Mossberg reliability questions.

Mossbergs are some of the most underrated shotguns I've ever seen. They outperform any other shotgun hands down! I took a tactical shotgun class a few years ago (of course the instructor was a Mossberg armorer) and we brought a Remington 870 marine, Winchester 1300 Defender, and several Mossberg 500, 590's. Some of the Mossbergs were customized with the Vang Comp system, man did those guns run well! The only shotgun that didn't have any malfunction problems the whole class was the Mossberg. I bought a 500A the very next week and haven't looked back.

Taurus 617 CCW
Member

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I'm not picking on ya Taurus, but this post is from 2005

but this post is from 2005

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Yeah, I fell for that, too. Even after swearing never to do it again the last time someone resurrected a dead thread.

r

The two mossbergs I have have been abused for almost 20 years and they are bone stock, not a problem that can be attributed to the gun, always me. so they are dead on reliable. would choose it over a Remington all day everyday

I have two very much abused, never cleaned, Mossberg shotguns, a 500 and a 930, both have never failed to fire for any reason. I did break the trigger group on the 500 by dropping a filled ammo can on it and replaced it with a metal group.

I own a Mossberg 500, have for about the last 25 years.

Most easily cleaned shotgumn I have owned...remove the entire barrel/chamber by unscrewing one large screw without tools, clean it all out from the chamber end. Unscrew the mag tube, remove the follower and spring and clean the mag and leave it dry. Wipe off and replace follower and spring, replace mag, wipe off the bolt, re assemble. You can easily get it stripped further every year or so.
Must trouble free pump gun I have owned-mine has a short barrel in addition to the field barrel, and stands next to my bed every night.

I qualified and carried a shotgun in the army nearly 40 years ago, and still feel very comfortable with one on my side.

mark

Any of you long-time mossberg guys have single action bar versions? If so, see my last post in this thread please:

http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=496145

In 35 years of gun ownership and shooting, I've never owned anything but Mossberg 500 series shotguns....And I have never, ever had a malfunction of any kind.

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I have, all ammo related. Some of the crap ammo that's produced will choke it, but then, that's the same with the 870s. In both cases, mine chokes on 3" steel shot. It had a problem with Remington 3" about 20 years ago, too long once fired to clear the ejection port, so I switch to federal. Then, about 3 years ago, I started shooting Winchester 3" Xpert Hi Speed steel. I'd get about 3 or 4 failures to extract per box. Started wondering what was wrong with the gun, polished the chamber, didn't work. I switched to 2 3/4" Winchester Xpert Hi Speed steel due to the fact that I've found in my 2 3/4" chambered Winchester auto that it is very effective and it's a couple bucks a box cheaper than the 3". It functions 100 percent in the Mossberg. Federal still works fine, but I like the new 1550 fps stuff in 3 steel now days, kills ducks dead way out there. And, that old Mossy patterns 'em tight!

If I'd bought a Remington 870 express instead, it'd probably have rusted to pieces by now. That 500 camo is one rugged gun. Besides, I hate 870 ergos as I shoot lefty.

It appears that both the 500 and 590 are both constructed to mil spec. I know that the Marine Corps. uses the 500, I don't know about the 590. I went to Mossberg's website and they said that they're both constructed to the same mil. spec.

RandKL said:

Yeah, I fell for that, too. Even after swearing never to do it again the last time someone resurrected a dead thread.

r

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2005, yes, but its not his fault he still hasn't made a decision on this yet...
Al

WOW What a great tribute to mossberg shotguns. Makes me wish they made a handgun.
It's true. The mossberg 500 series ,specificlly the 500 has not only never given me any problems which would have prevented me from getting a shot off but they (imo) are the smoooothest cycling pump mechanism out there. Given my newest one is going on about 7 or 8 years old ,they are truly butter smooth to operate. Feels like magnets moving the shell through it's route to the chamber. I have had to work and work the action on my 870 MM to operate it without double pumping and or jamming the forend home real hard in order to facilitate the cycle. It's now 100% but i've only put 25 or 30 rds through it. I have a knoxx breacher's grip on the 870 marine magnum. It's in mint condition and 5 years old. It's for sale. The mossy came out of the box smooth. The 870 is smooth now but imo mossberg is better. There are just as many knowledgable gunners that will tell you that the 870 is superior to the 500. Many police dept's use 870's. That says something to me . I never owned a mossy semi but i did buy and sell a rem 1100 after a couple of months. One of those od green 1100 tac 2 models with a factory extension. It fouled to quickly no matter what ammo i used and to me became unreliable. A heavy bbl 590 is my next sg.

