New To Shotguns

[learningman]

I am totally new to the world of shotguns. I have shot a few in the past and I went duck hunting once with my father in law, but other than that I will admit I really now nothing about them. Two weeks ago when I was back home in Montana visting family my Dad gave me his Mossberg model 500AB 12 guage for my B-Day gift ( was a good B-Day as my wife gave me the new Savage Model 10 Predator as well). My question is, is if this shotgun is a good gun? I am also wondering about buying different barrels for it. Now that I have I may as well use it. The barrel on it now only has a bead sight on the end of the barrel. I would love to buy a rifled barrel for slug's. So I am asking my shotgun peers to share with me any knowledge you have on said firearm. Thanks for all your help.

 

[arsuf]

Mossberg make a decent shotgun, the 500 you have will serve you well for most uses. They offer rifled slug barrels, they are decent. If you only use it for general hunting and occasional clay games then you probably have the only shotgun you will ever need. Did you get the full selection of choke tubes with it? If not you might want to pick up some as you need them for turkey, skeet, upland etc. Also remember to pattern your gun with the loads you plan on using and the chokes you will use them with, it is roughly equivalent to sighting in a rifle, a bit tedious but a needed step to know your weapon.

 

[dead on]

mossburg gun

mossburg guns are at the bottom of the class. They are pretty much throw away guns. I have owned 2 in my life and they did nothing but jam and not take up to abuse well. The best gun for just hunting and such is the remington express 870. You can get them cheap and they will literally last forever. i have had one for 11 years now and has never jammed, and the slide has always worked well. You can also buy many different barrels for it and a slug barrel too.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Good shotgun. Go shoot it plenty...

 

[hyphen]

mossburg guns are at the bottom of the class. They are pretty much throw away guns. I have owned 2 in my life and they did nothing but jam and not take up to abuse well. The best gun for just hunting and such is the remington express 870. You can get them cheap and they will literally last forever. i have had one for 11 years now and has never jammed, and the slide has always worked well. You can also buy many different barrels for it and a slug barrel too.

Funny you should call a Mossberg 500 bottom shelf and recommend the 870 express when it's a model that Remington cut corners with by putting in cheaper parts.

From what I understand the 500 and 870 are considered equal in value and usability. If the 500 was considered a "throw-away" gun then I think most would agree that the 870 express is as well.

 

[Gord]

Mossburg guns are at the bottom of the class. They are pretty much throw away guns.

Trust the guy who can't even spell "Mossberg" to offer insight on Mossbergs.

Too bad at least a couple hundred thousand people disagree with you.

 

[gunNoob]

Getting a Mossberg 500 today from someone on the forums I'll let you know what I think. I've wanted one for a while though so I assume I'll enjoy it.

 

[Shawnee]

"dead on" is "dead wrong" - or merely a troll. The Mossberg 500 will serve you well.

 

[KevininPa]

I've always loved Mossbergs. There is so much stuff offered for them from both the company and aftermarket. They're a well built, solid platform that you can anything with from tactical to hunting practical. Go out and shoot it and learn it before you decide what to do with it. After you handle it some, then you'll figure out your needs.

 

[tbtrout]

It is a fine gun. It will take some hard abuse and keep functioning.

 

[SASS#23149]

I"ve got one that is 20 years old and going strong.Not a thing wrong with them IMHO.

read the barrel to see what chamber length it has so you can buy the appropriate shells.A 2 3/4" gun can shoot that and the newer shorter rounds,but nothing longer.The reciever style fits into this equation too.

I"m not familiar enought with their model nos' to know what yours takes,so chck into it.

 

[Chris B]

Don't listen to dead on. I'm an 870 purist but I will readily admit that mossberg makes a fine shotgun. It's all about preference.

mossburg guns are at the bottom of the class. They are pretty much throw away guns. I have owned 2 in my life and they did nothing but jam and not take up to abuse well.

If your pump gun jams it is most likely your fault, not the guns.

You can also buy many different barrels for it and a slug barrel too.

Same with the mossberg.

 

[Fred Fuller]

I've seen one Mossberg 500 (an old, as in REALLY old, security company gun) that was beat to death. But just one, in a lotta years of looking at shotguns.

Learningman, don't let anyone look down on your Mossberg, and don't you do it either. They're good guns and it was a really nice birthday present. I hope you enjoy ot for a lot of years.

You can shoot rifled slugs out of a smoothbore barrel- if you get a rifled barrel, you'll need to shoot sabot slugs through it for best performance. The bead may wok OK for you with rifled slugs- give it a try first at the range, and see how it does. Some folks figure out how to make good hits with just a bead. If your eyes aren't the best, sights might help.

The good thing about a shorter smoothbore barrel is that it works best for defensive use as well. It's one more thing to think about.

The first thing to do is to determine which is your dominant eye- see http://www.archeryweb.com/archery/eyedom.htm for an easy test. Most people do better shooting on the same side as their dominant eye.

Best bet is to get started on your learning curve at the range with some light birdshot loads and learn to run the gun. And remember always to Stay Safe...

lpl/nc

 

[Jeff F]

I'm another 870 guy, but I have shot a few Mossberg 500 and they have always gotten the job done. They are a good shotgun. Shoot it a bunch and enjoy. Mossberg makes quite a few different barrels for the 500 and they are usually cheaper then 870 barrels.

 

[Average Joe]

Great shotguns, been around a very long time..