Just bought a Mossberg 835

[Six O'clock Tactical]

So I just bought myself a new shotgun. Ive been looking at the 835 ulti-mag for quite some time, and realized only after handing the money over (a VERY resonable $349 might I add) that, even if you change the choke out, the barrel has "DO NOT USE SLUGS" stamped in it.

I was wondering why this is. I have no problem with buying a Mossberg Slugster barrel, but I still dont understand the logic. The owner of the store said that he had heard it was something to do with the angle of the barrel. I have no idea what that means...

If anyone knows, please give me a heads up. For now ill stick to my #3 and #4 buck.

 

[exar]

I used to own that model of shotgun. I remember that stamp. IIRC, it is because the barrel was thinner, thus lighter for lugging through the bush and swinging into position for hunting fowl(which is what the gun is designed for). The barrel is ported towards the front, also, to help reduce recoil as well. Because of the varying chokes and design, I don't believe a slug would function well in that shotgun.

 

[rantingredneck]

The barrel is overbored, meaning larger than standard 12 ga diameter. If you shoot a slug through it accuracy will suck because it will not fit tight against the barrel wall. Even worse the slugs could potentially wobble going down the barrel and get stuck causing an obstruction. Fire slug number 2 behind stuck slug number 1 and your Mossberg 835 becomes a Mossberg pipe bomb .

You can buy dedicated slug barrels for it though.

 

[rantingredneck]

A visual representation of the difference:

835 barrel on the left, 500 barrel on the right. You can see that the 835 is more than 12 ga dimensions (near 10 gauge actually).

 

[Six O'clock Tactical]

Oh yeah... I remember the overbored spec.

I thought that was only on the Mossberg Turkey series, but after looking at the barrel I realized it is overbored.

Great. Thanks for the help guys!

 

[Kman]

Yep that 835 is back bored, about 8-10 inches from the end. It was designed to shoot 3.5" shells, and they arguably do it better than any other shotgun. It's a goose/turkey gun like no other.

 

[ReadyontheRight]

I have one of those as well. I had heard that it was because they simply put a 10-gauge barrel on it to make it work for the 3.5" shells.

Regardless - great turkey, goose and duck gun. Congrats!

 

[rantingredneck]

Not just backbored. It's overbored the entire length of the barrel to the muzzle.