Is Mossberg a quality shotgun?

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Okay, Urban, I keep a pump shotgun magazine loaded but actually enjoy jacking a shell into the chamber, which is about the only reason I don't already have a shell in there if some perp wanders into my home... that distinctive sound of a shell being jacked into the chamber is what keeps a whole heap o' perps on edge, lol. Bird shot will wake 'em up, 00 Buck will put 'em down, and frankly, I'd probably reserve a pumpkin slug for some wanker I REALLY didn't like... though the pumpkin slug will shorten a life pronto with all the damage it causes, even at relatively low muzzle velocity, lol. :oops:

P.S. The .44 lever carbine is loaded but kept in the same mode, as jacking a cartridge into the chamber of a .44 lever carbine will ALSO give some idiot perp a 'WAKE-UP CALL!' 🤣
 
I watched the bull pup vid that @Magus posted and that is what we have seen on the range.

My 870 is actually a retired hunting receiver that I just put an old slug gun barrel a mag extension, the pistol grip and a set of ammo carriers on the slide. I have taken it to an outdoor pistol range and with a little practice it does a good job shooting from the hip (it just rips anything at waist level). It can be rapid fired if need be.... I think if I had a laser/mag light attached to the top of the barrel for aiming it would be killer in the dark.

For home defense, I tend to load a mixed bag, in firing order, #4 shot mag, 00 buck, slug, repeat 2 times. I keep 10 more 00 buck rounds on the slide, as if I would need to reload.

On my hunting gun I have been known to pump out several rounds in short order....
Deer3-2.JPG
 
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The deer slayer was on my "bucket list" of shotguns. beautiful weapons. maybe now that Ithaca is back in business it will return at a price I can afford? as it stands, they can keep it.
https://ithacagun.com/product/deer-slayer-iii/
Gods what beautiful weapon though!
 
Mountain trapper said:
I've had my Mossburg 500 since I was a teenager. It's got an 18" barrel so it's no good for hunting, just sits in the corner collecting dust. When I was a kid I used dad's Mossburg for duck, quail and pheasant hunting. They are good basic guns, and reasonably priced.
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The nice thing about the Mossburg 500's and the 870's is there are a ton of aftermarket barrels available at reasonable prices. In the USA, they are not an FFL item yet, so in most cases you can just order the barrel that you need and have it delivered to the house.

My hunting gun is a magnum receiver and I have 3 barrels that I use regularly, a 3" rifled & ported barrel with a cantilever scope mount for most deer hunting, a 3" open sighted rifled barrel for deer hunting in really bad weather, and a long 3 1/2" barrel with multiple choke tubes for everything else.
 
UrbanHunter said:
The nice thing about the Mossburg 500's and the 870's is there are a ton of aftermarket barrels available at reasonable prices. In the USA, they are not an FFL item yet, so in most cases you can just order the barrel that you need and have it delivered to the house.

My hunting gun is a magnum receiver and I have 3 barrels that I use regularly, a 3" rifled & ported barrel with a cantilever scope mount for most deer hunting, a 3" open sighted rifled barrel for deer hunting in really bad weather, and a long 3 1/2" barrel with multiple choke tubes for everything else.
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I've been thinking about doing that for awhile now. I inherited dad's old 500 a couple years ago, then I gave it to my son. Most of the time I use a Ruger red label O/U for bird hunting, and a .22 pistol for grouse.
 
Mountain trapper said:
I've had my Mossburg 500 since I was a teenager. It's got an 18" barrel so it's no good for hunting, just sits in the corner collecting dust. When I was a kid I used dad's Mossburg for duck, quail and pheasant hunting. They are good basic guns, and reasonably priced.
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Oh dude, you can have that barrel "rolled" by a good gunsmith to cover a paper plate at 50' it'll just be useless for slugs after that. I have a Stevens 775a that is cut to 19" you could dove hunt with. Have that barrel swaged or even sleeved, you'll love it! You might have to get an older smith to do it, but its a game changer in an all day carry hunting gun!
 
I have three 500’s one with the 28” vented and ported barrel
One with the 18” barrel
And one and one with pistol grip and has been made more compact with the barrel ..
I love them all and have had Remingtons and ithicas in the past but always go back to the 500’s
 
I only have one. The APT-8 came with a 20 inch barrel and a seven round mag. I bought a 28 inch barrel with screw-in chokes for birds and small game.
 
