Second Guessing a Barrel Purchase

[clfergus]

I'm one of those guys who gets something in my mind and buys it.

Have an 870 12ga with a rifled barrel..rifled sights. Decided I wanted to use my 870 20ga this year so after reading blogs I opted for a 20ga cantilever barrel for my 870 topped with a 1.75-4X32mm circle X banner.

Haven't shot the gun but was talking with my dad and some of his older..more experienced hunting buddies and they all questioned my selection.

We hunt the majority of the time along travel paths in the woods so my shots are mostly 50-75 yards at best. I don't really have any fields.

In my mind I guess I thought what if I ever needed a 125 yards shot. This cantilever would work well. They all thought I should just have used my 12 ga with rifled sights or if I was dead set on 20 ga...spend an addl 40 bucks and get a mossberg 500 combo with rifled sights. They all thought at the ranges we hunt the ease of the rifled sights was was ideal.

Should I keep the cantiler barrel and hunt with it even at close ranges?

Sell it and just use the 12 ga 870 with RS? Or maybe sell it and add some cash with my birthday money I have and get a mossy 500 20 ga combo?

Tinkering with my setup is frustrating but I enjoy it!

 

[hammer24]

You're fine with the 20 gauge! Some old fuddy duds get stuck in their ways and everybody else should do as they do. With todays ammo a scoped 20 gauge can be a 200 yd. gun in the right hands. If your shots will be out to 125 then get a quality low power scope and you're set. There is no deer on the planet that a 20g won't put down in short order. Personally, I don't see any point in shooting whitetail deer with a 12g. Why beat yourself up? A 20 or better yet a .44 mag is more shootable. less recoil, which usually leads to much improved accuracy.

 

[clfergus]

You're fine with the 20 gauge! Some old fuddy duds get stuck in their ways and everybody else should do as they do. With todays ammo a scoped 20 gauge can be a 200 yd. gun in the right hands. If your shots will be out to 125 then get a quality low power scope and you're set. There is no deer on the planet that a 20g won't put down in short order. Personally, I don't see any point in shooting whitetail deer with a 12g. Why beat yourself up? A 20 or better yet a .44 mag is more shootable. less recoil, which usually leads to much improved accuracy.

So since my shots are within 75 yards as of now...sight the cantiler/scoped barrel in at 50 yards? Slight hold over out to 75 yards but hold dead on up to 50 yards? Thats what I wonder...with rifled sights there wouldnt be any guess work.

 

[hammer24]

Look up trajectory of whatever load you're shooting. My guess is if you are sighted in at 50 there will not be much change at 75. Not enough for thinking about holdover. Better yet sight it in at 50 and then shoot it at 75 and see where it it is. Repeat at 100 and 125.

 

[WLW]

I've dealt with a similiar decision a few years ago. What I decided to do was get a good 1.5 - 4x scope and sight the gun in at 100 yards and then shot it on the 50 yard range to see if I needed to compensate much and to my surprise I didn't really need to if your goal is to kill a deer and not attempt a shot requiring perfect accuracy. The 1.5x setting is awesome, and if you get a good scope it will help amplify the light during the "bewitching hour"

 

[clfergus]

I've dealt with a similiar decision a few years ago. What I decided to do was get a good 1.5 - 4x scope and sight the gun in at 100 yards and then shot it on the 50 yard range to see if I needed to compensate much and to my surprise I didn't really need to if your goal is to kill a deer and not attempt a shot requiring perfect accuracy. The 1.5x setting is awesome, and if you get a good scope it will help amplify the light during the "bewitching hour"

good idea...I think this is what I will do. Maybe one day I get a chance to hunt and open field and still have the barrel to make that shot as well.

 

[Ryno300]

Good feed back - I just bought the 500 combo in 20 ga (cantilever w/scope). This will only be my second time out. I fight wrong eye dominant (shoot right, but left eye dominant) so I'm hoping the scope set up will give me more confidence.

 

[rhart]

I agree with whats been mentioned above. 20 is plenty. Just get a decent, low power scope to go on it. Personally, I haven't hunted with a shotgun for deer in 20 plus years. In my opinion 12 gauge is kinda overkill if your shots are well placed. I have used either 44 mag pistol, 44 rifle, .445 or Encore with 50 cal blk pwdr. I would say that 18 out of twenty of the last deer I killed were within 40 yards and all of those I shot in the head or high in the neck. All of them dropped in thier tracks. That being said however, my last deer was 190 yards. A shotgun wont do that consistantly.
If you reload, consider some of the wildcat rounds like 445 super mag or 357 max.
I love Ruger and I just picked up a M77/44 bolt action. It is sooo sweet. I put a 2.5x7 power scope on it. Cant wait to shoot it. Or, if your like lever guns there are a few manufactures making a 44 mag also.
Good luck and shoot straight

 

[Bradsknives]

This has been my experience using a 20ga. fully rifled shotgun. It will depend on the sabot that you are shooting. I have been using Lightfield Hybred EXP (2 3/4") sabots for years, they are not the fastest sabot on the market, but accuracy is more important than speed in my book. Generally, if you sight your gun in at 25 yards a 1/4" low you will be 1 1/2" to 2" high at 50 yards and dead on at 100 yards. You won't have to make any adjustments (compensate) while hunting at 100 yards or less. Note: I use a scope....so with open sights, once you get it sighted dead on at 100 yards anything less than that you should not have to compensate.

 

[Uconas]

go with it you will do fine

 

[rao]

I have a buddy who deer hunts with nothing but a 20 ga and he seldom loses a deer. Personally, I have parked the shotgun and went with a T/C muzzleloader. I can reach out comfortably to 150 yrds and the new technology has made it SO much more enjoyable.