Have a chance to buy a Mossberg Silver Reserve II 28gauge Over/Under. [CHEAP]

My experience with Mossberg shotguns a few yrs. ago was lousy, bought a pair of 500's
for me and grandson, one of them fell apart, literally, while we were in a canoe jump-shooting
ducks, parts flew all over, into the water, etc., I just threw this shotgun away, stayed away
from Mossberg since.

I think these shotguns are made in Turkey.
Who has any experience with these Mossberg O/U's

Joe

Hmmm, sounds like your past experience maybe answered your question already. At 66 years of age, I've learned two things for sure ; you get what you pay for....and...when you buy quality, you only cry once.

I would have expected that story to involve a Mossberg O/U rather than one of their pump guns. My experience with Mossberg's O/U guns is limited as I don't waste my money on bottom of the line guns unless I can purchase them cheap enough that I can consider them disposable and not regret the loss of money.

Long ago I learned my lesson regarding cheap quality guns and pass on them. Not only does one have to deal with early parts breakage but finding those parts can be a problem. That leaves one needing the services of a gunsmith/machinist to make the part which can soon cost more than the purchase price of the gun. It will exceed what the gun is worth long before that point.

These appear to be made in Turkey, hopefully the quality is better with modern tech.
My experience with the 500's was 25 yrs. ago. This O/U is new, never fired for $400 out the door.
Mossberg MSRP is $750. street price is around $600. Based on reviews I can find on this model
shotgun and the fact it is a 28ga. and it will only be used for bird hunting,
should make this a disposable if it crashes.

Besides the points that woodmaster makes a big problem with budget over/under is that both barrels shoot to a different POI.

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

And I'm worried about what I'd get for 2k .

Rightfully so,

I had a new [under 500 rds] Browning Citori in 28ga., the bottom barrel firing pin broke
during a competition skeet shoot, had to mail the entire gun to Ogden, Utah for in-warranty
repairs.

Had a new, week old, Remington 1100 Skeet, the trigger mechanism come apart 1 week before the State
championships here in Maine, called Remington, pleaded my case, they actually
overnight-ed a new trigger group.

when the Mossberg 500 let go, I actually didn't care, WTF, just another pump gun

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.

Could it be I just happen to get a Mossberg 500 that was a lemon right from the factory, it was a new gun.
The grandsons gun functioned fine, just a couple of serial numbers from mine.
I have several 1100's and a couple of 11/87's, the 1100's have broke over the yrs. I fix them.
One of the 11/87's has broke, same outcome.
My recollection of the 500 was the mag. cap assembly bracket [or what ever it is called] was soldered to the barrel, it come off
it was 25 yrs. ago
I liked the fit and finish of the special purpose 500, that's why I bought 2 of them
Your post reads like it could be a review on the Mossberg 500
[ how did it get left out in the snow for 2 days ]

Joe

Blackheart,

Do you remember where you purchased and what name brand were the
fiber optic sights that fit the T/C Hawken .50 cal. you put on your rifle
yrs. ago?

If so, send me a PM, or post it here.

Joe

Even if the barrel came completely off a 500 the spring and follower could not come out of the magazine tube. If the lug broke off the bottom of the barrel I would have sent it back to Mossberg and I'm sure they would have replaced it. My 500 slug gun got left out for 2 days because I forgot and left it laying out in the back yard after taking pictures of it and a nice buck I killed with it. Went looking for it two days later when I wanted to go out hunting again and it was nowhere in the house. It was then I remembered leaving it out in the yard when I took the buck into the garage to hang and skin it. It had snowed six inches the day I killed that buck and I had to fish around in the snow to find the gun. I brought it in the house, stripped it down, thoroughly dried it out, oiled it up and she's been none the worse for wear.

They are Thompson Center fiber optic sights. I've forgotten where I bought them but you used to be able to order them direct from T/C. The last I knew, Williams also made a set of fiber optic "Fire sights" for the T/C Hawken as did Tru -Glo. The Tru- Glo sights are generally plastic junk and I would avoid those.

i have a Mossberg 500 12 gauge the one i have,i won in a raffle,it is not a pretty gun but one tough shotgun.

How much is the 28 bore o/u?

If one has such issues so quickly with two stalwarts like a Mossberg 500 and a Browning Citori, then I would expect even less success with a Silver Reserve. When a new gun is selling so much less than list price the reason tends to be a sign of something wrong and the owner is trying to dump it.

Trying to justify a purchase due to the item seeing "limited" use is a pretty sure sign one does not have much faith in the item to begin with. With a history of frequent problems with the Mossberg line of O/Us I would not bother with one for any price. Been there, done that too many times and it is not worth the angst it caused. The only value I got out of those experiences was initially learning that a good deal is not that and and re-enforcement of that lesson nearly every time afterward.

the Mossberg O/U shotgun is new, in the box, never fired for $400, no tax, no FFL

Thoughts:

Mossberg pumps have a reputation for being solid shotguns..rough, but solid....

O/U’s in the under 1k range have a reputation for being junk...

Changing firing pins on just about anything other than a Krieghoff, is a job Smith’s that travel the Skeet circuit can do in their sleep...in fact one that most of us can do. Easier ways of getting it done than sending it back to Browning..You tube is your friend for many things mechanical....


For future reference on changing Browning Citori firing pins....

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