I just got a new mossberg 835 a couple weeks ago. It is the 24in ported barrel with the fiber optic sights. Yesterday I was turkey hunting and I missed two birds in one day. Talk about a rough day. I couldn't believe it. I went back to the house and I shot at a target at 50 yards and I realized that the gun was shooting almost a foot and a half high at 50 yards. Has anyone else had this problem with these sights? I really don't want to have to go out and buy a red dot for it because I am a full time college student on a budget lol. I'm not sure if the front bead isn't high enough or what. Any advice would help. Hate that this has happened to me right when the action is good.
I'm hardly a gun expert but why did you buy a rifled barrel for turkey loads? That may be an issue, not sure though.
I'm not gun expert either and I think i described the barrel wrong. Its vented near the end of the barrel. I think its called ported not rifled. My bad.
Field guns naturally shoot high. It's intention is that you can see the bird or animal you are shooting at and don't cover it up with your sight. That is normal and also why it's a good idea to shoot a target first I learned this from shooting trap for 9 years with my beretta 391 and talking with all the guys out at the range. My gun shoots not that high but I usually pull the trigger at 25-35 yards Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
My 835 did the same thing. I had to move the fiber optics on the rear which can be moved a little. You should of patterned it before you hit the field.
Which way did you move them? I had shot the gun a little the first day I had got it. It wasn't shooting that high but I have noticed that the rear sights move around very easily so they might have moved when I was stalking one of those daddy longbeards.
lol, yeah thats a bit different. Like the others have said, most of those guns will shoot a shade high. Treat a turkey gun like a rifle, find a load the gun likes and pattern (sight in) that sucker before you hunt. On the bright side, at least you had a chance at two birds today!
It's a Mossberg..... :p That seems really high. You want a couple inches at most and that really only benefits upland game hunting. E.G. Pheasants, etc....helps to build in natural lead for a rising bird. Are you tall? You may need to add a but pad to lengthen your stock as this will lower your point of impact. You may also want to try patterning your gun a tad bit closer. Ideally you need 100 pellets or so in a 10" pie plate at 40 yards. As others have said different loads will pattern better then others. What choke tube are you using? What distances were the first two birds you missed?
No I'm not tall I'm only 5'6. I'm using the fullchoke that came with the gun. The first bird was 50 yards and the second one was 30 yards.
I have the 26 inch barrel model and shoot #6 with the full tube with mine let me say a bird at 50is in big trouble. I have missed birds at close range before.aim for the middle of the neck is my advice. The gun is a cannon.
Just your first sentence thats all No worries here. my Mossy kills them the same as my Benelli and Remington!
I am going to write this the nicest way I can but it isn't going to be easy. As hunters we owe it to the animals we are hunting to know our weapons before we try and harvest them. Taking 50 yard shots without patterning your gun does not show any respect for the animal. I hope you get your gun patterned good and learn from this. Good luck on your next hunt.
I shot the gun before hunting it was shooting fine. It's not the pattern of the gun. I'm about 90% positive its the sights. Many people have been having the same problem with these guns. Like I said the rear sights started to move around real easy and when I was crawling on my hands and knees after the birds I'm guessing thats when they got moved. It wasn't like I was out wounding birds. I shot clear 2 feet over both of them. I'm all about the ethics and the respect of the animals. I've been hunting since I was 6 years old and one of the first things I learned about hunting was the ethics so I don't need your advice on that. I asked for advice on the sights for this gun. Thanks anyways...
I might not be the best shot in the world but for me a 50 yard shot with a shotgun isn't a hard shot at all. I wouldn't take a shot without knowing I can make it. Don't see how I have no respect for the animal because of what happened? So if I climbed with my bow in my stand and knocked the sight without knowing it and go to shoot a deer and shoot 2 feet over its back does that mean I have no respect for the animal? No it does not. Things happen sometimes, part of hunting...
Took my 835 out turkey hunting and got a double with my buddy first time out, If you're on the paper you should be on the bird. Possibly human error? 50 yards with turkey loads, IMO, isnt a walk in the park. Good Luck
