Sergeant Sabre
Member
A few years ago I bought a factory 18.5" barrel for my Mossberg. It's the cylinder bore, bead-sight version. I loved it and it satisfied me completely for quite some time. It was very light, and made the 500 into a very lightweight, handy, carry-able, compact, yet still very powerful weapon. It's primary purpose was home defense but it served double-duty one season as a slug-thrower, and allowed me to take my first-ever whitetail deer.
My attention eventually wandered, though. I wondered why there weren't any 18.5" choked barrels available. I learned that Mossberg made a few "heavy-walled" 18.5" accu-choke barrels, and went on a search for one. Alas, they were all spoken for anywhere I went.
My search brought me to the 20" vent-rib Mossberg accu-choke barrel. I figured even though it had an extra 1.5", it would have to do. I bought it directly from Mossberg since everybody that stocks them is fresh out. Mossberg gave me a special price since all of their retailers were sold out.
Anyway, enough talk.
This barrel is, of course, just a tad longer than the 18.5". It's not the extra length that I notice, though. This barrel is much heavier than the 18.5" one. I guess the 18.5" is very thin-walled. The 20" has a touch of extra length, a vent-rib, and seems much thicker to allow for the accu-choke. That all adds up to a heavier barrel. Not unbearably so, however.
It's still a compact, handy package. Do you have any idea how hard it was to not get my feet in this picture?
Accu-choke! This barrel comes with IC, mod, and full chokes, along with a choke tube wrench. No, that's not rust on the barrel crown. It's a little bit of grease that wiped off easily after I noticed it in this picture.
Overall length with this barrel installed is 39.5" with a flush accu-choke. My X-Full Undertaker turkey choke adds just over one inch.
But, shotguns aren't for looking at, are they? Let's head to the range!
I wanted to pattern this barrel for turkey (season already underway in Michigan). I think it will be a dream to carry in the woods, and would handle better in a blind than the 28"-barreled Browning Gold that I usually used.
I chose the following two loads from my ammo stockpile:
Remington Hevi-Shot, 2.75", 1.25oz. of #4 shot. This is a waterfowl load that I had sitting around, and isn't made anymore. It's 3" #6 cousin patterns wonderfully out of the Mossberg's 28" barrel with either a full or X-full choke, and also from the full choke in my Browning Gold's barrel. I had high hopes for this load.
Winchester Double X Magnum, 3", 2oz #6 shot. That's a lot of pellets. Note that this isn't the black-hulled load that so many rave about. These hulls are red. With so many pellets going down range, I thought this would put a hammerin' on something, though.
As a target, I used a standard 8.5" x 11" piece of printer paper. I didn't have anything bigger, and I wanted to get this patterning done. I figured we can all relate to a standard piece of printer paper, anyway. So, let's pull the trigger:
First, I put the Hevi-shot through the standard full accu-choke at 35yds. (Please note that Mossberg does not recommend shooting hevi-shot through anything tighter than a modified accu-choke. Browning is the same. When I called Browning and asked them about it, they said that shooting hevi-shot through too tight a choke wouldn't hurt their chokes or barrel. It would just blow the pattern. They said I could go ahead and shoot it if I wanted to. I assumed Mossberg would be the same)
I was disappointed with this pattern. The #6 load had patterned well with a full choke in a 28" barrel on this shotgun, so I had high hopes for this load. Maybe an X-full would tighten things up. I backed up to 40yds, screwed-in the Undertaker, and let fly.
Not what I had hoped for. This choke had produced a very good pattern in the 28" barrel. It had put 100 pellets on the paper at 35yds. This was dismal in comparison. I couldn't send this load at a turkey at this distance. Maybe the shot didn't have time to "settle down" inside such a short barrel.
Where did I put that box of Winchester Double X's?
What an improvement! This was at 40yds with the Undertaker X-full.
There are a few ways to describe the recoil of over 860 grains of lead being propelled from a very short, light shotgun. The expressions "bone-crunching", "teeth-rattling", and "earth-shaking" are all accurate.
Recoil aside, however. I was very pleased with this pattern. I counted 128 pellets on target. I felt like I pulled the shot just a tad bit high, so that's probably why the pattern is a little denser at the top than at the bottom. I'm no professional turkey-hunter, but I was happy with this pattern's uniformity. I found my turkey load.
Just to be sure, I reached for the box of Hevi-shot #4s again.
Standard full choke. 40yds. Dismal.
Overall, I'm happy that I bought this barrel. I like short, compact, powerful weapons. This barrel fits the bill beautifully. I haven't patterned with buckshot, and I'm not sure I will. My cylinder-bore 18.5" still pulls primary home-defense duty. The 20" with a modified choke would probably be superior in a civil-emergency type situation, though, because of it's increased range due to the choke.
