Mossberg 500/Remington 870 for clay pigeons?

[newbieshooter]

hi folks - would a standard, off the shelf, stock mossberg 500/remington 870 be at all useful for ? I'm asking because the 500/870 are always recommended as a home defense firearm, but I also enjoy clay pigeon shooting.

Am I crazy to try to use a 500/870 for some clay pigeons?

A friend of mine says that a 500/870 is going to be useless for clays, and I never seem to get an explanation why that is!

(Of course, I realize that clay pigeons is going to be a lot harder without choke tubes and having the pump action instead of the convenience of an O/U. That said, is there any reason why at reasonable distances, a 500/870 wouldn't work at least better than throwing rocks when it comes to killing clays?)

[wryekid]

The 870 has interchangable choke tubes and I am pretty sure the Mossberg 500 does too. I like my 870 and I can get 3 rounds out if I miss twice (and yes that happens even with a single bird).
Good luck with your decision...
By the way, what does your friend think you should buy???

[scoutjoe]

I can shoot 20+ with my Mossy 500A. I'm sure the gun can do better its operator error. Doubles are tougher with a pump, but do-able. Shot trap with it once or twice, but that is a moot point since I only got one shell per bird. I've never shot sporting clays so I don't know how that would turn out, I'm sure the gun would still throw shot in the general direction of flying orange things and that makes it useful.

As long as you are threaded for chokes use them, cylinder bore is tricky. Also the longer barrel will help ya as opposed to a shorter HD barrel.

No need to run out and buy another gun just yet, go out and see if you like it and if you do go find something that suits you better.

[crakkajakka15]

If you are shooting trap then u should be fine... but if your going to something with multiple targets like skeet or sporting clays i suggest a OU or Semi. Personally I had a benelli nova i was shooting trap with and it was great but when i shot skeet or sporting clay it just made it that much harder to compete with the semis and OU's. I invested a semi called a Verona SX405, you will catch them on sale at Dicks every now and then on sale from 229.00 to 249.99. I have put about 2000 rds though it without a problem...pull the trigger it goes bang...and they make aftermarket chokes for it too. Pic



Edit: Not me in the Pic lol

[normanvin]

I have a mossberg 500 that i use exclusively for clay birds. It works for me.

[knight0334]

my post in the following thread may help.

http://www.pafoa.org/forum/shotguns-...-shotguns.html

[hrc]

A pump can work. Last spring I shot sporting clays with an 870 for the first time. I shot 62/100. The guy with me who shot more frequently and with an O/U shot a 61/100. Pumping to reload as well as swinging towards a bird at the same time is difficult, but the time I shot a O/U it was awkward since I have shot a pump for many years. I will probably shoot sporting clays again this year maybe once, so I will take my 870 again and not feel bad about it at all.

[newbieshooter]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.