Can I hunt with an 18.5" barrel ?

Question

I'm thinking of buying a Mossberg 500 with a 18.5" barrel for home defense (I have a small home), but I was wondering if it's possible to hunt with that barrel in case I wanted to.

Answer 1

yes try 24.3

Answer 2

Yes, but for hunting with a shotgun you're better off with a longer barrel.  Which don't you buy a spare hunting barrel?

H

Answer 3

no thats too small you need a rpg or bazooka

Answer 4

yes you can use an 18.5 inch barrel to hunt with if you are going after birds in close cover (i.e. in the brush or short range) if you are going after larger game such as deer then you will want to use a ribbed slug (or rifled slug) you will lose some range on that slug but usually you use a shotgun in a close range hunt anyway (not for more than 100 yards or so-- go to a shooting range to find out the range of your gun for any thing you shoot out of it) --- with all that said for a home defence weapon i would use either short brass no. 4 buck or bird shot (no extra penatration to endanger someone in the next room)(although even bird shot will penatrate in very close quarters-- at close range you will have a solid "slug" of shot for about 10 to 15 feet before it starts to spread)

or if you can find them the short short defence round used by the police they have a deadly effect without overpenatration hope this helps

Answer 5

Sure. You can hunt with it.

Deer; try rifled slugs and get some practice shooting with the bead sight.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of buckshot for deer. Especially with an 18.5 barrel the buckshot spreads too quick too wide.

Birds; The 18.5 usually has a CYL choke and not much constriction. The shot will spread quickly and the range might suffer a little.

You always have the option down the road to get a second barrel for the hunting style you prefer.