For pumps, I have one 870, one Winchester 1300, one API/Armscor Model 30I, one Mossberg 590, (all "old")

... and four Mossberg 500s.

They're all flawlessly functional, with the possible exception of the Armscor, which has a sloppy-enough action to jam if you're not thinking... The Win 1300 is easily the prettiest, and has the best fit and finish.

The 500s are industry-standard for a reason: Reliable function... consistent from my thirty-year-old ones through to the one-year-old one, they just work, every time.

Les

I didn't take the time to read the other responses, but it might be how you are handling the gun. Make sure you are pulling the pump all the way back before you push it forward again. If you don't, you run the risk of letting the unfired shell fall out / be ejected, which sounds to me like the first problem you addressed. My friend and I were at the range (he had never shot shotguns before), and he had this problem several times.
I could be that you read up on this problem and the guy who wrote the article just happened to have a Remington, so blame got placed as a Remington problem when in reality any shotgun can have this same dilemma.

Every Mossberg I've owned or been handed to repair, for the most part, have had only human error issues.

The shotgun itself is a proven design and has worked for years.

Brownell's and Numrich Gunparts have plenty of parts and metal safeties to replace the plastic safety if so desired.

The Mossberg is a drop dead reliable shotgun and I am surprised that I do not have one in my quiver of shotguns at this time.

I plan to rectify that situation soon.

Why has this thread been brought back from the dead twice? I think I'm gonna need a young priest and an old priest in here.

Anyway, probably the only problem I've heard about Mossbergs is that sometimes the shells are a little sluggish about coming out of the magazine. Easiest solution is either get a Vang Comp follower, or take the factory one out and drill a hole in it. The problem is that if you oil the inside of the tube, it becomes completely airtight, and suction holds the follower back.

Zombie thread... (And yet I can't resist bumping it...)

The only problems I've personally ever seen with a Mossberg 500 are:

Broken plastic safety button (gun fell over from leaning on a table, landed on a rock).

Broken plastic trigger housing (gun was knocked off a railing and fell about ten feet; the trigger housing broke behind the trigger guard, If you pushed on the trigger guard just right it would fire even on safe due to flex in the broken housing, and the gun worked fine, but if you pulled the trigger housing out, the hammer spring would come shooting out)

Broken action bar on the fore-end (bar pulled off the action tube, from a Hollywood-style, sling-shotting the action one handed by yanking the whole gun up and down).

Dented barrel end (from dropping the gun).

Fail to eject (worn out ejector, didn't spring anymore)

Fail to extract (old, corroded shell, extractor pulled right through the rim, shell was stuck in chamber)

Double feed (interruptor was worn out, owner had filed the burr off the end but removed too much metal)

Fail to feed (magazine tube was full of mud, spring was weak and rusty)


All of the above were attributed to abuse, neglect, or age/wear.

In each case, repairs took no longer than ordering the parts from Havlin Sales and popping them in, and the only tool needed was a flat screwdriver. I keep a few Mossberg bits and pieces laying in the junk box for just in case. The last M500 I bought was $80 and needed a few parts. Can't beat 'em.

Yes...I realize this is a zombie thread, but for the sake of posterity, I will post anyway.

My 590 only demonstrated one weak point which led to a malfunction...that was the stock "tapered" spring. I replaced this with a "universal" Wolff spring, which I cut and reshaped, and have had no problems since.

So, outside of the spring issue I dealt with, the Mossberg has proven to be a very reliable gun.

