 gauge with a 26 or 28" barrel & three choke tubes is good to start with. If you're not going to hunt turkeys or do a lot close range grouse hunting really a modified choke is pretty much good for everything.

[ZachD]

Why not get a mossberg 500 deer/field combo ... they have them in youth too comes with a field barrel with i believe 4 choke tubes and a cantilever rifle slug barrel with a 2.5x20 scope... most of the "big name stores" have them for $350 bucks

[Mike_Bennewitz]

I have the 20ga. model 500 Youth Bantam gun, it was given to me as a gift in 2003, and I just turned 20 a week ago and it still is my grouse gun and pheasant gun. It is equally reliable to any Benelli Nova (I have a 12ga. Nova too) or Remington 870, yet it will work for a youth and they can utilize it as an adult. I am seeing Cabela's sells the 500 Youth Series Super Bantam Combo, which is $459.99, but is full camouflage, has synthetic stock and forend, 12" length of pull on stock with 13" pad spacer and you get 50% the full size 14" stock when shooter is ready for it, plus it has a matching camo rifled slug barrel. Can't beat that deal anywhere for the price and reliability.