The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Defense and Tactics => Topic started by: scrappy45601 on October 21, 2009, 11:25:22 PM
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I just bought a mossberg 500 12 gauge and was wondering what the pros and cons are. It has a 28" vented rib barrel, and a modified choke. i was wandering if i get a 18.5'' barrel would this also make a good home defense gun. What kind of shot would you recomend for in a house with close neighbors.
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Welcome to the forum.........
I have an 8 shot Mossberg 500ATP with tactical light hanging on the side of my bed.
There has been a lot of debate on the forums as to the best round to use but I have switched from 00 buck to birdshot as I do have close neighbors.
I have had this gun for about 12 years and used to shoot it a lot. It has always performed well with no issues. It could use a heat shield as it does get a little warm after getting off 8 quick shots but now that I have it strictly for home protection it has had a chance to cool off.
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That is what is leaning beside my bed right now ;D I have neighbors on the other side of Lathe and (horsehair) plaster walls so I keep it loaded with #6 shot. When I got it it had an ATI top folding pistol grip stock, I took that off and replaced it with the original wood stock with a slip on sleeve to hold 5 rounds on the off side . It made a extremely short package and I will keep it in case I want to pack the gun in a back pack or such but it had some draw backs, no place to put a sling swivel, no way to conveniently carry extra rounds,and most importantly when folded it blocks the tang safety. I then replaced the brass bead with a red Fiber optic from Brownells, added a sling (really just a carry strap ) and called it good.
The pluses of the model 500 are double slide rails, and all the controls are well located for me (I'm a righty ) without moving my hand i can thumb the safety or work the slide release. It is a well proven design, I do not know of any minuses.
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thank you david and tom. i have been a long time reader, first time poster and i appreciate your time and thoughts
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also may i add that i bought it used for $179
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Glad we could help. Swing by and put a post in the new member thread to let the rest of the delinquents know your here ;D
http://www.downrange.tv/forum/index.php?topic=19.0
also may i add that i bought it used for $179
SWEET DEAL !
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heres a pic
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also may i add that i bought it used for $179
I would buy another one or two at that price.
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now what would be a good way to tune this guy up. first shotgun ive owned. i would be using it for deer hunting and primarily for home defense
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If you put on the 18.5 inch barrel it will extend about 3 1/2 inches beyond the Magazine tube.
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and as for deer hunting is the smooth bore barrel ok
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If you put on the 18.5 inch barrel it will extend about 3 1/2 inches beyond the Magazine tube.
I have the 20" barrel and the 8 shot tube is just about flush with the barrel.
Greg,
There have been a lot of deer taken with a smooth bore and 00 buck or slugs.
I had a chance to shoot my son's 870 with the rifled barrel and cannot get over the accuracy with slugs. I couldn't do it, but my son put 3 slugs within 2 inches of each other at 100 yrs, standing.
If I was going to hunt with slugs i would seriously consider a rifled barrel, but it does prevent you from using 00 buck as the spread is really extreme using any kind of shot with the rifled barrel.
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thank you for the info much appreciated
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Good find at that price!
I got a new Mossberg(image below) recently. With its pistol grip, it's not set up to be the ultimate home defense gun, but for clearing the house and getting everyone to one room, then I can switch to something that can be wielded more effectively. However, I've gotten pretty good with it in the short time I've had it. I've shot some slugs too. It doesn't kick as bad as I thought it would. It compares pretty well against my brother's Remington.
(http://www.galleryofguns.com/prod_images/52438.JPG)
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Snappy, I have the EXACT same setup you speak of. I used the gun for hunting for about 20 years in stock form, then got a 18" barrel for $50 bucks. Added Hogue forearm, and pistol grip. It now rests just under me on my side of the bed every night.
I've often second guessed the pistol grip. I keep (6) 2 3/4" 000 buckshot loaded in the gun, and have test fired it with such... Probably much better to have gotten a regular Hogue stock. :-\
I prefer the way the Mossberg loads over an 870 any day! Only thing keeping me from trading off the 870 is that the darn thing just fits me so good! It "draws", "points", and just feels PERFECT! I still hate the feed ramp pinching my thumb everytime I load it. And the 870's action is clunky compared to the Mossberg's. >:(
Congratulations on getting a GREAT gun! ;D
I know I've put over 2,000 rounds through mine. NEVER a failure to fire yet. And the 28" barrel with modified choke shoots Remington 2 3/4" saboted slugs better than you could ever imagin at 100 yards!!! I just never had the same accuracy with 3' slugs in it. :-\
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I just got a 500C 20 ga for my grandson for Christmas. He already knows about it and is gung ho to go shooting, but he'll have to wait. Sunday we go AR shooting so that should pacify him. ;D I paid $175.
