H&K SBE1 shooting low

[Fairchir]

My dad bought the gun in 96/97 and he died in 98. I recently got it and wanted to make a turkey gun out of it. Out of a Caldwell Leadsled, it was 2 feet low at 30 steps. I put the truglo gobble dot pro sights on it and with the max adjustment the top of the pattern is just hitting the target. Although it has nothing to do with it, I have the A shim in it which should have the highest POI for wing shooting. Since I am aligning beads for turkey hunting, I don't think bending the barrel is the answer. I have shot so many rounds of different types of ammo. I hate to give up on this gun. What should I do?

[Benelligunny]

It doesn't matter what shim is in it if you are turkey hunting and shooting straight down the rib. Shims are for flying targets. I doubt if the barrel is not bent that it's shooting 2 feet low. Take the trulgow sights off and sight it with 2 3/4" standard loads. This will take the flinch factor out. Turkey loads pound you and you develop a flinch. Quit using a lead sled for sighting. You wont have it in the woods so it will have no bearing on where you can shoot.There is one thing you can check. The barrel stop ring on the front end of the mag tube or the mag tube itself may be loose or both. In older guns this sometimes gets loose as the Loctite ages and oil seeps in. With the barrel and forend off, try to turn either one. They should not move. If the barrel stop ring is very loose then it could be backed down. Here's what happens. If it is too loose, when you tighten the mag cap, it can bend the barrel down making the gun shoot low. If it is too far forward it can make it shoot high and also keep the barrel from seating to the receiver properly and cause other variously bad problems. Ideally, the stop ring and mag tube should be tight. Install the barrel without the forend on and look at the gap between the back of the barrel hanger on the barrel and the front of the stop ring. There should be only a small light gap or a measured .002" to .004" gap. It might be difficult to understand but the mag tube assembly can be very responsible for point of impact. So, check these things out. Put the "D" shim and plate back in, take the aftermarket sights off, stack the beads (don't line them up one directly behind the other), use a factory full choke (some aftermarket chokes are junk) and try again. If it is an older SBE with the flat rib instead of the raised, step rib it should shoot a 50/50 pattern at 25 yards.