I am looking at purchasing a 590A1 shotgun by next fall for deer hunting, home defense and plinking/target practice. I was wondering what would be the best choice for open sights:
factory 3 dot sighted version (model #52682)









factory bead sighted version (model #51411)




Let me expand on this question. I am going to be using a rifled slug for deer hunting, which means I want something more than just a plain bead sight. With the version that has bead sights from the factory, I was planning on adding aftermarket irons to it. This allows for me to have a clean barrel to work with that can be dovetailed and tapped as needed. What I am concerned about with the other model is that I might want to upgrade the irons in the future which may lead me to have less options because of the existing dovetails/tapped sections on the barrel for the factory sights.



So basically, thats my first question. My second question is:



What kind of accuracy would I expect to get at 100-200m with a rifled slug out of the 18.5" 590A1 assuming quality iron sights and a good shooter (and average factory made rifled slugs)?
P.S. - I know that one has a speedfeed stock and the other doesn't, I am not concerned about that. Also, I am not interested in the other factory sighted 18.5" 590A1 with the ghost ring aperature mounted on the receiver for those about to suggest it.

Sorry, I was going to suggest the GR sight.  To shoot slugs I would prefer more than just a bead.

Good luck past 75 yards maintaining any kind of accuracy.

While the deer in MI are much larger than the ones here in NC (large dog size) I would have a tough time shooting 100+ meters and expect a hit with a slug.  YMMV, just saying it would take lots of practice and need for me to take that shot.

My 590A1 is 18.5 and sports the ghost ring sights and my zero is POA/POI at 50m.  I really like those sights in so much as shotgun sights go.

I wasn't planning on shooting at deer past 100m with open sights and a slug. The 100-200m range question was for non-hunting scenarios (in MI you would be hard pressed to get a shot off past 100m when hunting deer anyways).



I like the idea of ghost ring sights but I want the rear aperture to be mounted to the barrel and no the receiver. Even though it would shorten the sight radius compared to a factory ghost ring setup, I would feel more comfortable with it.

I fell in love with the ghost rings on both the 18.5 and 20" barrel as did the better half.  HOWEVER, the rifle sights like the ones you are talking about are nice as well and a  lot easier for me to see than just the bead or a vent rib with bead.

Over on Shotgunworld we have a member that just used the new 3 dot sight to take a deer.  Said he loved the sights and it worked very well for the purpose.
I would say that while the bead is capable of allowing longer range shots with slugs (if you know what you're doing) the 3 dot sight would probably be a little more conducive to that sort of thing.

I think some of you are confused. I guess my question was whether I should buy the factory 3 dot version or buy the bead sighted version and add some sort of ghost ring or 3 dot setup to it.

I have a 590a1 that had a  bead sight,
I replaced it with a meprolight night sight, it works great for me.

For hunting I would go with the sights in the top photo.  They would work fine for a HD application too.

Why would you get the bead sight and remove it for a 3-dot or GR when you can simply get those from the factory?  I'd get what you want the first time and skip the aftermarker stuff...

I am concerned about the quality of the factory 3 dot irons. I doubt I will be able to sample a 590 with the 3 dot sights on it where I live (most are bubba gun shops with hunting guns) so I don't want to order the wrong thing.



My thoughts on this are that I can add aperture/3 dot sights to the bead sighted version but I can't remove the factory 3 dot sights without causing cosmetic blemishes...



What do you guys think?

The 3 dot sight was developed for the NYPD contract guns.  It provides the same sight picture as the Glock pistols.
I haven't heard anything negative as to their quality.

Get an 870.

Nah, I'm a Mossy fan

Ok, heres what I was thinking as far as adding ghost ring sights to the bead sighted version. I saw these LPA sights on the Benelli M4 and I was thinking that these would be good sights install:



http://www.lpasights.com/catalog-shotgun.html