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I really like mine. A 500A with 18-1/2" barrel and the 26" barrel. I don't have any good pictures right now, maybe next week.
I put a Mako fore end with rails on mine then added a tac light, a shell carrier on the stock and black padded sling.
One caution on fore ends. The various 500s models have different length "action tubes" this will affect the fitting of the foreend. Unfortunately, some of the fore end manufacturers specs have typos and they refer to it as "barrel length". Just beware. Also the Mako fore end required (on my model) a little carpentry work before it fit.
Alf
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I bought HazJr a 500 about 2 years ago for 150 (used) works great. Only thing we ever had to fix was to replace the plastic safety with a metal one ($5.00).
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I will tell you a story of why I went with the Mossberg 590 with ghostring sight. While attending a class with my at the time $900+gunsmith fees Remington870 MAX, I was trying to preform from cover two shots strongside(right), select load a slug switch to the weak/offside(left) and engage threat. But under false stress of that trainer, everytime I switched to offside my gloved hand would reengage the Vang Comp safety with the left/trigger finger. Totally embarrassed I asked to remove my gloves witch everyone seemed to get a laugh while heckling about "real life this and SHTF realworld no TimeOuts that " and I went at it again. Long story short it happened over and over again. Every armchair expert/student there was chimming in with their 2unwanted cents. I was more than pissed and felt like tomahawking the 870 downrange. The guy that was the Head trainer pulled me aside and said that I should try the Moss. 590 he used for demo. I did and not another accidental engagement of safety. Not once. It was just as easy to make the 25yd. head shots and 7yd. head with 00 Hornady TAP. So I completed the class. Learned an awesome lesson and the only thing that was hurt was my pride. Now i will say the only thing i miss is the Surefire but that can be fixed.
tex
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Sorry, new to the forum. Did not know how to post. I have a moss. 500 mariner and really enjoy it. I was wandering if it is possibe to paint over the mariner finish?
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I w2ould imagine that Duro Coat would do the job.
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I'd go with some kind of camo finish. So you can touch up the scratches easily. A black finish with even a teeeny bright, shiny silver scratch aint so good looking and may be a lot harder to touch up well.
The Mariners are awsome guns IMO! (Maybe a little pimpy looking though)
I'd worry about the rails for the forearm scratching up from use. I painted my old beat up 500 and the paint didn't last to long in that area. It was a blued gun, and only the black underneath the paint shows through.
Good luck! POST PICS! :)
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I just bought a mossberg 500 12 gauge and was wondering what the pros and cons are. It has a 28" vented rib barrel, and a modified choke. i was wandering if i get a 18.5'' barrel would this also make a good home defense gun. What kind of shot would you recomend for in a house with close neighbors.
Pros: Mossberg 500 is EXTREMELY easy to get parts and accessories for. (That extra barrel you want can be found a thousand places.) You can get 18 inch, 20 inch, 22 inch, rifle sighted, plain bead sighted, etc., etc.... Pretty well whatever barrel you'd want. It's a good reliable gun. It will make an excellent home defense gun.
Cons: Uh, Remington 870 Owners may make fun of you??? ;D Some people that have used them have had the tang safety jam or break. The one on my 590 hasn't failed me.
Nice choice.
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Pros: Mossberg 500 is EXTREMELY easy to get parts and accessories for. (That extra barrel you want can be found a thousand places.) You can get 18 inch, 20 inch, 22 inch, rifle sighted, plain bead sighted, etc., etc.... Pretty well whatever barrel you'd want. It's a good reliable gun. It will make an excellent home defense gun.
Cons: Uh, Remington 870 Owners may make fun of you??? ;D Some people that have used them have had the tang safety jam or break. The one on my 590 hasn't failed me.
Nice choice.
Tell them to load 3 rounds in their gun, then 3 rounds in yours... They'll shut up in a hurry!
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Tell them to load 3 rounds in their gun, then 3 rounds in yours... They'll shut up in a hurry!
