Possible Issue with my Mossberg 500 Persuader

Status
Not open for further replies.
R

ront

Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2003
Messages
91
Location
Pacific Northwest
Hi All, as some of you have noted lately, I have a new Mossberg 500 Persuader and a lot of questions.
I have shot it just a couple of time and tonight I went out and shot it a bit. I was having an issue with it cycling correctly. I would take a shot and then try to pump it and the forearm would not move back. It seemed to be locked up. I would jiggle it a bit and then even hit the release button by the trigger and eventually it would work. I was shooting both 2 3/4" and 3" shells.
Do I have a problem or is this a break in issue or should I contact Big 5 (where I purchased it) or Mossberg. I sure do not want this to happen if I need it!!

Thanks for any input, Ron
 
Once the hammer drops the slide lock should release and not require you to push it. Its there to keep you from inadvertently jacking out a good round.
 
So then if I am able to press the slide release, just after I have fired, what would be causing that?

Thanks, Ron
 
You have one of three issues perhaps : 1st , the slide release which is automaticaly activated by the hammer when it falls forward during the firing sequence, or is manualy activated at its rear by using your finger (release button) If not completly releasing when the hammer has fallen forward it would need adjustment.

2nd , is that on a new gun, your chamber is not quite as smooth as it could be , and this can creat a problem with the empty sticking in the chamber making for a locked up action.

3rd, is poor quality ammo, and this effects the extraction of the empty simular to number 2 as it does not properly contract after being fired.

When you shoot , try waiting a little bit before ejection - if it works after a slight cooling period your problem is the third one, or a combination of 2&3 .

If you can push the release button right after you shoot and that works, then you might need the adjustment I refered to in number 1 .
 
Thanks for the input so far you all. I appreciate it!

I did try something this morning. I emptied the chamber and pulled the trigger. The slide release did stay up and I was able to move the action just fine and cycle another round into place.

Ron
 
hello ront,

i do not have the mossberg 500, but i do have two remington 870's. i had the same issue with mine, and found that i was pulling back on the fore arm prior to firing. i believe this backward force would consistantly cause my forearm to stay where it was. i would have to let the pressure off and then it would pump just fine. as long as do not apply rearward pressure on the forearm, it will reliably cycle.

i think my problem was due to habbit. for years i have shot the winchester 1300 "speed pump", and the forearm on that gun actually realeases automatically about 3/4 of an inch immediatly after the shot was fired. so i got used to applying a little backward pressure in anticipation of ejecting the spent shell.

just something to consider.
 
Thanks for the reply md7. I do not think that is my issue. I am pretty sure that I am not rushing moving the action. If anything I hesitate a bit because the shotgun is new to me and I still am getting used to the idea that I have to rack the slide after each shot.

Thanks, Ron
 
Maybe with your ammo, especially if its not brass based it could stick or maybe you just arent shucking hard enough

Glad to see it appears to be working! :cool:
 
NonConformist, it appears to be working smoothly, only when I have not actually fired a shot.
I am going to try some different ammo and see if that has any effect. I am not a little guy and I am "shucking" it plenty hard I believe:).

Thanks, Ron
 
ront,

Try cleaning your barrel as normal, then chucking a 12ga brush wrapped with a little bit of fine steel wool into a drill and run it through your chamber on low speed. New shotguns can have small amounts of gunk or grease in the chamber, or burrs or machining marks - any of which can cause a fired shell to stick in the chamber, making extraction difficult or preventing it altogether.

If you still have the problem afterwards, change your ammo. Aluminum shells in general can be finicky, and the red Winchester shells in particular (which are usually the cheapest available at the store) seem to be pretty bad at locking guns up. I had to smack my 870's buttstock on the ground to unlock the action every 3-5 shells with the stuff, and there have been plenty of threads here where switching from that ammo solved the problem. None of my .22s like Winchester Super-X either - seems to be a trend... :)

Try Remington sport loads. They're only $1-2 more than the Winchesters, and they've cycled fine through my 870 for about 600 rounds now.
 
Maybe it just doesn't like you.

My 590 did the same thing with a buddy of mine, never does it with me. He'd hand it to me, I wouldn't have any problems, hand it back to him, and it would hang up again.

Maybe you're letting the forearm come back just enough under recoil to reset the disconnecter. Try keeping some forward pressure on it when you shoot it, not a lot though. Too much and you wont have it tucked into your shoulder very well...
 
