I currently have a Mossberg 500 in 12 gauge with a nikon prostaff 2-7x32 on it...thinking about trying to get a gun that groups a little better. The trigger pull on this gun is STIFF and it shoots about a 5in group off sand bags at 100yrds with rifled sabot rounds. It gets the job done, but its kinda crude. Its a cheap gun and i think maybe next year i should move up in quality...

Im thinkin about moving to a 20gauge and possibly even single shot. Ive heard good things about the H&R and was just wondering what everyone opinions are on what slug gun to look into.

I'm wondering what kind of groups you could get if you had a quality trigger job done on it? Mossbergs are very easy to slick up the trigger BUT I'd reccomend you have a qualified gunsmith do it.

IMO there is not much that can be done to improve a 500/835 trigger unfortunatly. There is actually a weight pull adjustment screw in the trigger group but it wont do much to help the creep. I couldnt find an aftermarket trigger ,so I took one I owned once, to a GS and he said anything he could do wouldnt help accuracy much and not to waste my $$$. He suggested "pinning" the barrel (to the reciever)if anything.

My mossberg threw bren, ko sabots into a 2.5" group at 100. I dont think you can expect much more from a pump. Kicked like hell though, so I got rid of it.

Look into a savage 210 bolt action slug gun. Im not sure if they come w/ accutrigger but older savage, bolt action triggers, were pretty good and easily adjusted.

http://www.savagearms.com/210f.htm heres the link. No accutrigger unfortunately. Ive seen them at gander mt for around 450$

BTW out of curiosity, do you rest the pump handle or the receiver, on the bag, at the range? Ive found that I got much better groups resting the receiver on the bag. A good rear bag helps too.

I once owned an Ithaca Deerslayer (the early kind, CA. 1970). I was able to improve the trigger pull and put a scope on it (old Weaver J2.5). With one lot of Remington slugs, it shot 3" groups @ 100 yards. BUT in those days, there were no rifled barrels for it yet.

I think it would be possible to put a rifled barrel on that 500 and have the trigger pull lightened and improved to perhaps 2.5# or 3#. Then it would perform better & not seem so crude! Despite the crude appearance, those Mossberg 500's are good guns.

RE: benchresting a slug gun: Witha 2-piece stocked weapon, it is BEST to rest your left hand on the sandbag(assuming you are not a lefty), and grip the forend of the gun with that hand. Try to put the same force on the gun as you would if shooting offhand. This tends to make the POI about the same whether from a bench or shooting from field positions. In addition, a good grip on the forend helps you take up the considerable recoil of a slug gun so it doesn't ALL land on your shoulder!