Sheepdog1968
Member
Mostly just curious. I like that it is out of the way when I go to load shells. The others take a bit more finesse to load. Is there something lacking in the Mossberg design?
Thanks for the infoIt's just an old design that lost appeal in favor of the trigger group elevators. I think it was John Marlin that patented the design in the late 1800's and one of the guys that worked for marlin also started the high standard company that carried over the improved design and Remington had the model 31. Remington had already stopped using the design when mossberg picked it up.
The mossberg is a less expensive version of the Remington 31 that also incorporates other patents from other makers like Savage to become the 500. My opinion of why they lost appeal is that the trigger group type offers a smoother loading of the shell with no jerky action and they also raise slightly quicker which assures the shell doesn't roll out of the gun before the slide is far enough forward to raise the elevator which is never a problem with an experienced shooter anyway.
Newer 870s have a "Flexi-tab" cut on their elevator, making this type of malfunction as easy to clear as simply racking the action.it would shoot the round up under the elevator and jam the works, requiring me to pull out a knife and dig the round back into the magazine,
I think Benelli got it right. When you push up on the shell carrier it stays up. But it also feeds reliably and smoothly as part of the trigger group.
At one point I was all interested in getting a nicer shotgun for trap and clay shooting. Then, I started to get good (not great) averaging about 75 to 80% hits. On a couple of occasions I've gotten 24 out of 25. Since then I've grown quite fond of my Mossberg 500. And yes I know, it's not instrument but the musician that makes the difference.
The old High Standard shotguns and the RIA M5 by extension which is a clone of them