You don't look at the sight on a shotgun. You look at the target.

At home defense distances the difference in bead height is so small it's not practical to consider the differences. Not trying to be a smart Alec but it's the way it is. At 10 yards you might see a 3/4" difference in POI...so what?

FAR more important is how the buttstock fits and where your cheek falls on the comb. Two people will have very different point of impact with the same shotgun. I proved that to the guys in my duck house last weekend who claimed a particular Benelli was shooting high. Yet on a pattern board at 25 yards one guy had a 50/50 pattern and the other about a 70/30 pattern...which I corrected with a stock shim in about 10 minutes. Bead height matters only in relation to your head position and there's no way of knowing unless you take the gun out and pattern it...and not off a bench rest either.

Then there comes the issue of where YOU want the gun to shoot. I prefer to "Float" my shotgun targets above the bead while some people prefer to cover the targets with the bead. Again...that's contradictory when you're supposed to be looking at the target...the bead should be there in the background and not in focus...you should focus on the target.

 

I put one on a while ago and when shooting slugs out to 50 yds or Flite Control closer in I hold the sight to the center of the target. A six o'clock hold shoots low, especially at 50 yds. The tritium is nice and it does glow like crazy but when and if you turn on a WML that goes away. This is where the shape of the sight comes into play. Because it's a little higher and wider it's very easy to pick up the outline of the sight and get on target. Nice sight IMHO.

 

When I get around to adding the parts I want to to make my 870 a dedicated HD shotgun it will be a for-end/pump light holder, a +2 or +3 extension a side saddle and the Big Dot Im guessing at typical HD ranges it wouldnt matter im betting only time it would matter is if your talking slugs and further than 25 yards then you may be off... to be honest if I was at a place im shooting slugs or over 25 yards id be taking my AR anyways..

 

You might be surprised at how accurate you can be with that big dot, even at 50yds. I wouldn't want to take it much further but hitting a paper plate at 50 yds consistently isn't too hard. The nice thing about the Mossberg is that I have both the 24" smooth bore and rifled slug barrels that change out quickly and give me some extra yardage....especially with sabots.

 

Home defense? Yeah, you gotta aim your shotgun to get the hit.

I have an 870 with rifle sights, which I replaced with XS big dot tritium night sights.

The front sight is like having a golf ball for a front sight.

On Remington 870s with a plain bead front sight, you'd have to aim at the belt line of a bad guy to plant a slug in his chest beyond 35 yards.

Your Mossberg will probably hit lower, maybe to point of aim, with the taller XS sight.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the replies - I still need to research further if replacing a bead sight on a Mossberg 88 18.5” plain security barrel is worth it for inside home self defense (running a barrel mounted flashlight will be a given) .

 

I added one to my 870 and it is probably a waste of money. In daylight the bead worked fine, in low-light the attached TL-Racker will wash out the tritium. Maybe if the light broke at night it'd be handy. Its a HD weapon and a 10 yard (more like 3-5 realistically) affair.

 

I appreciate the replies - I now believe the stock bead plus a mounted light is the best option for HD .