As far as the turkeys go, I've been working a lot and have been busy on my days off. My turkey season ends Sunday, May 4th. I only have tomorrow and sunday left. Wish me luck!!
My attention eventually wandered, though. I wondered why there weren't any 18.5" choked barrels available. I learned that Mossberg made a few "heavy-walled" 18.5" accu-choke barrels, and went on a search for one. Alas, they were all spoken for anywhere I went.
My search brought me to the 20" vent-rib Mossberg accu-choke barrel. I figured even though it had an extra 1.5", it would have to do. I bought it directly from Mossberg since everybody that stocks them is fresh out. Mossberg gave me a special price since all of their retailers were sold out.
Anyway, enough talk.
This barrel is, of course, just a tad longer than the 18.5". It's not the extra length that I notice, though. This barrel is much heavier than the 18.5" one. I guess the 18.5" is very thin-walled. The 20" has a touch of extra length, a vent-rib, and seems much thicker to allow for the accu-choke. That all adds up to a heavier barrel. Not unbearably so, however.
It's still a compact, handy package. Do you have any idea how hard it was to not get my feet in this picture?
Accu-choke! This barrel comes with IC, mod, and full chokes, along with a choke tube wrench. No, that's not rust on the barrel crown. It's a little bit of grease that wiped off easily after I noticed it in this picture.
Overall length with this barrel installed is 39.5" with a flush accu-choke. My X-Full Undertaker turkey choke adds just over one inch.
But, shotguns aren't for looking at, are they? Let's head to the range!
I wanted to pattern this barrel for turkey (season already underway in Michigan). I think it will be a dream to carry in the woods, and would handle better in a blind than the 28"-barreled Browning Gold that I usually used.
I chose the following two loads from my ammo stockpile:
Remington Hevi-Shot, 2.75", 1.25oz. of #4 shot. This is a waterfowl load that I had sitting around, and isn't made anymore. It's 3" #6 cousin patterns wonderfully out of the Mossberg's 28" barrel with either a full or X-full choke, and also from the full choke in my Browning Gold's barrel. I had high hopes for this load.
Winchester Double X Magnum, 3", 2oz #6 shot. That's a lot of pellets. Note that this isn't the black-hulled load that so many rave about. These hulls are red. With so many pellets going down range, I thought this would put a hammerin' on something, though.
As a target, I used a standard 8.5" x 11" piece of printer paper. I didn't have anything bigger, and I wanted to get this patterning done. I figured we can all relate to a standard piece of printer paper, anyway. So, let's pull the trigger:
First, I put the Hevi-shot through the standard full accu-choke at 35yds. (Please note that Mossberg does not recommend shooting hevi-shot through anything tighter than a modified accu-choke. Browning is the same. When I called Browning and asked them about it, they said that shooting hevi-shot through too tight a choke wouldn't hurt their chokes or barrel. It would just blow the pattern. They said I could go ahead and shoot it if I wanted to. I assumed Mossberg would be the same)
I was disappointed with this pattern. The #6 load had patterned well with a full choke in a 28" barrel on this shotgun, so I had high hopes for this load. Maybe an X-full would tighten things up. I backed up to 40yds, screwed-in the Undertaker, and let fly.
Not what I had hoped for. This choke had produced a very good pattern in the 28" barrel. It had put 100 pellets on the paper at 35yds. This was dismal in comparison. I couldn't send this load at a turkey at this distance. Maybe the shot didn't have time to "settle down" inside such a short barrel.
Where did I put that box of Winchester Double X's?
What an improvement! This was at 40yds with the Undertaker X-full. There are a few ways to describe the recoil of over 860 grains of lead being propelled from a very short, light shotgun. The expressions "bone-crunching", "teeth-rattling", and "earth-shaking" are all accurate.
Recoil aside, however. I was very pleased with this pattern. I counted 128 pellets on target. I felt like I pulled the shot just a tad bit high, so that's probably why the pattern is a little denser at the top than at the bottom. I'm no professional turkey-hunter, but I was happy with this pattern's uniformity. I found my turkey load.
Just to be sure, I reached for the box of Hevi-shot #4s again.
Standard full choke. 40yds. Dismal.
Overall, I'm happy that I bought this barrel. I like short, compact, powerful weapons. This barrel fits the bill beautifully. I haven't patterned with buckshot, and I'm not sure I will. My cylinder-bore 18.5" still pulls primary home-defense duty. The 20" with a modified choke would probably be superior in a civil-emergency type situation, though, because of it's increased range due to the choke.
As far as the turkeys go, I've been working a lot and have been busy on my days off. My turkey season ends Sunday, May 4th. I only have tomorrow and sunday left. Wish me luck!!
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