Shotgun no scope?

Single bead (mounted at the muzzle) sights are terrible on any gun. They only give you a general idea of where the projectile(s) is/are going. If your gun has 2 beads, then that is better as it gives you two points to line up to make sure you are aiming straight (like iron sights do). If all you have is a single bead at the end of the barrel, I would recommend you at least get some iron or fiber-optic sights on there, if not mount a red dot or a scope.

That having been said, I have scopes mounted on all my slug guns with the exception of the .410. The .410 is a bolt action and there is no room for a scope to be mounted because of the high angle the bolt must be rotated to in order to disengage it on this particular firearm. Therefore I mounted a red dot on this gun because it offered an unlimited eye relief distance (unlike most scopes, but I believe you can get some scopes set up with very long eye relief distances).

That having been said, if you are going to limit yourself to 50 yard shots or less, iron sights or red dots work great for this and you really don't need anything else. If your gun is good to 100 yds or more, a scope can be helpful.

My dad tells me, that when he was in the Marine Corps, he had to qualify with an M14 that only had iron sights out to distances of 500 yds in the standing position. He earned marksman qualification. So do you really need a fancy scope or expensive holographic sighting systems? No. But they don't hurt having if you want to spend the money on them.

I think a scope is always a great idea. Even on my old hand me down Winchester 20 gauge smooth bore. It has a scope. But, since that gun isn't going to have a very long effective range you won't have to spend much. Just my $0.02. Good luck and happy hunting!

For the record, I bought a cheap BSA 3-9x power 40mm "deer hunter" scope and mounted it on my 12ga Remington 870 pump shotgun that kicks like a mule firing 385gr slugs at 1850 ft/sec. That scope has been mounted on that gun for over 5 years and it has never lost zero even though I "sight it in" every year at the range (running at least 5 rounds thru it to verify zero). I think I paid less than $50 for that scope when I bought it.

You don't need something uber expensive on a shotgun. An economy rifle scope will work fine.

Nothing wrong with iron sights at all. They are very robust and will rarely fail you.

Scopes can fog up or drift from zero, and the batteries can die in red dots. The more complicated the sighting device, the more than can go wrong.

That having been said, the scope on my 12ga allowed me to perfectly place my shot last year and drop my 8-pointer where he stood.

I recently purchased some rifled shotgun slugs for my wife's new 20ga (smoothbore) and on the package it said Improved Cylinder chokes are the best to use with rifled slugs.

The manual that came with her new gun said NEVER fire the gun without a choke tube installed in the end of the barrel (for barrels that accept threaded choke tubes).

There is a scope mount kit available for the 870 that installs over the receiver and gives you a weaver style rail so a scope (with rings) can be mounted to the receiver. This is how my dad has his scope mounted on his 20ga 870 and it is a tack driver at 50 yards.

However, I noticed that while bore sighting with a laser stuck in the muzzle, if you applied lateral pressure on the foregrip (pump action grip) on this gun, you could force the barrel to move laterally from the scope's sight since the scope is mounted to the receiver and not the barrel itself. You couldn't move it a lot and it probably wouldn't affect short distance shots much, but I thought this was worth mentioning.

For my 12ga 870, I bought a rifled barrel that has the cantilever scope mount attached directly to the barrel.

My 870 is ribbed. I like that, it is something I'll have to look in to for sure. If I can easily attach an iron sight on my shotgun then I will go that route. I think the 870 has to have the cantilever to put a scope on. I have always shot my .22 with iron sights and I am a dead eye. I just don't feel comfortable going hunting with just a bead

A friend of mine when a youth, just starting out deer hunting, only had one gun a gift from his grandfather. Yep a 16 ga single shot break open shotgun. There was NO bead on the barrel. He managed to kill a 4 pointer during his first season at 6 yards. " Just hung him over the end of the barrel." No body told him it couldn't be done. He managed to kill several more deer with his trusty single shot by getting them at point blank range, too close to miss. He hunted on the ground and learned to sit really still.

I don't think this is the brand of cantilever that I used to attach my turkey scope on my ribbed 870, but it is the same concept.

This, a good scope and rifled screw in tube will have you in business..

www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/2-BSQ16175

My husband uses an 870 he said if you use and improved cylinder or it my say I/C thread in choke it is fine. His uncle is a gunsmith who set his up that way and he has never had a problem. Just figured I'd throw that out there. also on your 16g if you really want to have a scope mounted take it up to gander mountain. I had them drill and tap my HR 20g for a scope so it shouldn't be a problem for your 16