Leaning towards a Mossberg O/U

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

Sagetown

Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2007
Messages
573
Location
SouthEaster Oklahoma 15 miles from Fort Smith Arka
Saw a Mossberg Silver Reserve O/U yesterday. Sure was appealing. Light weight, sleek, well fitted assembly, light engraving with gold inlay on receiver. Nice appearance for less than $500. Am leaning towards a .410, and will most likely get one if someone doesn't talk me out of it. Are there any problems with them other than the recently resolved 'firing pin' issue? :)
 
Lean away.

The problem with the firing pin issue is that Mossberg won't tell you which ones are the "fixed" ones, as in, if you go and buy a .410, you don't know if it's the recently-changed new version or the old version in store inventory.

OTOH I know someone with a .410 he's had for a while and it's held up fine. Maybe the little round doesn't stress it as much.

For me, though, it'll be a lot of years of good feedback before I don't translate "Made in Turkey" as "Do not buy." The Japanese guns (Browning, SKB) aren't that expensive, especially considering they're guns you can shoot for the rest of your life, and there are pumps and semiautos if you don't want to spend the money to get a quality O/U.

I've found that when guys who have been shotgunning and gunsmithing for 30+ years tell me something, I'm best off listening.
 
If you trust your local dealer, ask if it is a newer Mossberg. I have an O/U 12 gauge SR sporting clays and have had no problems at all...because it's the newer one.
 
Believe it or not, shortly "Made in Turkey' will be the same as "Made in Japan" as far as quality goes. Over the past two years, Turkey has gone quality conscious. Their Vursan factory makes Benelli and Franchi actions, and the new edition of the Stoeger M2000. Can't get much better than that.

Remember 40-50 years ago when Japanese made products were inferior. Some of the finest guns are made at the Sakaba and Miroku factories in Japan. How about the Toyota and Honda cars? It took Japan a while to get it right. It took Turkey a while to get it right. Now I have begun to gain confidence in Turkish products. Especially at the Vursan plant that the Benelli/Beretta/Stoeger Group owns.

Mossberg tightened their specs on the SR. I would be happy with one if I needed an O/U. They have it right-now. Don't blame the Turkish companies-put the blame where it belongs-on the vendors ordering the guns to their own specs. They have the quality materials and latest computerized equipment to make whatever is ordered. If American companies order junk, they get junk. Order quality and they get quality.

Field and Stream magazine states and I quote in part: "Turkish guns can be of excellent quality. The Stoeger 2000 auto made by Vursan is a near carbon copy of the Benelli Montefeltro. Vursan's owners Benelli/Beretta admit that the return for service rate on 2000s runs lower than Benelli autos."

I can foresee the day when most of the guns we use will be made in Turkey. They have the ability to make first rate guns. They make what they are asked to make to vendor's specs.

I am a patriotic American citizen. I try to tell it like it is. Do your research and you will understand. Cheap labor, quality products=Turkish guns.

One by one the American companies are having their guns made in Turkey or Russia. I will not at this time buy Chinese because they haven't got it together yet-not by a long shot. However, if they intend to stay in business, they will have to get it together.

As for the Mossberg SR, I would find a dealer that has the serial number info and go from there. It is not junk, nor has it ever been junk. It had a couple of problems that Mossberg corrected. Call it like it is.

I have several guns, mostly made in Italy and Japan. The last gun I bought was a Stoeger 2000 made in Turkey. It is one of my favorite guns. It has the Benelli inertia driven action. Shoots great, feels great, and works right.
 
Put your money wherever you want.

I don't need to be the first in the pond when there have always been alligators in it.

I'd get a Stoeger 2000, because it's a semi-disposable field gun and people have had good luck with them (and because damn-near-identical Benellis, though reliable, can be ridiculously overpriced). Furthermore, it's no surprise to me that someone can build a gun like that, of good quality, for the price; Remington paved the way for economical, mass-produced receiver guns with the 870 in 1950.

However, it'll be a while before I trust an O/U, which is inherently more expensive to produce, in the same price range!