I will make sure I do that Zach.
Thanks for the input guys. I really appreciate it. I am going to get some more ammo, but not the cheap Winchester stuff and shoot it again ASAP. I also think that I will try polishing the chamber a bit also. When you speak about the chamber, I think you are speaking only about the slightly enlarged part of the barrel next to the receiver. Is that correct?

Thanks, Ron
 
If he has shot this gun alot and is just now starting to have problems could the chamber be dirty?
Click to expand...

Many chamber cleaning problems occur after the gun has sat for awhile without proper rust protection. Plastic shells do not lube or give off anything that prevents rust - chambers need to be cleaned and oiled. I have cleaned a lot of chambers that caused extraction problems when first used after sitting for the season.

When you speak about the chamber, I think you are speaking only about the slightly enlarged part of the barrel next to the receiver. Is that correct?
Click to expand...

Yes - the first three inches for a magnum gun to be specific. That is the chamber just forward of the bolt face. Cleaning can be done with 0000 steel or brass wool applied to a brass brush and spun in the chamber with a slow speed drill. Polishing can be further done with anything from 600 grit wet/dry to polishing compond on a felt spindle or wheel - go easy using any abrasive - just enough to smooth & polish , not enough to enlarge the chamber.
 
Yup. Slow speed is what you want - as mn said, the goal is just to gently polish the chamber.

By the way, polishing the chamber helped me a little with the Winchester ammo, but only insofar as they didn't lock the gun up quite as solidly as they had before. I have a feeling your problem will go away as soon as you start using different ammo (assuming you are, indeed, using the Winchester stuff), but polishing the chamber certainly won't hurt anything and may help.
 
If I owned a pump action shotgun that locked up after I fired a round I would have it looked at by a gunsmith or send it back to the factory. The type of ammo you are using has nothing to do with your problems.
 
I agree the ammo should have nothing to with it. It should cycle any factory loaded ammo. If shells are sticking in the chamber it probably needs a very good polish. You may have too polish it several times before the problem goes away.

I had the same problem with my Mossberg 930 SPX and two other autos. After the chambers were polished good several times the problem went away. Now they cycle the cheap stuff.


GC
 
pikeb wrote "If I owned a pump action shotgun that locked up after I fired a round I would have it looked at by a gunsmith or send it back to the factory. The type of ammo you are using has nothing to do with your problems"

Really? I have 6 500s and an 835 and have found some ammo to be a constant problem. S&B and Estate in particular.
 
Yes, although I think that we all wish that ammo was never a problem in any of our guns, I think from time to time we all find some ammo that just does not perform well. This goes for both handguns and long guns I suspect.

Ron
 
My 870 has had no problem at all with any other ammo, including 3" magnum buck and slug, before or after polishing the chamber. Sometimes a certain ammo will not play nice with a certain firearm, and if you do a search in Shotguns, you'll find that the cheap Winchester stuff commonly does lock up otherwise perfectly functional guns.
 
I just wanted to say thanks for your input. I did polish the chamber and also bought some Remington ammo. I went out and shot a few tonight and it all worked very well. I think I am ok. I did also shot 3 rounds of the ammo that I was having problems with and it shot fine also.

Thanks again, Ron
 
Cheap Winchester "Super Speed" rounds locked my 870 up every other shot. I had to grab the forend and slam the butt into the bench HARD to get the action open. It's never happened with any other rounds. Some say Winchester's cheap stuff is out of spec. I don't know, but I've read too many reports of this happening, and in most cases, cheap Winchester shells were used. It's the first thing I think of when I hear "failure to extract" or "my gun is locked up".
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

B
  • Locked
Mossberg 500 Combo or Persuader? Why?
Replies
15
Views
3K
Fred Fuller
F
J
  • Locked
Mossberg 500 Persuader
2
Replies
26
Views
3K
jackson24
J
R
  • Locked
Mossberg 500 Persuader or Cruiser?
Replies
13
Views
7K
rcmodel
R
T
  • Locked
Mossberg Persuader Stock
2
Replies
26
Views
3K
tnxdshooter
tnxdshooter
S
  • Locked
Mossberg 500 pesuader or Benelli MIS?
Replies
6
Views
788
Son of Liberty
S
Back
Top