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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!

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


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Originally Posted by Tonk
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.


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...


Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
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Quote
Talk to the armorers servicing both and they will all tell you the Mossberg falls well short of the 870 in reliability.


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.

Last edited by wildhobbybobby; 05/21/11.

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

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


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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.

Last edited by battue; 05/25/11.

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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.


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Originally Posted by Sitka deer
Mossberg would be very close to my last choice for any shotgun...

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


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.

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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 )

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