I have a Miroku Browning trap gun from 1980 and an Ithaca SKB upland gun from the '70s. They are truly great shotguns. I KNOW that Miroku and Sakaba can build a truly good gun, because they've been proving it for a LONG time.

While it's probably true that Turkey woke up to quality around 2005, I'll let other people test the waters for me first. The Stoeger 2000 is an exception, for the reasons I wrote, but along with it, I accept that I may have to toss it at some point. Probably not, but I won't spend the money unless I am willing to accept that posibility, and I would be.

TANSTAAFL
 
As for the Mossberg SR, I would find a dealer that has the serial number info and go from there. It is not junk, nor has it ever been junk. It had a couple of problems that Mossberg corrected. Call it like it is.
Click to expand...

Well, those I know who have bought them and shot them certainly used the word, "junk" when they broke. That's calling it like it is.

AFAIK Mossberg will not say what the serial number range is.

You're taking a chance if you buy one. That's calling it like it is. Sometimes you win when you take a chance on something unproven, sometimes you lose.

Relatively inexpensive Turkish imports have been junk until VERY recently, and in the world of shotguns, a year's not good enough to prove much. Has anyone shot 100,000 rounds through a new gun in the past year since Turkish break-actions ostensibly improved? No.

Have these new Turkish guns been put through the trial by fire that Mirokus have over the years? Not by a long shot. Are they being used by serious ATA and NSSA shooters for high volume shooting? No. That's calling it like it is.

Like I said, someone else can spend his money before I do.
 
My Silver Reserve .410 is on it way. A local dealer contacted a distributor back east who has them. The Turkish manufacturer is realitively new (1985) and they are gaining rapid recognition throughout the industry. Couldn't find any prices on their own products, but here are a few pics, they sure look grand.:)


Target2_1-1.jpg

eng17_1.jpg

eng11_1.jpg
 
Kayhan is the maker of the SR. They, like the Japanese companies, had to iron the kinks out. Now that they have it right, we hope, they should put the first run on sale and get rid of them.
 
The 2 or 3 guys at our gun club who purchased Mossberg O/U's were soon sorry that they did. My observation is that they are poorly made. It would be much better, IMO, to put a few hundred dollars more into a used O/U of better quality.
 
Ash,

I agree, there are a few sublte differences between the Mossberg & the Stevens, but not many.

The Stevens has a "black chrome" finish that, (at least on the only one I've seen in person), looks like some 5th grader spray painted it in his garage, the "gold" bird on the side wasn't even masked off properly... The wood on the Stevens looked very nice and the checkering was very crisp.

The gun was stamped TORUN/HATFIELD Gun Co., from what I can find these are somehow connected with the Huglu guns. DeHaan Shotguns are made by Huglu and have a strong following, if you compare the entry level DeHaan to the Stevens they look almost identical, maybe some of that following will cary over to the Stevens...who knows.

I really want a Silver Reserve 20GA/28GA combo, but until I can figure out a serial number cut-off date for the firing pin issue, I'm not brave enough.
 
While I certainly think the days will come when Turkish guns can be counted on for quality, I'm not convinced they're here yet. Especially with guns aimed at the lower end of the price scale. Aside from firing pins, I've read many times that the internals are not always well finished and the metal is either soft or improperly hardened. Mainly it's an issue of consistency - if your gun was made by a master craftsman, you got a deal, if it was made by Joe Newguy, well good luck. At this time, I'm with Armed Bear, I've no interest in underwriting the learning curve for these companies on quality. These guns are made for a price point so expect some compromises.

Again, I think the day will come when Turkish Made will equal quality and/or value. For now the only Turkish made double guns I've read consistently good reviews on are the Yildiz, currently available only thru Academy Sports.
 
Well; I've worked for a major manufacturer for nearly 35 years, and on any given day Joe Newguy can step up to the line to replace an absentee and that whole days production can go out into the field a total disaster. That's where a reliable companies Customer Service comes into play. They want their customers happy, and they'll go out of their way to make things right.

I don't have any problems with established companies, it's the here today and gone tomorrow's that will leave a customer holding the bag.:)
 
The thing is that problems with shotgun design and construction show up after the gun has had some rounds through it. They don't show up when you first take it home. But once they start, they usually don't stop showing up.

