MCgunner
Member
My Toyota.
500 vs 870: sales
- Thread starter Goosey
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My Toyota.
MCgunner
Member
Didn't buy my Mossbergs for looks, but to use in the tough environments of the bay and salt marshes where I hunt waterfowl. An 870 express is a rust magnet there. My camo 500 is still pretty rust free after 22 years of hard use.
Beauty doesn't bring down ducks. I practically destroyed a nice (at one time) Sarasueta double in the marsh and on boat rides in the bay. It still shoots, but the wood is pretty beat up and the metal has had rust on it that I've fought over the years.
Plastic stocks and camo finish have their qualities. I don't really sit there and look at the gun when I'm sitting on my marsh chair in the salt grass. I'm too busy looking for ducks. I'm a hunter more so than a shotgun aficionado. Oh, I love a pretty double, don't misunderstand, but such guns are not for using in tough environments, not for me. The mossberg works fine and is more lefty friendly than any 870, the main reason I never bought an 870 express and some flat black paint to paint it so the rust wouldn't build. That's what the 870 guys do down here.
The Wingmaster? I've had one. I ain't impressed, not a Purdy or Holland and Holland after all. I'm not going to spend that much on a pump action working gun when a Mossberg works better for me. Looks are important to the ostentatious clays shooter, not necessarily the redneck duck hunter. I doubt the upper class clays shooter is going to buy a pump to impress his fiends and improve his scores.
Beauty doesn't bring down ducks. I practically destroyed a nice (at one time) Sarasueta double in the marsh and on boat rides in the bay. It still shoots, but the wood is pretty beat up and the metal has had rust on it that I've fought over the years.
Plastic stocks and camo finish have their qualities. I don't really sit there and look at the gun when I'm sitting on my marsh chair in the salt grass. I'm too busy looking for ducks. I'm a hunter more so than a shotgun aficionado. Oh, I love a pretty double, don't misunderstand, but such guns are not for using in tough environments, not for me. The mossberg works fine and is more lefty friendly than any 870, the main reason I never bought an 870 express and some flat black paint to paint it so the rust wouldn't build. That's what the 870 guys do down here.
The Wingmaster? I've had one. I ain't impressed, not a Purdy or Holland and Holland after all. I'm not going to spend that much on a pump action working gun when a Mossberg works better for me. Looks are important to the ostentatious clays shooter, not necessarily the redneck duck hunter. I doubt the upper class clays shooter is going to buy a pump to impress his fiends and improve his scores.
Virginian
Member
Not all duck hunters are rednecks.
Eat Beef
Member
Funny, I've been using a beat up Wingmaster since about 1990. No rust, no problems in all that time, and I've lived withing rock throwing distance of salt water all my life. Been through the rice fields, the marshes, etc.
I bought the 870 to ditch the piece of junk 500 of my Dad's I'd used as a kid. I could literally fire one shot at ducks/geese sitting, knock out the shell stuck in the chamber with a ram rod, and get a second shot off before they were gone.
The 500 gave me plenty of practice. Good riddance.
I bought the 870 to ditch the piece of junk 500 of my Dad's I'd used as a kid. I could literally fire one shot at ducks/geese sitting, knock out the shell stuck in the chamber with a ram rod, and get a second shot off before they were gone.
The 500 gave me plenty of practice. Good riddance.
Kynoch
member
Mossberg also produces very inexpensive shotguns (in TX) under their "Maverick" brand. They produce a huge number of these.
I think that's why Ruger doesn't really get into the pump/semi-auto shotgun market. Remington/Mossberg/Benelli/etc. would tear their face off...
I think that's why Ruger doesn't really get into the pump/semi-auto shotgun market. Remington/Mossberg/Benelli/etc. would tear their face off...
I think like MCgunner. A pump is a working tool.
I am not fortunate enough to get into the luxury of buying good looking tools. I have to concentrate on ammo, I just need practice more than others. Still, I do not blame those who can for buying good looking tools. Good for them Wingmaster owners.
Since I never cared too much for rattles either, I bought a Winchester SXP. It looks good enough for me and it shoots. It does not rattle like the Mossberg or the Remington. Even the Benelli rattles a little. Mine does not.
When I get richer, I will not buy another nicer pump. I will buy something different to show off (when I get richer, remember) and improve clay scores, and still carry the old pump for bumpier rides because I know I will not want to scratch a beautiful work of art by simply taking it along for a walk in the woods.
I am not fortunate enough to get into the luxury of buying good looking tools. I have to concentrate on ammo, I just need practice more than others. Still, I do not blame those who can for buying good looking tools. Good for them Wingmaster owners.
Since I never cared too much for rattles either, I bought a Winchester SXP. It looks good enough for me and it shoots. It does not rattle like the Mossberg or the Remington. Even the Benelli rattles a little. Mine does not.