Why? I do not get it.
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The feed ramps on 870's get in the way & pinch your thumb everytime you push a shell in the magazine. Even better, ask them to unload their magazine without chambering a shell... You have to load a few rounds to really understand the differance.
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Thanks for explaining.
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The feed ramps on 870's get in the way & pinch your thumb everytime you push a shell in the magazine. Even better, ask them to unload their magazine without chambering a shell... You have to load a few rounds to really understand the differance.
That's a damn lie! Mine only pinches me about half the time. ;D You just have to know how to load it right. The 870 is the greatest, but to each his own.
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(http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b346/long762range/guns/IMG_0260.jpg)
This is my 870. There are many like it but this one is mine.
;D
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Now that there is "HOME DEFENSE"! Nice. :)
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(http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm182/twyacht/favoritegs-1.jpg)
Like the Home Defense color of Black...with just a little silver...
There are others but my 870 is a go to without question.
Shot the Mossberg many times and find it a great shotgun without question.
It comes down to personal preference.
Brand New Lexus? Or a Brand New Mercedes....Both are good and work for their intended task.
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Pros: Mossberg 500 is EXTREMELY easy to get parts and accessories for.
With the exception of the ghost ring sight. They've been out of production for months. Mossberg promised me they'd have them in stores in October, but I haven't seen them yet.
Other than that little glitch...yeah
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Birdshot definitely, so you can keep your neighbors!
I gotta say I'm thinking the Vang safety is a competition tool rather than a Real World option. It's fast as all get out, but you can bump it way too easily. I shot the Mossberg 590A1 in competition at Blackwater, and I loved it...more than my Vang Comp 870, to be honest. I finished 2nd, but at least I made Intermedia's Eric Poole work for it.
I strongly recommend that every pump shotgun owner learn the "cowboy" style of reloading...the ability to single-feed rounds into the chamber...Blackwater is teaching this (me and Tequila introduced the technique to Blackwater back when we were doing the NSSF seminars)...I do not agree with the Blackwater technique which required you to drop the gun off your shoulder on the reload. Keep the gun on your shoulder when you feed it!
Michael B
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Tell them to load 3 rounds in their gun, then 3 rounds in yours... They'll shut up in a hurry!
Yup. I once loaded 4 in one push of the thumb into mine just to see of I could do it. ;D 4 was luck though. I've only been able to load 3 at a time after that.
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I own 3 mossbergs and have no problems with them. Mosseberg is the only shotgun to pass the military torture test. Slug barrel would be fine. Use no 4 shot that way when the doctors open him up it will be useless to try and fix em. No repeat offenders.
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[While my stats could use a boost with a "new topic", I decided just to resurrect this one.]
Got my OFFICIAL Mossberg ghost ring sights in about 6 months ago. Yeah-h-h-h-h.
There's no easy way to attach the front sight. Boo-o-o-o-o-o-o.
I asked a couple of store smithy's and they all said that silver soldering wasn't something they felt comfortable doing. They'd all done it in gunsmith school, but didn't want to attempt it in real life. One smith told me he leaves the little post sight in place and uses it as an anchor to epoxy the new sight base to the barrel.
I can do electronics soldering. I mean the old school stuff, not the surface mount used now a-days. I got a role of silver solder and finally took the bull by the horns. I mean how bad can you screw up an 18" Mossberg barrel?
No punch line. While it wasn't pretty, it's done. I just need to re-blue the barrel now. Now that I have one under my belt, the next one will be a little less messy and better quality. No the bead doesn't run around the eadge evenly, but it's on pretty darn secure. I pre-tinned both the barrel and the sight before I clamped them together.
Here's a closeup of the work. I filed the excess, then fine sandpaper and then steel wool. I will use a magnet to clear the steel wool shavings before I do the re-blueing.
And it's pretty straight too. Can't wait to take it to the range to check zero.
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-TZb6WV_F4q4/UIc3uzNxctI/AAAAAAAAu2g/IjdBPQiQWKI/s854/IMG_7442.JPG)
So in keeping with the thread. The less expensive Mossberg 5xx's that don't come with the ghost ring sights will require some gunsmithing to attach.
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And I applied blue this week.
