Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Difference in Mossberg 535 vs 835?

Looking for a inexpensive shotgun for when coyote hunting is close up, have found both the 535 (camo) & 835 at around the same price anyone have info?

Also local shop has had some killer deals on Remington�s new 877, I a not crazy about how it looks but have been told by others they shoot and handle well�

The 535 is a standard size 12 gauge shotgun, the 835 is a larger frame shotgun (similar in size to a 10 gauge gun). I have had a 535ATS Waterfowl/Turkey package gun for three years - it is a good utilitarian firearm.

Thanks, after checking again I see it is a lighter gun 6.5 lbs...great when you are carrying in two guns....

Mossberg would be very close to my last choice for any shotgun...

Find a used 870, BPS, Ithica37, Benneli... Anything but a Mossberg.

I strongly disagree with sitka. Mossbergs will out pattern any shotgun on the market. If you want a cary shotgun that you arnt afraid of getting dirty then look no further than a mossberg.

I kill a ton of geese with my 835 utility mag @30 40 50 yard shots and for the money mossberg rules where i hunt here in Kansas....

For longevity afield Mossberg brings up the rear of the pack. The repair rate on them is far higher than the rest. Having a couple anecdotal "good" ones does not balance the fact any gunsmith will tell you they get lots more Mossbergs to work on than other brands and when you consider the relative populations of different brands tha Mossys do not hang with the Benneli...

Patterning is very much an individual gun, choke, shell combination and suggesting Mossberg has that part of the market cornered is fairly humorous. Never saw a Mossberg win a trap shoot...

But if it works for you, keep at it...
art

The main difference between the two shotguns is the bore diameter. The 835 is overbored to almost 10ga bore and the 535 is standard 12ga. This means the 835 is good for patterning large payloads of pellets, but not the best for small payloads. Mossberg also says NOT TO SHOOT SLUGS in the 835 unless there is a specific slug barrel being used.

I for one have little long run faith in either, but know friends that like them. The standard 870 is still my go to in a pump gun.

What a terrible thing to say. The Mossberg has two extractors, the 870 has one, and has been know to break. For budget Mossberg. For quality and durability Benilli.

Ask any Army armorer fixing the guns being used in severe conditions... They use both 870 and Mossberg shotguns. The repairs run far more than 2:1 Mossberg to 870 per gun. At least that is what they have told me directly.

With all the 870s I have messed with I have seen exactly no broken extractors. I have seen exactly one broken firing pin. I have seen several that locked up because someone had reassembled them without staking the shell stops. And that is about it...

With far fewer Mossbergs I have seen about as many problems...

What problems have you seen on the Mossbergs ?

Mostly feeding issues... Broken safety parts, too... Blue that seems to almost wipe off with a damp rag...

Literally, my least favorite gun maker...

Do you recall the cause of the feeding problems?

Weak magazine springs coupled with dirty, rusty, gritty tubes and assorted shell carrier hangup issues... Any one, two, or three of the above will make them cough... Soft parts that wear and tweak readily. When grit gets in the magazine tube for instance it can embed in the tube and stay there.

Mossberg does not represent value IME...

For what it is worth, I have beat the eyeballs ou of my 835. I did have an issue with the firing pin not striking the primer hard enough (had to cycle 3 rounds and finally reload the fourth IOT kill one damn dumb turkey once). That said, I did clean the bolt really well and have not had any problems. So, perhaps the failure was due to operator maintenance. That thinh had grit accumlated from Minto Flats in AK to red clay from GA in it.

Someone recommended Benelli as well. I have the SBE and have had not problem with it and it has held up to the same loving hell.

I guess it depends on your budget. Dont know for sure, but you could likely buy 3+ 835s for the Benelli autos.

As for the benelli nova, I friend took one with us to Stutgartt AR for a duck hunt / ice braking party. It performed like crap and did not like the weather - the 835 and super black eagle performed flawlessly. Although I did have to use a lighter to thaw out the 835s safety selecter switch.

I have an old Mossberg 500 that I have used more than any other gun I have and it has worked perfectly.

Ithaca 37 will probably outrun them all.
Rem 870 next.

I have had good results with both my Mossy 835 and 500s, but the safeties do break easily.

I have a 12 gauge Mossberg 835 20" turkey gun that I have beat the hell out of with 3.5" and have NEVER had a problem. HIGHLY recommend.

I shoot all 3
Rem 870-20 IMO BEST UTILITY SHOTGUN
Moss 500-12 OK BUT NOT MY FAV
Ithaca 37-16 CLASSY PUMP LIGHT TO CARRY

Mossberg has given me numerous ejection problems(still trying to figure out)... Ithaca problems have been rare.. Rem issues have been NONE.

I would rate them #1 rem #2 Ithaca #3 mossberg

also shoot a BPS-12 that I would rate just behind the Rem 870. great gun, no issues with it except for me its a little heavy and bulky to carry all day.

