pattywak

Nice video! I've seen a few of your other vids from different gun websites I follow, you got yourself a new sub. 

Does the cdm mount work with the heatshield? I've seen forum posts online that say it does, but I can't find any comment that states which model specifically works with it. I e-mailed CDM, but he said it may be a while before he gets a chance to respond to e-mails.    So far, I'm liking the GG&G fore end. From what I see online, people say it's a quality piece, but not many use it, I assume because of the price. The sale for both the forend and the Streamlight Polytac at $105 brings the price down a little bit.    I do realize I could get any other forend with rails and mount a light there, but I want it simple and don't want a rail on the unused side of bottom of the foreend. That's wasted rail space to me, and so far the GG&G fore end is the only one that has a single rail on it. 

Interesting update, found this sale on the GG&G fore end PLUs a Surefire Polytac: http://www.gggaz.com/remington-870-and-mossberg-590-forearm-flashlight-mount-package-sale.html For $105 dollars. Anyone have experience with this setup? Only thing I would need is a pressure pad, and some preliminary searching yielded results that said a Surefire pressure switch would work with the Streamlight Polytac. Only downside is that at first glance Surefire pressure switches are really expensive, some results showing around 100$?!? Looks like I need to some more research...all the options are still up in the air. Here's a quick video review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lgyng6SWto

Very nice setup, I had seen the elzetta mounts but never seen someone demo how to use it. The only thing I think may be in the way is the fact that I have a heat shield on my shotgun. I know some people will say just ditch the shield but I'd rather not if I had the choice. Edit: Just checked where my hand falls on the fore end to see if a setup like that Elzetta mount is possible for me, and I do not believe my thumb would be able to reach the rear button of the flashlight. Also, it looks like the heat shield mounting would interfere with the elzetta mount. Edit edit: Looking at it again, it seems that if I got a flashlight long enough I might be able to actuate it with my thumb. Keeping this option on the table as I just read somewhere that the Laserlyte tri-rail works with Mossbergs with heat shields. Doing more research into it now. Anyone know of any other mounts that work with the factory heat shield?

Nice shotgun! Do the shells on the shell holder interfere with you getting your cheek down on the stock to aim? 

Carter, how does your friend mount the light? Does he use a pressure switch?

EDIT: Narrowed done some of the choices to three, decided the heat shield is not necessary anymore so I can remove that if need be. I recently acquired a 9-shot Mossberg 590 with a heatshield, and the last thing I have left to figure out is the best way I can mount a light to the gun. There are a few options I have found online after seeing some threads related to light mounting on HD shotguns. 1. Surefire forend: This is what I would get in a heartbeat if I had money to burn. Looks great, and lots of great recommendations for it. But the price is a little higher than I am willing to pay. There is a reason this is so highly recommended, I have no problem trusting it is a well-made product. (Pic from m24shooter on the mossberg owners forum) I found the Surefire Forend, 323LMG for around $300 online. 2. Remove the heat shield, and run a standard clamp + light with a pressure switch on the tail cap. As of right now, I'm considering 2 mounts: a. The CDM Gear Mod-C b. The Elzetta ZSM Mount If I go this route, I would probably go with the CDM Gear mount because I like the way it looks compared to the Elzetta. The second part of this equation is the flashlight. I want to be able to temporarily activate the light with my thumb. This brings up two problems: 2a. I have heard people say that using your thumb is not the best idea because recoil will cause the light to jam back onto your thumb = NO BUENO. 2b. I have a short reach and short thumbs, so I am worried I would not be able to reach the flashlight without reaching out more than is comfortable to do. Here's a pic: Do weapon mounted lights come in different lengths? I'm sure they do, but I have no idea where to begin looking. Surefire seems to be the most vouched for brands, so I was going to start there. 2c. Also, there are many stories of lights not holding up to the recoil of the 12g. People who run the lights on lighter-recoiling platforms, like a .223 AR-15 don't have problems, but I've read many threads about various lights failing when mounted on a shotgun. Edit: 3. Also forgot to put this down on the list, but the third option would be the Magpul MOE Forend and a TLR-1. I also really like this setup because of price, and a lot of people are running TLR-1 lights on their shotguns with no problems with recoil battering the light. ONLY downside -> I have no idea when Magpul is going to release the MOE forend, their site just says "Coming 2013." I've already e-mailed them and I am waiting on a response. Thanks a lot for everyones help and patience with me.

