My Letter to mossberg.com

[Kitchen_Duty]

I thought I would send an email to mossberg about the mossberg 930 with porting. Since I am in the market for a semi-auto shotgun I thought I would voice my opinion. Critiques and sarcasm are welcome but it is kinda late for me to un-send it (rescind it(get the pun?)) Also, if you agree with this email, please feel free to copy/paste, change whatever, and send your own in, maybe if the people speak we can get a product we want. Ok here we go:

Hello,

First, let me say how much I enjoy your 500 series shotgun. I have one and I have used one extensively in the United States Navy. The things are tough and are reliable.

But I want to discuss the Mossberg 930. I really appreciate what the 930 brings to the market. A inexpensive semi auto shotgun with good capacity and reliability but with a ported barrel. If the shotgun is used for waterfowling where hearing is desired and protection is often not worn then porting makes the gun so much louder. This makes the mossberg very unattractive to potential buyers because they don't want the ringing in their ears.

The same goes with sporting clays. Friends and family standing at other stations or even behind the shooter may feel/hear the blast from every shot. This is very unwelcome and will drive people to... loath you shooting next to them. Would it be so difficult to offer the shotgun in a non-home defense/rifled barrel with-out porting. I ask that porting still be offered but since some users have no desire what so ever to have a ported shotgun, why not cater to those people?

Offering only after-market non-ported barrels would also drive the cost up to us: the consumers. If we spend $600 on a 930 and then another $100 for another barrel (or more!) then we are monetarily just behind another brand of shotgun.

I ask that you please offer a 930 with a 24-30 inch barrel without porting. I know the people at www.thehighroad.org would appreciate this greatly and would draw a lot of negative thoughts away from your product.

Thanks for your time.

-Kitchen Duty

 

[Smitty in CT]

I've got three 930's, two field (ported) and one SPX (non-ported). I don't think that the 930 with the ported barrel is any loader that my non-ported pump.

I ALWAYS wear earplugs, I worked around jets most of my life and what hearing I have left I plan on keeping. I shoot sporting clays at least two times a month and skeet once or twice a week, nobody has ever commented about my gun being louder or sounding different..

Those Beretta 391's with the weird ports sound very strange, not any louder, just dufferent...

I'd be up for running an experiment, two autoloaders (one, my 28" ported 930 & the other a 28" non-ported 1100 or similar), same load, then have someone face away from the shooters and see if they could tell (by the noise output) which gun is being fired.... sounds like a job for MythBusters...