I normally roll with the 870 as my "tactical" go to, but lately I've been using a high standard flite king clone as my go to. I haven't broke the ATI in enough to trust it yet.
 
Magus said:
The deer slayer was on my "bucket list" of shotguns. beautiful weapons. maybe now that Ithaca is back in business it will return at a price I can afford? as it stands, they can keep it.
https://ithacagun.com/product/deer-slayer-iii/
Gods what beautiful weapon though!
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The old Ithaca 37s don't bring huge money, except for the police guns. I got pretty lucky with mine, it's a barely used 1974 model. It was used at the LGS for 400 bucks. Granted, that was a few years ago and the market is different now, but it's not "tactical" and it's not a bird gun so it has limited appeal.

If you ever get the chance, I recommend shooting clay pigeons with a smooth bore Deerslayer though. Even without a choke, they'll reach out further than you think they will...
 
I picked up a 1968 era Ithaca M37 Featherweight DS Police Special a dozen years ago for $300. I’m happy with it.

My pump shotguns and those rifles that are kept loaded all have empty chambers.
My autoloading pistols too.
Being left handed, the vast overwhelming majority of firearm safeties are practically useless to me, so I keep the chambers empty instead.

Since the biggest threat here are not humans, but predators after the hens, I keep a double barrel 20 ga next to the bed and a double barrel .410 behind the bedroom door. Both have tang safeties so both are fully loaded.

My absolute favorite shotgun ( of over a dozen) is a NEF 12 ga single shot. It’s great as a woods walking long gun.
 
rice paddy daddy said:
I picked up a 1968 era Ithaca M37 Featherweight DS Police Special a dozen years ago for $300. I’m happy with it.

My pump shotguns and those rifles that are kept loaded all have empty chambers.
My autoloading pistols too.
Being left handed, the vast overwhelming majority of firearm safeties are practically useless to me, so I keep the chambers empty instead.

Since the biggest threat here are not humans, but predators after the hens, I keep a double barrel 20 ga next to the bed and a double barrel .410 behind the bedroom door. Both have tang safeties so both are fully loaded.

My absolute favorite shotgun ( of over a dozen) is a NEF 12 ga single shot. It’s great as a woods walking long gun.
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I second the new englands!
I have one in 20 and 12. I hope to complete the set one day with 410 , 28 and 16
 
Between the NEF Pardners, H&R Toppers, and Springfield 94’s I’ve got three 12’s, one 16, two 20’s and one .410.
I LIKE single shot shotguns.
The days of finding them for $75 or less are long gone though.
 
rice paddy daddy said:
Between the NEF Pardners, H&R Toppers, and Springfield 94’s I’ve got three 12’s, one 16, two 20’s and one .410.
I LIKE single shot shotguns.
The days of finding them for $75 or less are long gone though.
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I actually lucked up on this 12 gauge. The barrel is ported and looks flawless And out the door only cost me 103$ out the door
You’ll still find some deals in a pawn shop every now and then
 
Absolutely. Mossberg makes a very good variety of shotguns as well. I have limited experience with their pump actions. They make really good hunting, and home-defense ones. If you're looking for a shotgun, their pretty much a go-to.
 
My experience with the pistol grip only shot guns was that they were a pain to shoot, hard to shoot well, and not worth the trouble... I'm talking things like the Shock Wave and like alternatives...

On the site that was posted with the Turkish guns... Something is making me think the AK looking model is 2 3/4" chamber only ?? Is that so ??

I have owned a couple Turkish field guns and shot several other models from Turkey.... My experience with them was not good at that time... I got rid of the ones I owned and would choose other alternatives if I were to purchase a shot gun now...

Every ones experience will be different...
 
Pistol-grip-only are a bugger to fire, and I consider this configuration either "highly specialized" or "a toy", heavily leaning towards "a toy". Regular-stock-only are better.

But pistol-grip-plus-regular-stock-combo are the best. Recoil feels much lighter. The gun is easier to control in a moving situation. And you can shoot it from the hip - if you don't mind not hitting what you're aiming at.
 
Some folks swear by Cummins, I've just always had better luck with CAT engines... that 470hp CAT 3406E was a good motor, mine would pull a grade as well as a 500, lol. Great on overall fuel economy too, the 500s, 550s, etc, all sucked fuel like it was going outta style. I liked that 470 CAT, it was a good motor, fairly easy to work on too... :cool:
 
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