Open sighted deer barrels.... are they worth it?

CanuckShooter

CanuckShooter

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Is it worth getting a shotgun combo if the deer barrel it comes with only has open sights? Are these sights any good for deer hunting? How accurate can one expect to be at 50 yards using these sights? 100yards? What kind of groups?

To me it just makes more sense to go for a rifled slug barrel wit a cantilever mount so that one can use a scope. Or is that not necessary?

Any input?
 
Depends where you hunt!

If you typically hunt open fields, by all means the cantilever mount with scope would be a great option.

Our group hunts the hardwoods, and shots are typically 50 yards and less, so even having a low powered scope can be a pain in the butt to get a sight picture, not to mention the added weight the scope adds.

My 870 sports a rifle sighted smooth bore, and can easily hit the 100 yard gong at the range, with most rifled slugs.
 
I have an 835 Ulti Mag with Rifled Bbl and open sights and i hate it so I put a red dot on it.
Red dot allows me to use 2 eyes while aiming and still get a full sight picture.
 
My Ex sister in law shot a little fork buck at 104yds with my Ithica 37 with a 20" deerslayer barrel with open sights no problem.A little practice doesn't hurt.
onthos
 
Damn... I was hoping everyone would say that the open sighted slug barrel were no good, and to go with the cantilever barrel. I asked because the shotgun I would like to get (Mossberg 930) is as most probably know, IMPOSSIBLE to get in the combo right now, so I was trying to justify buying just the waterfowl version and picking up the cantilever rifled slug barrel later. But I would probably need a cheekrest on a standard shotgun butt if I were going to scope it right? To elevate my line of sight?
 
The cantilever barrel isn't your only option for a scope mount, the receiver is drilled and tapped on a Mossberg 930, I just picked one up in the Slugster configuration with a rifled barrel and rifle sights, because the cantilever barrels seem to be really hard to get. I got a 10 dollar weaver mount for it, that I plan to mount a Bushnell red dot on.

If you don't care about a rifled barrel you could even use the waterfowl barrel to shoot rifled slugs, just take off the scope when you want to go back to hunting ducks.
 
Thanks for all the info so far guys. I actually ended up finding a place with a few of the 930 combos in stock :D! So I am going to go check them out this weekend. Hopefully I will be coming home with one, as I have heard nothing but good things about the 930's.
 
Just wondering why an open sighted slug barrel would be any less useful than an open sighted rifle? Lots of those have harvested plenty of game over the years and no one questions the validity of open sights on a rifle used for bush hunting.

Mark
 
The only gun I have ever shot with open sights at 100yds was an M14. It was pretty accurate (5 shot groups within 3-4 inches with Portugese surplus.... maybe it would be better with good hunting ammo?), but I had attributed that to the superior peep style sight. I just wasn't sure how accurate the notch and post style sights on the slug barrels were at 100yds as I had never used one.

Not questioning the validity of them, just curiouslity due to a lack of experience on my part is all lol
 
CanuckShooter said:
The only gun I have ever shot with open sights at 100yds was an M14. It was pretty accurate (5 shot groups within 3-4 inches with Portugese surplus.... maybe it would be better with good hunting ammo?), but I had attributed that to the superior peep style sight. I just wasn't sure how accurate the notch and post style sights on the slug barrels were at 100yds as I had never used one.

Not questioning the validity of them, just curiouslity due to a lack of experience on my part is all lol
Click to expand...

Fair enough. As with anything, they take practice and some are better than others. I can shoot 2.5-3" groups @ 100yds with my M48 Mauser using the issue sights, but I don't find them very good for my eyes. The aperture sights on my Lee-Enfield are much better and easier for me to shoot with. All you can do is look at the particular sights on the gun you want and see how they work for you. Keep in mind, you can always change out the existing sights for ghost rings or Lyman aperture sights if you find the stock ones not to your liking.

Mark
 
I have a 20" rifled barrel w/ Bushnell Trophy 0x magnification and can consistently hit in the killzone at 100 meters. I may start playing around at 200 yards to see what kind of groups I can get but will probably use a magnified scope if I do.
 
Two or 3" at 100 yards isn't unusual with ammo the shotgun likes. Brenneke slugs if you can find 'em. Any rifled slug will do though.
"...were no good..." Wouldn't still be selling if they were no good.
"...notch and post style sights..." Not fabulous, but they'll do nicely.
 
Hi All,:wave:
It almost sounds like you are looking for an excuse to buy a new barrel or gun. ;)
That's ok though.
FWIW, I grew up using open sights and my son never used anything but a scope. I guess he wasn't comfortable with them and he also had a choice. He just bought a SKS and we went to sight it in. At 50yds he couldn't get better than a 5 shot 6" group. My group was less than 3". I was still able to get near 3'' at 100yds while his was about 8". I felt cocky and tried the 200yd and got a 5 shot 6" group and he couldn't believe it. :eek: It's what you feel comfortable with.
Have fun shooting with the new shotgun.

Rick O'
 
I'm not a big fan of the open rifle sights that come standard on shotgun barrels, but I've removed my rear one, swapped the front bead for a fibre-optic, and installed a ghostring rear. Works great out to 100yds. Accuracy beyond 50yds is more a function of what slugs your barrel likes than the sights. My Remmie 870 smoothbore shoots the Challenger slugs very well with an Improved choke. My receiver also has a rail in front of the rear ghostring, so if I'm going to be hunting more open fields, I swap the smoothbore barrel for a rifled one, and install a 1.5-5X scope in quick detach mounts. Takes about 2 minutes.
 
I have a Mossberg 500 combo with the rifled slug barrel. Its really accurate to 100 yrds easy. One thing to note is rifled barrels are for use with sabot style slugs. Winchester makes a 12ga sabot with a muzzle velocity of 2000fps. That will get the job done! Real nice multi purpose gun with both barrels.
 
I have an 870 Express combo. With the open sights on the 20" rifled barrel I can be accurate enough for deer at 50 and 100 yards. I also have Weaver Converta-Mount on the receiver and it holds a red dot sight steady enough to hunt with at those ranges, too.

(I'm sure some people could extend that range, but realistically, I'm not going to get enough practise to shoot better with it. For me, creeping closer makes more sense.)
 
My smooth bore Benelli Nova scoped with a 1.5-5X shoots a respectable 2-3" at 50 yards with most stuff i feed it. I wouldn't shoot it anywhere past 60-75 yards at the very tops at game.
Rifled is better in many respects and at the ranges it's good for (MAX 100-150 yards normally depending on a lot of things) are not really worth the scope if you are well practiced with the sights.

I got the scope for mine as i prefer a cross hair when my heart starts pounding when the food gets close. That's also why i got such a low magnification scope as it's all up close with my smoothie.
 
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