I think someone just doesn't know Peas from Carrots, when it comes to downgrading the MOSSBERG shotgun! I love my Browning Gold and my Remington 1100's (all 5 of them) however I defend my home with a Mossberg shotgun with double slides.

I remember when a few years ago, the Mossberg 12ga pumpgun was the only shotgun that met the requirements of the Army or Marines!!! At least a 1/3 of all duck hunters in Arkansas and Kansas use a Mossberg pump shotgun.....FACT.

If I where in the military and having to go through the jungle, wet conditions everyday or blowing sand in the desert, I would certainly pick the Mossberg pump shotgun hands down over any other make on the market bare-none.

I have owned and used a 835 for 15 years and had no problems other then an occasional ejection problem with 3.5" shells. You must remember to pump it like you mean it. I guess we all know that!

Wasn't it Yogi Berra who said, "Deja Vu, all over again"?

Any other hallucinations you care to share?

The 870 was the first military shotgun among current models and has continued as the primary shotgun for the duration. The Mossbergs were added to save some money on military contracts.

Talk to the armorers servicing both and they will all tell you the Mossberg falls well short of the 870 in reliability.

Those are some of the facts.

As to Arkansas and Kansas duck hunters... Thinking 1/3 is a very unlikely number...

That was my experience when working as the armorer of an agency with 160 sworn officers. We issued a variety of shotguns (they were all pumps that were confiscated by a large urban police department...we would cut the barrels to 20" and issue them to our officers...it really hurt to cut off the barrel of a nice Model 12 with a factory rib) but probably 40% were Mossberg 500's and 40% were 870's. This was about 20 years ago.

The Mossbergs were a constant headache. The major problems were safety buttons that would simply fall off when the screw that holds them in place would loosen during normal handling, plastic safety buttons that would break into two pieces when you would tighten the screw to try to keep them from falling off, weak magazine springs that resulted in misfeeds and shell stops that would bind and cause jamming. There were timing issues with shell carriers and loose and cracked wooden buttstocks as well. I replaced many cracked wood buttstocks with synthetic ones and then they held up fine.

The 870's were trouble-free with no issues that I can recall...might have been a trigger group that needed replacing on one gun, but can't remember for sure. The Ithaca 37's and Winchester 1200/1300's also worked well. There were a few off-brand shotguns such as Nobles that were awful and made the Mossbergs look like diamonds in comparison.

I have seen a few problems with 870's in later years at a police academy range, mostly shell stop malfunctions, but they are still rare issues.

Admittedly these guns (including the 870's) were used (and abused) harder by our officers than a typical hunting gun would normally be. We got rid of the Mossbergs when the budget allowed. After I retired the department bought Remington 11-87 semiautos and had problems with them, so they traded for new 870's and have been satisfied since then.

Maybe the newer Mossbergs are better now. I know lots of people like them and a typical hunting shotgun doesn't take the abuse of a law enforcement weapon.

I own 4 870s and I will own no other pump.

The 835 is beefed up to handle 3 1/2" shells.

The older 870s rule over the newer ones. Mossbergs are not in the same league as the 870.

Most of the serious duck hunters I've come across are running Benelli pumps. Throw in the Beretta extrema series and Mossberg is running way in the back of the pack.

870 would be my first choice for a pump. But I try not to handicap my shooting abilities anymore then the 6" between my ears. So I duck hunt with a Benelli M1.

couldnt agree more. Have seen so many problems in mossbergs its not even funny. I can think of 3 in the last few years, out of about 5 in our group, that drop the shell out the bottom when you cycle the pump. One of the shotguns dropped them all on the ground with a hard rack of the slide.

I had an 835 for a few years. When ever i shot 3.5 inch shells they wouldnt eject. I would have to break the gun down and use a leatherman to get the shells out. I was in a foggy, snowy mess of a spot with geese circling around me. One shot and no eject... take a minute or two to fix the gun and same event, stuck shell. I had every intention of wrapping that shotgun around a power pole, but in the thigh deep snow, I wasnt as mad when I finally got there.

When it came time to part ways, I couldnt give the gun away. Nice looking shotgun too. Tried like crazy to sell it for $200 and no takers. Finally traded it for an old Pepsi machine converted into a gun safe, which I sold to my brother for $250. The safe was much cooler than a unreliable Mossberg.

A family friend came to my cabin a few weeks ago with a brand new Mossberg. Every time he racked the slide, the shell would fall out of the bottom of the gun, onto the ground.

Another friend had a shotgun which if it was pumped with any aggression at all, the entire batch of shells would fall to the ground. This gun had about 7 years of use on it though. It wasnt new.

One thing is for sure... I wouldnt by a Mossberg shotgun again for anything. Maybe a $100 410 or something to play with. I have witnessed very very few mechanical failures of fire arms, but every single one of them has been a Mossberg shotgun, or a dirty Ruger 10/22 ( which I love )