Thanks for all the information, everyone. It's good to know I can get reliable information from this forum because  as we all know, you can't trust everything on the internet. Haha.    I've researched much into the Federal Flitecontrol Wad loads, and the patterning tests I've seen are amazing. I haven't looked into the price yet, but I assume they are more than the basic buckshot loads. For now, I'm going to practice with the cheaper loads I find locally.    DanO, thanks for the very informative post. For the stocks, I went with the Hogue Short Shot, which is a 12" LOP and if that is too short, an additional limbsaver would be in order. And I personally don't like the pistol grip stocks ( with stock and in pistol grip only setups ) so I'm going to be sticking with the traditional stock setup. I also have seen XS offering a tritium sight that goes over the bead. That might be something I pick up in the future.    Considering the light is the last thing have left to want to add to the gun, I may start another thread about that specifically since there are so many options and configurations out there.

Sounds like it was a good time, and there were more first-timers than I thought there would be! Will you still be doing this on a bi-monthly schedule, every other Tuesday? My new holsters are coming in this week and I will definitely be at the next one. 

Found some 00 buck at Bass Pro Shops - they had much more in stock than Academy, might have to be my new spot for shotgun ammo. Picked up some Remington 2/34 9 pellet 00 buck for $5.99 a box. Only got 20 rounds of it - I didn't want to buy bulk until I knew the price was good and what people thought of the load. Some reviews I've found online said it's a pretty good cheap choice for buckshot that will get the job done. Also ordered a Hogue ShortShot stock and a tacstar side saddle. Can't wait to get them in and put them on. Some install videos I've seen didn't look too complicated. 

Sad I missed this event due to some errands...how did it go? 

Ah thank you for that. I'm still waiting on another holster and mag carrier to get in. Would it be possible to come and just spectate the IDPA event? 

Having never shot idpa, is all I need to do is watch that video, come for the new shooters meeting and bring my gear and money?

So it sounds like steel is better than lead. Is steel shot more rough on the gun? And I never considered using slugs for hd, I think I'm going to stick to 00 buck for that

Thanks for all the tips guys. When looking for specifically buckshot, will it say "buckshot" on the box followed by the ammo information? I ask only because all of the boxes I saw on the shelves at wally world had nothing on them that said either buckshot or birdshot, it was just the number of shot ranging from #8 to #4. I'm going to journey to Academy Sports today to see what they have in stock.    Also, K.I.S.S is definitely going to be the idea for my shotgun. I'm not going to treat it like a mall ninja ar15, just a light and a sidesaddle are what I'm looking at.  Light for target identification and the side saddle for just some extra ammunition ready to go. The sling I can do without, it's not an absolute necessity. As far as side saddles go, a couple that I've heard frequently mentioned are TacStar and Mesa. The install seems pretty simple enough, but I'm probably going to seek some help for the first time install so I don't mess anything up.    Dolomite, what is the different between steel and lead? Any ballistic differences? I assume it's just the different construction of the shot? 

