with removable chokes you can adjust the pattern and get away with a shorter bbl, just easier to manuever in thick brush and lighter and my personel prefference. actualy I want a 20" bbl and then can put a pistol only grip on it and keep it in a pvc tube attatched to the bed for home protection. I like to have several options of stocks/bbl's and chokes on hand to fit whatever need I have at the moment or as a guest gun for children thru big men. this is where the mossberg 500's and rem 870's shine, they have a ton of bbl's and aftermarket stocks and what not. one of my someday projects is to get a mdl 12 goose gun with a 3" chamber and have a smith cut the bbl to 20" and thread in some remington chokes. solid steel real quality wood and enough weight to tame recoil, should be a bad whamma -jamma and able to git er done for under or about $500. the other guys are right about a 28" vent rib with acuchokes for trap/ducks and geese and I allready have one. 24" is a good compromize if you can only have one bbl length, god forbid. confused yet?next class will be about rifled bbls vs smoothbores, cantilevers vs reciever mounted scopes and scopes vs open rifle type sights vs see thru or red dot sights and there will be a quiz next friday, lol.
Got a 870 super mag. It came with an improved choke and I bought a remingtion super full turkey choke. This weekend I will be hunting Hogs at Guanna WMA. I bought a box of 3" slugs and a box of 3" 00 Buck shot. What choke should I use and do I need to buy another? Still new to me and I won't have time to pattern them before the hunt.
I would not try the slugs thru the x-tra full turkey choke! it may just be too tight. buck shot probly too tight also, and unfortunately the improved is probably too open for buckshot. I'd buy a modified choke and pattern them on paper at different ranges when able. for now play it safe and use the improved and keep shots as close as possible until you pattern it and see whats what.
Went hunting with my Shotgun for hogs last Saturday at Four Creeks WMA up hear in Northeast Florida. I was hunting with 3" 00 Buck with a full choke. Had a hog poke it's head out of the brush but his body was covered. He was about 35 yards away. Long Grass/reeds and small sticks covered the body. For some reason in stead of going for the head shot I decided to shoot through the brush into the broad side. I shot, pig ran back into the woods and let out a squeal. I was thinking becuase of the squeel I probably hit him but when I didn't see any blood I thought I may have missed. When I got down I couldn't find a drop of blood anywhere. I don't have any experience hunting with a shotgun. Do you all think I hit it or missed? Also wondering what other people would have done in this situation. Head shot, shoot thru the brush for broad side, or wait for it to step out and get a better broad side?