When I get richer, I will not buy another nicer pump. I will buy something different to show off (when I get richer, remember) and improve clay scores, and still carry the old pump for bumpier rides because I know I will not want to scratch a beautiful work of art by simply taking it along for a walk in the woods.
Jlr2267
Member
I always thought duck hunting was a rich man's sport...not sure why though
MCgunner
Member
Well, I grew up in a working class family duck hunting the Marshes of coastal Texas from the age of 14. I am a redneck, I reckon, even if a college educated redneck and a lover of classic rock music and a motorcyclist from the age of 13. Not real rednecky, some of my life.
But yes, that's the proper way to put it, pump guns are tools, not artwork. If I buy me an O/U, it'll partly be for art and because I can't afford the SxS I'd want.
I probably won't use it much, certainly NOT in the salt marsh. I mainly prefer the Mossy for superior ergonomics, left handed ergonomics. Love the tang safety and the placement of the slide release and the lack of a friggin' shell elevator in the way when I'm stuffing loads in the magazine.
Eat Beef, you probably know my stomping grounds. I grew up in Jones Creek hunting Brazoria and Matagorda Counties, but lived 30 years of my life in Port Lavaca hunting tide land areas, the island, and the Guadalupe Delta and have hunted as far south as the land cut.
Now, I'm between Hallettsville and Eagle Lake and plan to book some hunts here this season as well as run down to Port Lavaca for hunts. I'm still only 70 miles from Port Lavaca, but no longer across the street from the placid blue waters of Lavaca Bay. But, there are puddle ducks like mallard up here that we don't get much of down in the delta.
I traded a guy out of a Revelation M310 when steel shot became mandatory in 1980. It was just a single action bar Mossberg. I bought a vent rib 500 screw in choke barrel for it to replace the "C Lect" choke it had on it. Used it for 12 years until I decided I wanted a camo 500. I had an FFL at the time and got a camo model for 200 bucks dealer cost. Sold the old Revelation, but shouldn't have I suppose. But, really, didn't need it anymore.
Anyway, I wonder if all the store branded Mossbergs like that Revelation are in the total count? If not, that would probably put 'em over the top. There were tons of store branded 500s sold in the 60s.
But yes, that's the proper way to put it, pump guns are tools, not artwork. If I buy me an O/U, it'll partly be for art and because I can't afford the SxS I'd want.
I probably won't use it much, certainly NOT in the salt marsh. I mainly prefer the Mossy for superior ergonomics, left handed ergonomics. Love the tang safety and the placement of the slide release and the lack of a friggin' shell elevator in the way when I'm stuffing loads in the magazine.Eat Beef, you probably know my stomping grounds. I grew up in Jones Creek hunting Brazoria and Matagorda Counties, but lived 30 years of my life in Port Lavaca hunting tide land areas, the island, and the Guadalupe Delta and have hunted as far south as the land cut.
Now, I'm between Hallettsville and Eagle Lake and plan to book some hunts here this season as well as run down to Port Lavaca for hunts. I'm still only 70 miles from Port Lavaca, but no longer across the street from the placid blue waters of Lavaca Bay. But, there are puddle ducks like mallard up here that we don't get much of down in the delta.
I traded a guy out of a Revelation M310 when steel shot became mandatory in 1980. It was just a single action bar Mossberg. I bought a vent rib 500 screw in choke barrel for it to replace the "C Lect" choke it had on it. Used it for 12 years until I decided I wanted a camo 500. I had an FFL at the time and got a camo model for 200 bucks dealer cost. Sold the old Revelation, but shouldn't have I suppose. But, really, didn't need it anymore.
Anyway, I wonder if all the store branded Mossbergs like that Revelation are in the total count? If not, that would probably put 'em over the top.
There were tons of store branded 500s sold in the 60s.MCgunner
Member
It can be, but when I was a kid in the 60s growing up near the gulf and bays, it was the only thing you could do without a lease or land to hunt. There were tideland marshes I reached by small boat and beaches I hunted redhead and pintail that were accessable by walking in. We were not land owners, so that's why I got hooked on waterfowling.
I've never actually hunted ducks with a guide. I'm a better duck hunter than most guides I've been around, better with a call, more knowledgeable about decoy placement, etc. But, then, I've been doing it a lot longer than most that try to make a living from it. I do book hunts with goose guides. Better hunting on private land, but don't hunt 'em that much because they require 3 hunters minimum per party.
The 500 might be rougher finish, it might be cheaper made, and it might be a 'budget' gun, but you can't argue with special operations having used the 500 as early as 1981, that I know for sure. If its dependable enough for the early SOF-D guys, then its definitely worthy of being used by me killing deer, turkey, ducks, or if need be, defending my family.
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