If you can make a Mossberg 500 literally fall apart in your hands I'd say stay away from anything more complicated than a hammer.
I did not make the gun fall apart, all I did was pull the trigger.
This 500 was a special purpose, matte finish, ported barrel, etc.
We were shooting 3" magnums.
As I recall, the magazine cap come off, spring and follower went overboard
at the same time something broke on the bolt when it tried to cycle.
I rebuilt the gun with OEM parts, at this point I had lost confidence in the gun
even as a back up, so I sold it for a $100 bucks with full disclosure. [I thru it away]
upgraded to an Remington 11/87 Special Purpose, which I still have today.
Joe
There is no magazine cap to fall off on a 500 and there is no way the spring and follower can come out of the end of the magazine tube even if you remove the barrel. I've been using Mossberg 500's for over 40 years and never had a problem after much abuse and many thousands of rounds. I've killed 21 bucks with a 500 slug gun. That gun has fallen 18 feet out of a tree stand, been out all day in driving rain, sleet and snow, been knocked over on pavement and left outdoors for 2 days and nights under 6" of snow. It has never failed and still works perfectly. I've been on hunts in sub zero weather with friends armed with 1100's and 1187's where my 500 was still a dependable repeater and theirs were jam-o-matics.
Right. That's not how the 500 is built. Perhaps something was lost in translation or ...? The Mossberg 500s I have used were very reliable. The military seems to agree. The Mossberg O/U I handled was rough as a cob and barrel regulation was off. Supposedly they have improved since then, but I wonder if your opportunity on a cheap one is cheap for a reason.
Hey, thanks for the reply,
I won't know until it shows up, I was able to purchase from Mossberg a lifetime warranty,
I have from now until October, [Maines bird season] to shoot it, test it, evaluate the gun.
The Mossberg 500 that failed on me during a duck hunt happened in excess of 25yrs. ago
in a canoe, last hr, close to dark, as it was shot with a 3"magnum, there was multiple parts that fell in the canoe and water, I believed at the
time of this post the magazine was involved, maybe not, anyhow the gun was inoperable and
parts were ordered and reinstalled
That being said, of course I would buy or trade for a 500 if one was involved in a deal.
Right now I only have 870's [1100's and 1187's]
Joe
