I've got a Winchester Black Shadow 12 ga. 1300 with a rifled slug barrel. I was sighting it in a few weeks ago & the brand new BSA scope blew off on the 3rd shot - dovetail screws were too short. Took it back to the dealer that mounted it & he put on 3x longer screws. Shot last weekend, from a lead sled mind you, and could not get anything to group (100 yds) & definitely no consistency (talking 4"-12" groups here). Tried 3 brands of slugs: Horandy SST, Rem. Corelokts, & Lightfields - all 2.75". Barrel is clean. NEVER had this much trouble sighting in a shotgun.

Anyone had this kind of trouble? Could the BSA scope be bad? Wanted to use it in November, but not the way it's shooting! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

id say you got a scope problem since it wont even hold a group.

ditch the BSA. get good bases and rings and a better scope and i bet it will atleast group.

i know good scopes are pricey..alot more pricey than a BSA..but if you want your gun to shoot, and it wont with a low end scope, a higher end scope will usually help. not saying you need to spend a grand on a scope, but id atleast go mid range for my deer gun..Nikon, burris, leupold etc...their lower powered scope prices arent too steep...but still looking at 100-200$ id say...

good luck...cant say for sure thats your problem..but if you shot 3 differnt kinds of ammo and know the rings and bases are tight, then id have to say scope problem

I agree with mauser the BSA is garbage. It could be that the shop never bore-sighted the scope the first time or the second time. Sunday I went and sighted in my 20ga H&R using SSTs I was on paper and after a few shots and few adjustments I was grouping great. I then move onto my Omega, never shot it, the first two shots 2 feet to the right, I assume the gunsmith never bore-sighted the scope, once more after a few adjustments and shots all was great.

Sounds suspiciously like a loose scope, I am sure you checked that. I bought an 11-87 this year w/ rifled barrel and cantilever (leupold 2x7). I tried 3 different loads, but could not get it to group under 6 inches at 50 yds. A bit concerned, I took it to my local smith to adjust the trigger. Standing there and the smiths, checking my gun in, the feed latch fell out. I should have been soldered in. After 2 weeks in repairs, I got my gun back, made it to the range, and it immediately started shooting 2 inch groups at 75 yds. Not sure if this helps, but when in doubt, have another set of eyes look at it. One last thing, after 2 shots, the heat in the barrel does make a difference. I shoot two shots, wait 10 min, and shoot a third to get my groups.

Pick your self up a Nikon Pro Staff 2x7x32. It'll set you back about $125 + tax but it will be worth it. I have 2, one on my muzzleloader and the other on my slug gun.

It could be the scope and mounts but....... The 1300 is called a speed pump for a reason. The rotating bolt headdoes not lock up the same way other shotguns do. When you pull the trigger it releases the bolt head and allows it to move rearward. If you are not holding on to the forearm when you fire the gunthen you are allowing the bolt and forearm to slam very hard into the rear of the receiver.

The reason behind this is to allow the shooter to cycle the gun faster than many other pump action shotguns on the market.

You must hold on to the forearm when firing a Winchester 1300.

I had the 1300 and was shooting Remington copper solid sabots with good results but I also had a better quality scope. Also, keep an eye on the scope mounts. They can come loose with the recoil. I found mine worked very well for cycling a new round as bigbull mentioned...

I'm going to check the mounts & rings again just to make sure. I don't know what else it could be - not with a rock solid setup with a lead sled. I've use corelokts & lightfields in the past in different guns & had excellent results. Figured 1 of the 3 would group better than that. I checked with 2 reputable dealers before getting the BSA & they both swear by BSA, mostly because of their no questions asked return policy - but why are they so quick to send you a new scope if they have a reliable product.........

I would rather spend the money on a quality like: Leupold, Nikon, Zeiss, etc. BSA is garbage

Another tip I've learned over the years. If you do determine it's the scope or rings......Mount everything and tighten evenly. While shooting about every third shot retighten your mounts and rings. I've done that for years and never had a loose scope problem.