Hey there's nothing wrong with the Mossberg 500. It's not all that pretty but it's a workhorse and workhorses arn't for beauty pagents <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle> I use a Star Dot .665 with Federal Premium 3" #5's and my gun is a 35 yard gun. Your gun sounds like it isn't a 40 yard gun also. At least in my opion five pellets in the kill zone is not sufficent. Every one has their own opion about patterns and the number of pellets needed in a kill zone. I have heard so many differn't numbers that I can't remember squat [;0] I like to go with a minium of fifteen in the kill zone. (don't ask me where I got that number but I have used it for some time with good success) As for shot size, again each person has their own opions on what works best for them. I used to use #6 shot and had great success with it, I only moved to #5 because my new gun/choke combo prefers it over #4 & #6. It is true that #4's will carry more energy down range but it doesnt' do you any good if your pattern isn't sufficent to cleanly make a kill. just my .02
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