Finished product. I didn't realize the blue wouldn't take to the solder. Just a little more filing would have done the trick. But for what it is...a low end 500 bought on sale...first attempt a silver soldering...I like it. Now to find a place to keep it. We renovated the living area and I no longer have the coat closet to hang it inside above the door.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-q5kUycwnkPY/UJPQRqPopLI/AAAAAAAAvDc/wJR-H0cJ_YM/s569/IMG_7457.JPG)
What it looks like from the shooter's end.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7aKHfLqdwCA/UJPRYTq9ahI/AAAAAAAAvD4/ZvmaH0wjkd4/s854/IMG_7465.JPG)
Overall sights (That's a Streamlight tactical light attached to the tactical forend)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-GM71eHy_dUA/UJPSBuh_WLI/AAAAAAAAvEA/nzeXNupxa2M/s854/IMG_7469.JPG)
Overall Gun
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-02sndhEHN_s/UJPQv1wMJjI/AAAAAAAAvDw/zzK-6DQY_Y4/s956/IMG_7460.JPG)
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I think you just spent some of my "play" money for me on a set of sights for my 870... ;D
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I've been kind of scanning this as Alf did his work . but with out much interest since I did not think I would have anything to contribute .
I just had a flash though when I saw the butt stock.
When I set up my Mossy 500 I put one of those Knoxx recoil reducing stocks on it.
I hated it. It reduced recoil quite a bit, it did what it claimed, but the trade off was that rather than pushing my shoulder, the whole gun slid back in a recoil that I found unworkable.
With that being said, the stock was the collapsing AR type which I found to be MUCH better than the wooden stock.
First, It allowed the gun to be stored in the smallest space while still giving the rigidity of a solid stock,
2) I have rather short arms and I could adjust it to fit me more comfortably than the fixed stock
3) Living up here in the North proper length of pull for me varies from season to season with winter coats, summer Tee shirts and in between, the telescoping stock allowed me to compensate for those seasonal changes.
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The Mossberg is a great gun I really like it. It's one of the most reliable guns you can own if you do your part. The only downside I can think of is when someone mounts a butt stock with a pistol grip on it. You have to break your firing grip to work the safety.
As far as learning the cowboy action way of loading Michael could you send Jessie Duff :o over to teach us. Please Michael Please!!!
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As far as learning the cowboy action way of loading Michael could you send Jessie Duff :o over to teach us. Please Michael Please!!!
Pretty Please?!? ;D ;D
One thing that I noted about the cowboy loading method, it's a hell of a lot easier if you shoot right handed guns lefty!
No reaching over the receiver, just pop them in the side facing you.
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Quality gun and can be a great home defense weapon. TheMossbergs differ in operation from remington/Benelli/etc. Learn the quirks and how to feed it. It will serve you well.
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Another Valley of the Sun guy! (Billt is here too) ;D
Welcome.
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I used to live around Phoenix and the Mesa area. Wouldn't recognize it now, I'm sure. When I was a kid the roads were all dirt and across the road from my house was desert, desert, more desert.
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I am a recent immigrant to Az.(2004). I understand that I-10 stopped in Mesa. Not that way now!!! 5th largest metro in the country.
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:) WE HAVE 4 MOSSBERGS IN THE HOUSE NOW,FAMILY & FRIENDS ALL OWN AT LEAST ONE. THEY ARE EXCELLENT FIREARMS &
THAY ARE NOT OVER PRICED LIKE MOST OTHERS. THEY SHOOT GOOD & ARE A LOT OF FUN!!! ENJOY YOURS!! ;D ;D
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Birdshot definitely, so you can keep your neighbors!
I gotta say I'm thinking the Vang safety is a competition tool rather than a Real World option. It's fast as all get out, but you can bump it way too easily. I shot the Mossberg 590A1 in competition at Blackwater, and I loved it...more than my Vang Comp 870, to be honest. I finished 2nd, but at least I made Intermedia's Eric Poole work for it.
I strongly recommend that every pump shotgun owner learn the "cowboy" style of reloading...the ability to single-feed rounds into the chamber...Blackwater is teaching this (me and Tequila introduced the technique to Blackwater back when we were doing the NSSF seminars)...I do not agree with the Blackwater technique which required you to drop the gun off your shoulder on the reload. Keep the gun on your shoulder when you feed it!
Michael B
I teach the same technique to my people Sir Michael. Each of our scatterguns are equipped with a side saddle. Feed it one at a time till ya can get to cover, then fill er up!