[mustang_steve]

Well, I'm a shotgun newbie, and got my hands on a usable but definately not treated nicely Mossberg 500ABR (finish on the stock is chipping, surface rust on the barrel and the reciever looks like it was dropped onto the concrete at least once).

It cycles well, fires nicely, but I have this rattling of the sight rail from the center 3 ribs. Basically I think they de-soldered themselves. Is this going to cause any issues? This is going to be a hunting shotgun so I really don't care about aesthetics so much as it performs reliably.

[ATAShooter]

If it is for hunting, I don't see the loose rib posts being a factor, due to the very small amount of heat generated. Trap, Skeet, Clays, I'd say yes, send it to Simmons Gun Specialties for repair, or buy a replacement Barrel.

[mustang_steve]

Yeah, at the prices it seems repairs go for, I'll likely look for a new barrel once this one shows to be problematic. The barrel costs about as much as the repair will, so I figure that's how I'll go.

Thanks for the advice, I definately needed some insight here, just in case I was being a perfectionist about things again (which I can be, and often over the strangest things).

[stan rose]

Get the impact resistant loctite, the good stuff, gently lift the post off the barrel (very slightly, not even a 1/16 of an inch), sray some quick drying degreaser, let dry, place a dab of the loctite under the post, hold rib tight to barrel with a rubberband over each of the glued post and let sit for a couple of hours. Thats what I did two years ago as an experiment for my friends 870 and it is holding up great.

[Oldfalguy]

That what I was going to suggest- glue/epoxy/JB weld the ribs and use it for a spare and then go get another barrel, perhaps one with chokes so its different