Mossberg 30" Full Choke for???

[HARV6]

Picked up a used Mossberg 500 on the cheap to turn it into a home defense gun with the 18.5" cylinder bore I just bought the other day. The barrel that came with my used Mossberg is a 30" full choke. I was thinking about doing some goose/duck hunting this year and googled to see what would be a good load for doing so. Three answers were pretty common. 1. Steel shot should Never be fired through a full choke. 2. Shoot #2 size or smaller and you'll be fine. 3. "Ive always shot anything and everything out of my full choke and never had problems.". Is my 30 inch full choke more of a turkey barrel then? Anyone care to clear this up for my particular model?

 

[JohnBT]

It has been reported that about 80%, more or less, of old guns were purchased with full chokes because the old shotgun shells required a lot of choke to hold the pattern together. Then they invented plastic wad cups.

More recent research has shown that plastic wads produce patterns that are 10% tighter than fiber wads.

Chokes can be opened or you can have tubes installed if you don't have a use for a full choked gun. Remember though, a full choke works as well as a modified choke - you just have to let the bird get a little farther away.

I know people who shoot steel and Hevi-Shot through old full choked guns. It's worked for them so far. I try not to stand too close to them just in case.

John

 

[foghornl]

I don't recall the specific mark, but Mossberg can tell you what to look for, and if that barrel is 'steel-safe"

 

[rcmodel]

Steel pattens one choke tighter then lead shot.

So a full choke will be an extra full choke with steel shot.
Unless it doesn't and blows the pattern completely.

My advice would be to spend another $125, and send the barrel to Carlson's and have it cut to 26" or 28" and choke tubes installed.
http://www.choketube.com/choke-tube-installation.php

Then you can use it with any kind of shot, for anything you want to use it for.

rc

 

[Bushpilot]

Back in the "BS" days (Before Steel... ) your barrel would have been a Duck/Goose barrel. Today, it's a Turkey barrel and not much else. Steel won't pattern well in it although, as you mentioned the smaller shot sizes will probably pattern better than the larger. Steel shot typically patterns one choke tighter than lead UNTILL you get to full choke and then the pattern starts to open. If you plan on going duck and goose hunting I'd just open the "full" choke on your barrel up a bit to modified or have a gunsmith do it for you. Then you would essentially have a full choke gun with steel for waterfowl and a modified choke gun with lead for whatever else. You might shoot a load of steel through it first at a pattern board to make sure that it hasn't already been opened and to see what kind of patterns it throws ”as is.” Sometimes, even with lead shot, a barrel won't pattern or be choked exactly as marked with whatever shells you use. You can probably open the choke up yourself with a few "shade tree" techniques. First off, on most full choke, 12 ga shotguns (though not all, but on a Mossberg this should work) a dime will NOT pass through a full choke, but it will through a modified choke. Check yours and then with either a brake cylinder hone (this works the best, remember to oil the hone) or a piece of fine Emory cloth taped and then wrapped around a doll rod, chucked in a drill, run this lightly back and forth in the last 2 inches of your barrel. Stop frequently to see if your dime will just pass through and don’t get too carried away. When a dime will just pass through STOP and pattern your gun again. It should shoot a tighter pattern with steel than it did before.

 

[mavracer]

Then you can use it with any kind of shot, for anything you want to use it for.

Probably not most older fixed choke barrels are too small OD for regular choke tubes and require thin wall tubes, which steel shot use is not reccomended.

 

[oneounceload]

No need to cut the barrel just an extra expense. Mike Orlen in MA can open your barrel to Modified or similar for about $50. He is a Mod on Shotgunworld and can be contacted at his place in MA - 413.256.1630

IIRC, he also can install thinwalls - he uses either Colonial or Trulock

 

[rcmodel]

Probably not most older fixed choke barrels are too small OD for regular choke tubes and require thin wall tubes,

This is true on a Browning A5 or Winchester Model 12 or something.

But it's sure not true on any Mossberg 500 ever made.
They always had barrel thickness like sewer pipe.

rc

 

[oneounceload]

Most inexpensive shotguns do - it is easier to make them that way than to truly make thin barrels

 

[Uniquedot]

Mossberg 500 barrels are dirt cheap and there is always someone out there looking for the older fixed choke barrels. My advice is to buy a new barrel threaded for choke tubes and sell the fixed choke barrel to someone that can use it for it's intended purpose. I'll bet you could even trade the barrel for one that meets your needs on THR.

 

[MCgunner]

+1 on what Bushpilot said. Also what Uniquedot said. I traded for an older Mossy when steel was mandated. It had the "C-Lect" choke on it which I didn't figure would handle steel. I bought a vent rib Accuchoke barrel for it. The gun was labeled "Revelation M310" and said "2 3/4" chamber" on the barrel, but the 3" chambered 500 vent rib 28" barrel I got from Numrich Arms for under 100 bucks back then worked fine, even chambered and fired 3" stuff. I used that gun for 10 years, sold the C-Lect barrel to a guy that wanted it. Never liked those things. The gun was still going strong when I bought my camo 500 I have now and sold the old Revelation.