Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Another Mossberg 835 post...

I know, I know...

But I got it cheap! Intended use is as a back up/loaner. And zero intentions of anything 3-1/2" to feed it. It's got the Woodlands Camo finish, 24" barrel, and a Mossberg x-full turkey choke tube. The white plastic front bead is being replaced with a green fiber optic bead and I've swapped out the factory safety with a safety lever that has a taller profile front edge to use to align with the front bead. A new, updated, Limb Saver pad is on it's way too. I'll post a couple pics when everything is installed. I've found 2-3/4" TSS shells on-line, but not at any of the stores I go to. I did find a box of Winchester 3" #5's on sale and we'll see how those pattern. Oh well, it's keeping me a little busy and kinda out of trouble...

Add 1 or 2 pounds to it and polish the barrel and you will enjoy the heck out of it.

after 20+ years of 3.5"ers out of them turkey guns I finally switched to a 20 ga. those Nitro Manufacturing 3.5"/2 5/8 ounce loads are brutal, but boy do they kill turkeys, I do have a few Boss 3"/2.5 oz 12's in case I need them.

Too many years here with 12ga 3-1/2" and 10ga 3-1/2" turkey shells... why this won't be fed with any! Lol!

I got one a kickin sob

I've now had 4 12ga 3-1/2" pump action shotguns. Each time I asked myself "WHY"?! LOL! Got this one for one reason, and one reason only, the price. Fortunately, there's TSS shot now and no need, or want, for anything 3-1/2".

sold my synthetic stocked unported 835, It was cool in 1994 (I think) when it was the NWTF gun of the year, but it kicked worse every year, 2010 or so I bought a Franchi 912, recoil wasn't bad till a couple years ago, then that damn thing started kicking harder. so now the franchi 912 is a backup, and an affinity 20 ga is my go to. could not bring myself to sell my valmet 412, we been down too many roads together.

Sounds familiar.


Buy it only because it's cheap,
sink money into it until it's not cheap.


There is a Heym 308 sitting right over there that's stuck between that,
and my losing interest and it just gathering dust! The other common story.
(Around here anyway)

No, not sinkin too much $$$ into it for sure...

They will loosen your fillings up in your teeth and make your eyes water won’t they!! 😂

I have one bought the 1st year they came out...it's light for running and gunning I have other turkey guns but the 835 still sees the most field time
I shoot 3 1/2 " Mag Blend

Glad I got over the heavy kickers.

Around here 99% of the turkeys I kill anymore can be killed with a field load of 6s or 7 1/2s from a standard full choke. A 25 yard shot is a long one.

Of all the guns I’ve had and shot, a 20” 835 with Nitro Ray ammo kicked the worst of any!

I’m to the point, I’ll stick to 35 and under shoot something that doesn’t literally hurt me when I pull the trigger if I am shooting a 12 gauge in a pump. I don’t mind 3.5” in a gas gun but I can’t take the pump or single!

Ha! A Good ol Mossy 835, they have been slaying Spring gobblers for well over 30 years now. I still remember my favorite turkey hunting show back in the early 90's (Knight and Hale ) as some of the first celebrity hunters that used the 835 extensively. I have owned a half dozen of em over the years (maybe even a few more) and they have accounted for at least half of my 130 Spring gobblers since I started in 1987, I still own a 20" barrel model now that I hunt with on rainy days..."Long live the mighty Mossberg 835 Ulti-mag" 😁...Hb

Those guys also preferred a 3" Winchester #5. Still a kicker in a light pump but a whole lot better than a 2 1/4 oz 3.5" shell.

My bud has one he bought in '95sh. It has a good bit more recoil than my old heavy BPS 10.

I grew up hunting a shotgun only deer county, well bow too, but no muzzle loaders or rifles. Anyway, dad went out and got us both 835s, 3 1/2 00 did a number on deer. Dad never turkey hunted and had an older buddy that got me into it when I was around 20. All I had was the 835. That thing with federal 3 1/2in 2 1/4oz no 6s was the kickinest gun I have ever owned. Hard to pattern due to laughing and flinching. Ended up selling both to a guy for 350. Been shooting a xtrema2 ever since they came out, World of difference in recoil.

Bought one of the first 835's back 36 years ago. Did hunt it several years, until I had enough of the mule kicking forearm rattling and junk trigger. She has been in the home defense mode since 1991, loaded with buck shot. Makes me shiver thinking about sighting down that gun.

For those wondering, or, if thinking about it at all... 2-1/4oz of shot is an over 980 grain projectile! So....

try the nitro ammunitions 2 5/8's oz load, will give you a come to Jesus moment

Crap! Ordered the wrong Limbsaver pad! Worst case scenario, use the old pad even though it's doing the Limbsaver melty thing...

I bought a ported 24" model in the late 90's. I called it the strut stopper, and I killed over 40 turkeys with it in 3 different states. Like many have posted, I quit using 3 1/2" shells due to the excessive recoil. I eventually sold it, becauase if I removed the adjustable sights, the stock would not allow me to get low enough to look straight down the rib to the front bead. Useless to me for anything other than turkey hunting. That, plus the damn knife edged comb on the plastic stock bruised my cheek multiple times.
As an aside, it held the distinction of being the hardest recoiling firearm I'd ever fired when using 2 1/4 oz loads. It was eventually dethroned by an open sighted T/C Encore 416 Rigby that I shot with a maximum book load of powder behind a 400 gr Partition. You know how they say that the big bores like that are more of a shove? Throw that out the window when the rifle weighs under 7 pounds. It hit me so hard and fast that I thought the front of the trigger guard might have broken my trigger finger. Naturally, I fired a second round for good measure.

I've got a Rem 870 w/3.5" chamber. Never shot anything but standard ammo w/#8 shot. Probably accounted for 30 (+/-) birds.
Refuse to buy those high $ dollar, TSS, mangrum special turkey loads.
See no sense in it. My 16 gauge and 1 oz load of #8's kills 'em dead!

It never ceases to amaze me all the "expert" turkey hunters who've supposedly killed hundreds of gobblers across 53 states and 12 provinces and never, ever needed or even wanted to shoot one past 40 yards who think they need to heave 2+ ounces of lead or shoot the latest and greatest 12.00 a pop TSS loads. Either they just can't resist wasting money or telling lies, one or the other.

At times, the 24hourcampfire can be better than The Comedy Club!

I kill ALL my gobblers three and four at a time with one shot. That cuts down on ammo cost so I can buy more tags and diesel fuel.

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