Trak-Lock or XS SIght Big Dot for 8.5" Dlask?

Thank you both for your feedback.

I am very bear aware, I have hiked, camped, canoed, fished, hunted, etc since I was very young. The reality is every time I go out I can only carry so much. Realistically I cannot easy or readily accessibly carry an air horn, bear bangers, bear spray, and a gun... I do not go out and sneak through the woods, unless I'm hunting ;) , I am making noise and keeping my head up. Most bears I have seen simply turn and run off. The only exception was in Trail and Rossland BC where they were fair too used to people. I have studied bear safety, I have taken bear awareness courses for when I worked with a land surveying crew, I am not a novice in the woods...

I know that the bears the don't simply run off at the sight or smell of a human are the ones that you need to be careful around. I know a bear isn't simply lying in wait to pounce on me while I am walking in the woods. However the reality is it can and does happen.

grelmar I agree with you, just because I am bear aware and keep bears in the back of my mind doesn't mean my family are the same. My kids are 6, 4, 2, and a newborn, I am carrying this shotgun to protect my family far more than myself.

Boomer thanks for the feedback as well. I started off with an 18.5" shotgun then went down to a 14" Fabarm, then down again to a Rossi Ranch Hand, and now down again to the 8.5" Dlask. I do shoot short barrelled guns a lot. There is surely a minuscule margin for error with a short gun. I do practice a lot, live fire as well as snap caps. My 10-22 is a 9" barrel with pretty much the same overall length as my Dlask. I have trained for years with that gun and I know where and where not to put my hand. lol. Same goes for the Dlask, while I haven't had it long I do train, mostly at home with snap caps as I have limited time for the range at the moment.

I also appreciate the feedback on shot placement, I do agree with you that it is pointless to land a kill shot if the bear mauls me before dying.

Two major reasons for wanting the new stock and the new vertical pump handle are
1) familiarity with this setup, all my guns that I train with are pistol grip stock with a vertical fore grip
2) two fixed points to put my hands preventing accidents like shooting my left hand while shooting/pumping the shotgun

Again I know that 25 yards is the outer limit of a wilderness defence gun but it is not just me that I am trying to protect and with possibly running into wounded/sick animals I would prefer to have a firearm capable of the range and train for a slightly longer shots just in case.

Thank you all.

Keep the feedback coming.
 
I know all too well what its like to plan a build only to find your ultimate setup has serious drawbacks at the range. It leaves you disapointed when you consider how you might perform with it in a tense situation. I couldn't get comfortable behind the hogue short stock either, tried many positions and tips from all over the net. In the end I only liked its compact dimensions. Shooting it sucked. You've shot my 8.5 with the Magpul right? That stock fits me much better and I've yet to find anything I don't like about it. With a pile of 1/2" LOP spacers and optional cheek risers you can set it up for whatever you need. Unfortunately I have no experience with the big dot or trak-lock sights to share. I have a dovetail base and front post with no rear sight. I need more range time before I decide if I want to keep it or change it.
 
Thanks supernova, I should have listened when you told me about your experience with the Hogue. lol

Yeah I've tried your Magpul. We will need to get out again to jog my memory on it though.

Part of the fun of putting together a gun is figuring out what works and what doesn't. :)
 
G.Mitchell said:
Accuracy isn't a function of barrel length, sure I am loosing a lot of velocity on the 8.5" but I gain on portability...
Click to expand...

I would recommend XS low profile sights mounted on the barrel. Of course this would not be optimal on such a short barrel. There are tons of reasons why I wouldn't stake my life on an 8.5 " barrel shotgun but it would appear that you have already made that decision. I sold my 8.5" Dlask because I found my hand creeping way too close to the muzzle and there was no life or death stress. I would respectfully disagree about the barrel length/accuracy thing. Agreed, that there would not be much difference between a 14 inch and 20 inch barrel, but 8.5 inch? I do not believe it is long enough to stabilize the slug. Just thinking about tests done on rifles and pistols where the barrels were cut back in increments to measure loss in velocity, but also started loosing accuracy when getting very short. With the rifle, a scope was used, so sight radius was not an issue. But this is largely speculation with the shotgun since I have not seen a similar test. Sorry to be so long winded but one last point. All the fancy sights and stocks and barrel length do not mean squat if you cannot mount a light. Dangerous things creep around at night too.
 
My chronograph results and seeing what both mine and G. Mitchell's 8.5" cyl bore shotguns can do on the range told me everything I needed to know to feel comfortable carrying one in the woods. They are far from useless but not far from what a long barrel shotgun can do. So much for that a wive's tale.
 
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