Well I think you' re putting way too much scope on it for a smoothbore slug barrel!

That type of quality scope really only deserves to be set up on a rifled barrel with a cantilever mounting rail. Mounting it on a rail on top of the receiver (not the actual barrel) always leaves room for " slop" . You are really limited to consistent groups out to 75-85 yards (or maybe more if you' re a really good shooter and somewhat lucky) by the smoothbore barrel.

If you didn' t mind spending the cash on the Leopold set-up, then a nice cantilever barrel shouldn' t phase your wallet either. If you' re looking for " tack driving" there is no real way around that.

When you do mount the scope up-make sure you use the appropriate thread locking agent. There isn' t a heck of alot of thread engagement when mounting the rail so they like to work loose without locker. 3" ers will only work it harder.

I also have a Mossy 500 in 12 gauge. Bought it at Sears (when they were still selling firearms) as a combo with the rifled sight slugger barrel and a choked barrel for $299.99, so you can imagine how long ago that was. Haven' t used it for deer in many years, though it took it' s share of Illinois whitetails. Stopped using it when I bought my first H&R Ultra Slug Hunter in 12 gauge, which is my " long range" slug gun for sitting on field edges and such. (I hope there are H&R Ultra' s in heaven when (if) I get there!)

I use an old J.C. Higgins 12 gauge pump (beautiful, solid, smooth and deadly) with the barrel shortened to 18 or 19" with brazed on rifled sights for my " brushy" (short range) gun. Although I can still hit nice groups out to 60-70 yards with it, no problem.

I inherited the Higgins from my Dad and he only shot the original Brenneke Rottweil Magnums in it and I won' t let him down. He used the nice ones with the felt buffer pad attached to the rear of the slug with a stainless steel flat head slotted screw. The old Higgins is 2 3/4" only.

I like the Brenneke ammo ALOT! I use it in my H&R also with great results. Brenneke says that all of their slugs (sabot or foster) can safely be used in rifled barrels. I haven' t had any problems (but quite a few deer have!). The 3" gold magnums are awesome and very heavy at 1 3/16 or 1/4 oz.. I wouldn' t settle on anything for sure till you' ve tried some of the fine Brenneke ammo, it' s not cheap or expensive. Brenneke says in it' s advertising that nothing delivers more energy, especially compared to sabots. (Maybe you' ve seen their add in some magazines?)

I' ve seen plenty of deer shot with Sluggers in 2 3/4" and 3" , 12 and 20 gauge and there is no doubt that they carry enough energy, too. Heck I would bet that no other deer slug has put as many deer down than Sluggers. They' ve been around a LONG time.

Just my 2 cents worth.


Uncle Matt (in Illinois)