Effective range of 00 buckshot with a Mossberg 590 A1

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Mrbladedude

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Aug 2, 2010
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20 inch barrel 8 shot. Was wondering what the effective range would be say taking a shot at a medium to large size deer?
 
Mrbladedude, my brother & I did our own testing on this. I have a model 590 A-1 & he has his trusty Remington 870 (he is in L/E). We were using the standard B-27 FBI silhouette targets. We started at 10 paces & increased the distance at 5 pace intervals. At 15 paces we lost 2 of the pellets out of center mass. The farthest distance we had with keeping at least 4 pellets on target was 26 paces. The farthest distance we had with at least 1 pellet (just to see for ourselves) was at 45 paces. The P.O.A. was 4"-5" below shoulder line, most of the pellets hit P.O.I. somewhere in the center mass (chest area). We also had set up some wall partitions to try different loads for penetration tests, but ran out of daylight. Both guns were almost identical as far as pellets hitting on target. Hope this helps, good luck with yours.
Be safe.
 
bow ranges the closer the better. Inside 30-35 yards nothing kills better. outside that range it becomes the worst crippler out there
Roy
 
plumberroy said:
bow ranges the closer the better. Inside 30-35 yards nothing kills better. outside that range it becomes the worst crippler out there
Roy
Click to expand...

So true, and even inside 30-35 yds. sometimes it can be a crap shoot IF that one little ittsy bittsy tweeny weeny pencil thin branch you did not see 12 yds. out sends your arrow towards the moon . . . :)
Great alternative comparison for noise reduction as well.
Be safe.
 
You will never know until you pattern your gun with different types of ammo. my 18" bbl with an IC choke spreads Remington 3" Magnum 00 Buck all over. 2 3/4" Hornady TAP 8 pellet stays tight.

Take it to the range and try as many different types of ammo as you can. Find out for yourself which ammo works best for you in your shotgun.
 
What he said ^^.

Try the federal flight control wad load too. In theory it will pattern better at 25 yards with your cylinder bore barrel.
 
The rule of thumb from a cylinder bore barrel, which I believe your Mossberg has, is 1 inch spread per yard. So, at 25 yards your pattern will be about 25 inches. The only problem is what is called the donut effect. The shot pattern will have a large hole in the middle where there are no pellets. That's why Remington put a little bit of choke in most of their short barrels. Of course, you can't know what your barrel will do unless you test it.

As mentioned before, there are some newer shotgun shells that are designed to alleviate the donut problem. Vang Comp Systems can modify your barrel to shoot 12" patterns at 25 yards, but it will cost you about half of what your shotgun is worth.
 
It's not just the pattern . Round shot slows down rather fast and shot ,even 00 doesn't penetrate very well . Stick to 25 yds !!
 
Rupestris said:
You will never know until you pattern your gun with different types of ammo. my 18" bbl with an IC choke spreads Remington 3" Magnum 00 Buck all over. 2 3/4" Hornady TAP 8 pellet stays tight.

Take it to the range and try as many different types of ammo as you can. Find out for yourself which ammo works best for you in your shotgun.
Click to expand...

Yep. You need to find out for yourself and your weapon. If you want an estimated answer, I'd say you're looking at under 25 yards. Vang tests his at 25 yards and even his reverse bore barrels max out there abouts.
 
For most people 26 paces is less than 25 yards and, as mete mentioned, penetration is a real concern too. Aren't there slugs or sabot rounds you could use? Sorry if that's an ignorant question, I've never hunted with a shotgun.
 
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