Shot through a rifled slug barrel
 

​​​​​​ Kind of an odd question. My wife regularly shoots a .270 without issue. But she's struggling with the recoil on a Mossberg 500 20 gauge. It's got a cantilever rifled barrel on it. No problem with the 270 but this just seems like too much. Probably more how the stock fits her than anything, but it's what we've got right now. She's a tiny thing.

I want her to be practicing with it to get used to how it functions, cycles, how the trigger feels, the safety, target acquisition, etc. Could I have her shoot some light Target loads through it to achieve this? Or is that not safe with a rifled barrel?

I've loaded and used snake shot out of .38s and
.44mag revolvers. But how about shot through a rifled slug barrel?
​​​​​​
-Jake

I suspect it is a combination of two things. An ill fitting shotgun and the fact that rifled slugs produce a different kind of recoil than rifles, it is more of a whack than a push. I would not shoot fine shot through a rifled barreled shotgun. Perhaps getting the gun fit to her, or a good recoil pad would help, having the gun fit would cost more but it would be the best and permanent. Or, perhaps you might want to think about low recoil rifled slugs, they do reduce recoil substantially while having more than enough speed and weight to cold cock a deer.

Light target loads will not hurt the slug barrel in the least Jake. Now don't go expecting any pattering to speak of. The twist in the rifling will rotate the shot wad and your pattern will expand crazily. Go to Walmart and see if you can pick up a Limbsaver slip on recoil pad for a bit more cushion.

OT, it's definitely the fit of the stock. It's clearly too big for her. A youth mossy500 would probably be perfect and I'll look into that for the future.

Bronk: I've thought about a slip on pad, but that would make it even longer and more uncomfortable for her. I'm not looking for any type of pattern. Just actual trigger time behind live loads that aren't going to make her uncomfortable. I set up clay pigeons on a hill for her and have her practice pulling up, getting a rest, finding the target, and getting a shot off. That can be accomplished with light shot loads.

She's practiced allot with .22s and her .270. and I think that when a deer shows up she'll do fine. But it's just too much recoil for allot of practice shooting for her. Not to mention the slugs I'm using are $3/pop

Since Ohio went to straight wall cartridges we only use the slug guns for a few special draw areas. We have a special draw hunt coming up that she's been practicing for. I will probably look into finding a youth 20gauge for next year that will fit her better. We only draw these special hunts every few years.

-Jake

I also agree, she might be better off shooting some lower recoiling slugs, this way she can actually get time HITTING things , and more used to the gun


as for the future, they do sell recoil reducing stocks for the 500, as well as adjustable length of stock, which would also help then with fit MAYBE<, and kill two birds with one stone for you's!
they look something like a like a AR style stock
like this

https://zahal.org/product/fab-defens...gl-shock-grip/

or there is a more traditional looking stock you can also adjust for size like this

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1006671941/

x2 on the Limbsaver pads. They are amazing.

I'm hesitant to switch loads when I've got it shooting this good. But I'll take a look into the reduced recoil stuff and see if I can find something it likes.

-Jake

I wouldn;t go adjusting the scope for the low recoil rounds, but just shoot them they should be close, and less worries about plastic wads in a rifled bore!
not that they should matter, , be like a plastic sabot in an inline if you look at it this way,
but she will be a LOT closer to hitting things with low recoil slugs that with bird shot getting spun LOL

Jake this should be perfect for her: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=mossberg+ 500+youth+stock&_sacat=0

You could have it on and ready for her in about 5 minutes! There are several others on Ebay also.

Clem, I think I'm going to get a youth stock and put on it. I think shortening it up will solve the recoil issue. Its not a hard kicking gun, I enjoy shooting it compared to my slug gun. It's just a poor fit for her.

We shot today. I found a box of Hornady custom lights. I honestly really couldn't feel much of a difference. They had a slight poi difference. Not enough to really matter at 50 yards probably.

This is her at 50 yards. The three to the left are the lights. The three closer to the black are the standard sst slugs I use in it. I told her she's shooting it well enough that there's no excuse if she misses one.




Interestingly- she scoped her forehead slightly- on her first shot with the lights. Not enough to make a mark. But she didn't have it into her shoulder properly and it beaned her head and hurt her shoulder bone lol. (Don't tell her I'm laughing LOL)

Since neither of us could really tell a difference we'll stick with the standard sst's which I have a shelf full of already.

-Jake