Mounting an optic on a shotgun? Bad idea?

[Richie Rich]

I have a Mossberg 590 that is used mostly for HD and putting holes in stuff in the desert. I have found myself running rifled slugs in it a lot more nowadays and the bead sight leaves a lot to be desired.

I looked into having ghost rings put on it, but with the cost of smithing and a repark job, I would be better off buying the model with factory ghost rings.

Been thinking about mounting an red dot or some form of holographic sight on it. Is this a better way to go or am I just being silly.

This gun was my first firearm and I am pretty attached to it so selling it to buy the one with factory sights is not an option. Also, no way I am convincing my girlfriend that I need yet another shotgun.

What are my options?

Thanks

RR

[joel1316]

One thing to keep in mind, some stocks are too low once you install a saddle then optics on top of that....

[paradox]

Been thinking about mounting an red dot or some form of holographic sight on it. Is this a better way to go or am I just being silly.

If I were in your situation, I'd seriously consider this:

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=7&f=23&t=435538

[scott.cr]

I put a 40mm red dot on my Mossberg 500 (dimensionally identical to your 590) and it was high enough that I had to lift my face from the stock in order to sight with it. This made it very easy to "lose" the red dot. In the end I took it off.

If you can find some way to either mount the optic very low, install an adjustable cheekpiece on the stock, or use a tiny optic like paradox suggested, you could get it to work.

Bear in mind however that the optic will be mounted to the receiver, and the barrel is really only flying in close formation to the receiver when the gun is fired, so there will be some drift between scope zero and POI.

An alternative is to use an 835 barrel with the soldered-on cantilever mount, but those barrels only come in rifled versions. They can shoot slugs with great accuracy though, around 2 MOA depending on the slug.

In the odd chance you opt for the 835 barrel option, you'll have to use the six-shot 835 mag tube. Choate sells mag extensions to add 1, 2 or 3 shots for a total of up to 9 shots in the 835 tube. I run this combo on my Mossberg 500A and it works well.

[Richie Rich]

I have an AR style telestock and pistol grip on it. It raises my cheek position a few inches.

I found a rail that screws onto the Mossberg receiver using the factory screws. That little red dot is cool, went and read the thread on ARFcom about it. Might just have to go ahead and get the rail and sight and give it a try.

Don't really want to change to a rifled barrel, I shoot buck and bird loads occasionally. I looked into doing that.

I am trying to avoid any solder on solutions due to me not wanting to have the gun reparkerized. If I decide to go down that road, I will have the factory ghost rings retroed on and be done with it.

Thanks again for the input guys, I will let you know how it works out for me.

[DrjonesUSA]

IMO, a defense gun should be kept as absolutely simple as possible.

A new Mossberg only costs a couple hundred bucks, so just save up for another one to trick out with a holo sight or whatever....

[mcubed4130]

I have a Mossberg 590 that is used mostly for HD and putting holes in stuff in the desert. I have found myself running rifled slugs in it a lot more nowadays and the bead sight leaves a lot to be desired.

I looked into having ghost rings put on it, but with the cost of smithing and a repark job, I would be better off buying the model with factory ghost rings.

Been thinking about mounting an red dot or some form of holographic sight on it. Is this a better way to go or am I just being silly.

This gun was my first firearm and I am pretty attached to it so selling it to buy the one with factory sights is not an option. Also, no way I am convincing my girlfriend that I need yet another shotgun.

What are my options?

Thanks

RR

My buddy with a 500 Special Purpose 20" - probably nearly identical to your 590, runs a red-dot, he's rather accurate out to 100 yards with slugs.

Since you plan on keeping this gun for HD - just make sure you can fire the gun, with the thing off... i.e. in the middle of a real HD scenario it's unlikely you'll even remember how to turn the thing on... you'll be doing well, to load, and shoot in the direction of the badguy.

In that mode, a holo-sight and/or other items that allow you to see - through - or under or over, etc... the sight, is a plus.

As for the concept itself... why is it odd to put optics on a shotgun?


And yes, there are interesting stories about this Mossberg 500, with ~200yard shots.

-M3

[randy]

Maybe just some more practice is what you need. What distance did you zero it? Do you know your zero? Can you shoot a group? You should be able to do all of those things with a bead front site providing your gun and ammo combination will shoot a group. Try it off a bench (I'd use lo recoil)

Good luck

[djslik408]

Its more of a preference than anything. Its like saying that some people prefer iron sights, while others prefer optics.

[ivanimal]

Both people I know that scoped their 870's got hit by them (scoped eye) the first time they shot at a flying target. The first guy was me. At least it just gave me a bump and did not draw blood. The red dot looks doable.