Although a lot of hunters prefer a bead front sight on their shotguns, an increasing number of gun owners are gravitating toward red dot sights. A red dot on your turkey shotgun offers a host of benefits including a broad field of view, rapid target acquisition, and accuracy at longer distances.
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Equipping your shotgun with a red dot sight doesn’t have to be a long process anymore, which is fantastic. The Mossberg 500 and 835 Ulti-Mag are available in optics-ready models, making it possible to drop a red dot on your gun without a trip to the gunsmith or the need to find the right mounting plate.
Mossberg describes these shotguns as hard-working, tom-thumping firearms. As mentioned, they have receiver cuts that make it possible to directly mount low-profile micro dot sights with a Shield RMSc footprint.
The shotguns are fully camouflaged in Mossy Oak Greenleaf, which is perfect for spring turkey hunting. Mossberg produces the 500 Turkey Optic-Ready chambered in .410 bore and 20 gauge and the 835 Ulti-Mag Turkey Optic-Ready in 12 gauge with a 3.5-inch chamber.
There’s no denying the manufacturer’s shotguns have a long-standing reputation for reliability, durability, and effectiveness. These two turkey-season shotguns offer a variety of fantastic design features such as non-binding twin action bars, dual extractors, and a positive steel-to-steel lock-up. Additional features include an anti-jam elevator, an anodized aluminum receiver, and universally recognized ambidextrous tang safety.
The shotguns ship with extended choke tubes and a factory fiber optic front sight, so if you’d like to run it without a red dot, you can. Receivers are drilled and tapped to make mounting red dots easier and sling swivel studs allow slings to be attached quickly. The guns have a 5+1 capacity. As for the receiver cut, they ship with a cover plate installed for use when there’s no red dot on the guns.
Features of the Mossberg 835 Ulti-Mag Turkey include:
- Receiver cut so it’s ready for optics right out of the box.
- Fits optics with a Shield RMSc footprint.
- 3.5-inch chamber means shooters can use 2 3/4 inch, 3 inch, or 3.5-inch shotshells.
- Overbored barrel for enhanced performance and less pellet deformation.
- Interchangeable chokes so the user can swap them out according to their needs at the time.
- 13.87-inch length of pull.
- 24-inch barrel.
- 7.5-pound overall weight, empty.
- 44.75-inch overall length.
- Mossy Oak Greenleaf camo finish on the entire gun.
- Pump-action.
Features of the Mossberg 500 in 20 gauge include:
- Optics ready thanks to a receiver cut at the factory.
- Compatible with Shield RMSc footprint red dot sights.
- Ambidextrous safety so it works with left- or right-handed shooters.
- Works with model 500 accessory barrels.
- 13.87-inch length of pull.
- 22-inch barrel.
- 6.75-pound overall weight.
- 41.25-inch overall length.
- Mossy Oak Greenleaf finish on the entire gun.
- Pump-action.
MSRP varies by specific model and chambering but starts at $644.00.