I've had a Mossberg 500 I've used as a turkey gun for 20 years and I've had exactly one failure; the magazine plug got entangled with the magazine spring and turned it into a single shot. Fortunately, it happened after the turkey was down while I was unloading the gun.

I removed the mag tube, beveled the ends of the wooden dowel Mossberg uses as a mag plug and put it back together. No problems since.

I can't resist chiming in as well.... Mossbergs simply rock! I've had an 18.5" 500 Persuader for I guess around 12 years... stone cold reliable over and over and over year in and year out. Smooth as silk now too! And it's about to get a birthday present... replacing the plastic furniture with hardwood! YeeHaw! She's earned it!

Also bought a 20" 590 a few years back and same story with it... stone cold reliable. I LOVE Mossbergs.

What I love about Mossbergs in additon to their reliability:

1) Lifter out of the way for very easy topping off magazine
2) Tang safety (replaced with Vang) is easy to see and access without having to move your trigger finger-no repositioning of the shooting hand
3) Slide release is easy and very comfortable to actuate with just a slight movement of the second finger-no repositioning of the shooting hand
4) Double extractors (beats a single extractor if one should break or wear out!)
5) Ejector is easy to replace by the user. (With 870 would probably need trip to gunsmith and a possible refinish)
6) Mossberg built their great reputation by designing a quality gun that can be built economically - they don't need to cut any corners to keep the price low.
7) I prefer blued-steel over parkerized or matte finish black oxide because it's smooth, easy to clean, and looks great new or worn - you can get this nice, smooth blued finish on Mossberg's lowest priced guns

And nothing against the other brands... I have an 870P and a couple of Win 1300 Defenders in-bound. My preference just goes toward Mossberg.

Tempted to post...nah.

I owned a 500 and a 535 and both were anything but reliable for me. After firing off a round they both would drop a shell onto the ground from the mag. Because of this, I will never own another mossberg. I'm sure these are rare cases, but thought I would share my experience.

Honestly, anyone who read threads about this or that problem would never buy a gun, or a car, or a toaster, or plywood, or anything else. They'd go back to caves and sticks and stones. Mossberg lets some dogs out of the kennel...as does Remington...and every other manufacturer of mechanical or electronic goods. Golfers get hit by lightning, but people still play golf. I don't think you can take one, or a dozen, or even dozens, of cases reported on an internet forum and extrapolate to the whole line being bad...?

Honestly, anyone who read threads about this or that problem would never buy a gun, or a car, or a toaster, or plywood, or anything else. They'd go back to caves and sticks and stones. Mossberg lets some dogs out of the kennel...as does Remington...and every other manufacturer of mechanical or electronic goods. Golfers get hit by lightning, but people still play golf. I don't think you can take one, or a dozen, or even dozens, of cases reported on an internet forum and extrapolate to the whole line being bad...?

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So true. The issue Hunterdad had could likely have been fixed in a jiffy and he may well have become a Mossberg fan for life.

So true. The issue Hunterdad had could likely have been fixed in a jiffy and he may well have become a Mossberg fan for life.

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I had the 535 first and shot it a couple of times to find out it just dropped shells. I got rid of it ASAP. I wanted to give Mossberg another chance so I picked up a 500A and it dropped the shell as well. I took it to my gunsmith and he made some adjustments. I shot it for a couple more weeks hunting waterfowl and it worked fine until it started to drop shells again so I got rid of it. I'm sure it was an easy fix but having back-to-back Mossbergs do that really was discouraging. I got introduced to waterfowl hunting with an OLD mossberg pump and it slaughtered the ducks. I loved the gun but unfortunately it wasn't mine. Mossbergs don't fit me all that great anyway, so the Remingtons is where my heart is.

My '72 Wingmaster has never given me an ounce of trouble and I've put 10,000 rounds through it in the past 10 years.

I'm not bashing Mossberg by any means. I just wanted to give my experience with them. They have a hell of a following, so they must be great guns.

My mossberg has had no problems, but its relatively new.

My brother is in the Navy and they use mossbergs and beat the hell out of them, but they keep on taking. The military one does have steel parts instead of plastic, but other than that its the same gun.