How far can you shoot a Mossberg Shotgun?

7 Responses

1. suro25

   November 22nd, 2009 at 10:23 am

   Depends on the model of the gun, the length of the barrel, the type of round you are shooting (slug of buck shot, and size of shot), What choke you have on the barrel.
   suro

2. esugrad97

   November 22nd, 2009 at 10:23 am

   depends on the gauge of the gun, the size of the shot, and what choke you have on the gun.

3. disgruntled_penguin

   November 22nd, 2009 at 10:23 am

   With a slug, you can hit stuff out to 100 yards pretty reliably. Further than that gets a little difficult because shotguns are not as accurate as rifles. The slug could travel a mile easily, but you’d never hit anything out there.

   Buckshot, 50 yards max. The pattern past there will be pretty awful. The shot will travel a few hundred yards at most.

   Birdshot 50 yards as well, but with birdshot the shot will basically fall right out of the air after 100 yards because it is so small and has high air resistance.

4. renderman50

   November 22nd, 2009 at 10:23 am

   It doesn’t matter if it’s a Mossberg or any other brand. What matters is the shotshell load.

   12 gauge birdshot with a full choke will probably have a max distance of 40-50 yards.

   12 gauge slugs will have a max range of about 150 yards.

   They of course can go farther but that’s about the max effective range.

5. nwmohunter207

   November 22nd, 2009 at 10:23 am

   The distance you can shoot with a shotgun varies tremendously. You asked specifically about a Mossberg shotgun, but different brands of guns will not get you any different distances on your shot.

   A shotgun typically shoots numerous projectiles, anywhere from a couple (5 or 6) to close to 1,000. A shotgun needs a choke tube in order to constrict the shot string (what the clump of pellets is called after it leaves the barrel) or open the pattern up. The more the pattern is constricted, the further it will fly. An extra-full turkey tube is about the tightest constriction that they make.

   One factor is the gauge of shotgun you are shooting. The largest gauge manufactured now is a 10 gauge. The smallest is a .410 caliber. A .410 is the only shotgun gauge measured in caliber. If a .410 was measured in a gauge it would be about a 67 1/2 gauge. The larger the gauge, the larger the shell, the more pellets it can shoot and the more powder you can put behind the pellets. In essence, the larger the gauge you use the further you can shoot.

   Another factor is the size of the shot shell and the amount of powder in the shell. The largest shell made for a 12 gauge is a 3 1/2" shell. Other sizes for 12 gauge is 2 3/4" and 3". The dram equivalence or dram eq. is typically listed on the box and this shows how much powder is in the shell. Typically the more powder, the faster and further the projectile will go.

   The shot size or size of the projectile and what it is made of is yet another factor. The smaller the pellet, the less energy each pellet will carry and will drop off at a shorter distance. The larger the pellet, the more energy it will carry and the further it will travel. The typical shotgun pellet or projectile is made of lead and most distances are based on this. There are other compositions of pellets that affect distance and the amount of energy each pellet can carry. Steel pellets are lighter, but harder than lead and will not fly as far as lead will. There is another pellet called Hevi-Shot which is as dense and heavier than lead which will carry further and retain more energy than lead.

   As much as I would like to tell you a specific answer, you can see there really is no way to give you a definite answer unless you question is much more specific on what you are wanting to shoot and what you want to accomplish.

6. Jimi

   November 22nd, 2009 at 10:23 am

   it depends entirely on what load you’re shooting

7. landahlb

   November 22nd, 2009 at 10:23 am

   depends on if you are using shot then it depends on the size and the kind of choke. However if you are using a slug then it depends on if the barrel is smooth bored or rifled, the rifled you can shoot much further I can hit 100 yrds comfortably with a mossberg 500 12 gauge.

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