So please report back every 10,000 rounds. After 50,000 without trouble, I'll buy one.

The major makers that I would consider have passed that test already, in many hands, over many years. It's not tough to do, for a good shotgun.

And I do hope the gun works well for you for a long time. The things fit me, and I like how they feel. When I really think I can trust them, I'd get one, just like Smitty.
 
Last edited:
:)
Hey there ArmedBear:
I understand what you're saying. The point is I've never shot 3000 rounds of anything, other than maybe my Red Rider BB gun away back when. So, I may never know if the stock will ever break like some beretta's have, or if it will freeze up like so many guns I've heard about.

But right now I'm so happy with the prettiest little .410 O/U I've ever had. Of course this is the only one I've ever had, and more than likely ever will have.

And thanks for the best wishes, I'm hoping it works out well too.

LG
 
Some over-under guys get hung up on competition shooting. Most shotgun owners aren't competitors. A shotgun bought for hunting will fire far fewer rounds than a skeet or trap shotgun. It seems like the competition shooters seem to think that there is nothing but that kind of shooting.

A Mustang might be wholly unsuited to NASCAR racing, but that does not mean it has no use. I have a great pair of hiking boots and don't care for cheap hikers (though I have hiked in them in the past). However, I have no problem with folks buying cheap hiking boots and enjoying them.

Ash
 
I'd never shot 3000 rounds through anything, either.

Then I bought my first shotgun.:)
 
And for competition, you have to have a shotgun capable of really good round counts. You have to have really good hiking boots to take the mountains I hike, too. We can all agree that a Silver Reserve is not ideal for sporting clays, trap, or skeet. Rabbit hunting? Perhaps.

Ash
 
Sagetown congrats. on the new purchase. Youll have fun with it. I have the same gun only in a 12 gauge. Just do what I did and get a couple of firing pins from Maverick Arms to put on stand by just in case 1 breaks. If 1 does just take it to a local gunsmith to get repaired. Its a 10 minute job and will only cost a couple of bucks. NO BIG DEAL. Take it out blast away and have fun. Thats what its all about.
 
Sagetown,

Good luck with your new gun. I hope it does well for you. It shouldn't be much of a problem for a gunsmith to replace a firing pin, if needed (provided one is available, of course).

As strange as it may seem, O/U's are generally far more complicated to work on than an automatic shotgun. With an automatic, almost anything that goes wrong with one can be fixed by the simple replacement of the broken part with a new part..... and anyone with ordinary handyman skills can do it...... even a newbie.

With an O/U, it's a different story. First, it's much harder to diagnose the exact problem. Then, the repair is not something that the average handyman can do. An O/U repair generally means sending the gun off to some well qualified gunsmith and waiting perhaps months to get it back. If the gun is no longer being produced, then often times parts are hard to obtain. Also, many of the parts require "fitting" and adjustment. Again, this requires a skilled gunsmith as opposed to a "parts changer" on an automatic.

Anyway, good luck with your new gun. My guess is that if you start target shooting with it, you may be putting a whole lot more rounds through it than you ever thought possible. I know that in my situation, I used to get through a whole hunting season with only 2 or 3 boxes of shells. Today, I buy 15 to 20 CASES of shells at a time and they last me less than one year. :)
 
I don't know if that's an oil finish on the stock or a satin polyurethane. If it's oil, then perhaps a bit of rubbing with Tru Oil would make it shine more. If it's a poly finish, then what you see is what you get.

Personally I never do anything to the stock of my guns except wipe them off occasionally regardless what type finish came on the gun.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

S
  • Locked
Mossberg O\U
Replies
15
Views
12K
Ed/Pa
E
C
  • Locked
Need input, Mossberg O/U
Replies
2
Views
385
Chance55
C
S
  • Locked
Question on Mossberg O/U
Replies
3
Views
529
Dave R
D
9
  • Locked
Mossberg Reserve O/U for my son?
Replies
13
Views
519
rajb123
R
T
  • Locked
I must ask - Mossberg o/u?
Replies
7
Views
957
heavyrecoil
H
Back
Top