Just picked up a new Mossberg 590 9 shot parkerized with heat shield after wanting one for some home defense duty. This is my first long gun, and I've never shot a shotgun before. I do have two pistols that were the primaries for home defense.    To the point: I'm looking at some simple mods for the shotgun, and would like any helpful information that you guys could impart to someone new to shotguns. The mods I would like to do are:  1. Side saddle 2. Some kind of weapon mounted light 3. Sling 4. Being a short, portly asian I was wondering if they made any stocks that were just a tad bit shorter. I have seen some shotgun "youth" models that had much shorter stocks, but I was wondering if they had one just maybe an inch or two shorter than stock. I will reserve making this a permanent addition to the list until after running through some rounds with the shotgun to see how the factory stock does with my arm length.    Also, I previously knew that when it came to shotgun ammo there was birdshot, buckshot, and slugs, but when I actually went to the store and saw all the different kinds with different number shot and oz I got a little overwhelmed. I had no idea there were that many variances ( but I did know that this ammo variance was what made the shotgun a very versatile weapon platform. ) I did not see anything labeled buckshot so I just grabbed a 100 round value pack of Federal Multipurpose load that says "12 Gauge, 3 Dram Eq, 1 1/8 oz shot 8 shot" on the side. After doing a little bit of research, I think Ive found that this was what equals to "practice ammo" much like regular 115 grain FMJ is for 9mm.    1. What is dram eq?  2. What is the oz measurement of the shot?  3. For 8 shot, I think that the lower the number the larger the pellets but the less pellets there are.  4. For some defense ammunition I've heard over and over again that 00 buck is the way to go. What is the difference between 00 buck and 000 buck? 4 buck? 1 buck?    Sorry if these are a lot of questions. Like I said, I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed at all the ammo choices and numbers. I'm so used to "115 gr FMJ" for practice and "147 gr JHP" for carry load that all these options are a little mind boggling at first. I hope you guys can find it in your hearts to help a lowly shotgun noob out!    Thanks for the help guys! 

Tarhellbball, thank you for the pictures. And just to clarify, I am asking about the color of the front ring, not the tritium inserts in the sights.

Could you get some pictures of it under different lighting conditions? And who did you have put the sights on?

Thanks for the response! From what I've seen the orange seems to be the most popular among people on forums. I know there's no replacement for actual real life use to see for myself. Worst case scenario, I'll get the orange and if I hate them swap for the yellow. Just wanted to see of there were any reasons to go with one over the other that I was unaware of.

I finally have settled on a set of these for my M&P Shield. The only thing left to decide is to go with either the orange front ring or the yellow front ring. I have never had sights other than factory on the two guns I own (an FNX9 and the Shield) so I'm not sure which I would prefer. Looking at some threads online I have seen photos of both yellow and orange rings, but I'm not sure which is suited best for my needs. It's obviously going to be my edc gun, not just for target shooting.  A lot of threads say that it depends on the shooter and what works for your eyes, but I've never seen these sights in person or have any friends who have them to see for myself. I also prefer doing my research first and then buying once so that I don't have to deal with the return and refund process. But, if this is the only way to go, you gotta do what you gotta do!  That being said, with my limited experience with guns and shooting at the range I would say that I'm leaning towards the orange, but I realized that outside there may be more orange or similar to orange colors in the environment, so may yellow be better?  Anyone with experience with these specific sights or just front sight color options in general have any tips for a newbie to night sights?

Your 9c felt great in my hand. My shields trigger just has me spoiled, although I would not hesitate to get a full size 9 and add an apex kit for a range gun. Good stuff!

Yeah, I feel like the heavier trigger and the smaller frame has a lot to do with it. I don't think that becoming proficient with a heavy trigger will cause you to shoot poorly with your other pistols, but YMMV.

What's hanging off the back of the slide in the top picture? I think I've seen it before, helps to rack it?

Update! I made it to the range yesterday, and I made a double conscious effort to work on a smooth, constant trigger pull and to keep my grips relaxed. The first 50 rounds I went through were more of the same, but the second target and second set of 50 rounds the groups began to tighten up and straighten out! I need to get more practice for sure but I think the most contributing factor is the trigger pull. A heavier trigger than I'm used to and a smaller grip frame lead me to jerking the trigger or not applying constant, straight backwards pressure, thus throwing my shots. Can't wait to get out there and work on it some more. I'm so glad that this seems to be turning out to be something wrong with me, rather than the gun. I think next time I'll ask one of the guy working to take some shots with the gun also to see how their shots look to completely rule out it being the gun.

I just turn down the drink and say, "Nah, I'm good." Almost none of my friends know I have my HCP, and fewer know I always carry. Don't want to open the floor to the follow up questions - You have a gun? Whaat?? Can I see it? Guys, Patrick has a gun! I'd rather just kindly decline and not out myself.