Advice on buying a 1957 Mossberg 190 16 Gauge

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Mattdog

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Hi,

I am new to firearms but decided after getting a .22 my next purchase will be a 16 gauge for its versatility in bird hunting. The wingmaster is 8-1/2 lb and expensive since not done in express any longer. There seems to be a very limited choice for 16 gauges.

I have a chance to buy the mossberg 190 for $270 w case and trigger lock. It has an adjustable choke and vented rib to reduce recoil and a monte carlo stock. He says it has been fired 12 times since 1977 as it was passed down from his father.

The Mossberg is a bolt action with 3 round magazine.

I wanted a pump action since its faster to reload for a second shot but figure for that price and features and weight I'll be happy with it.

Any comments on this model would be appreciated.

Also some concern about where to get the 16 ga shells. Does cdn tire or wal mart sell them?

Thanks, Matt
 
Mattdog said:
There seems to be a very limited choice for 16 gauges.

Also some concern about where to get the 16 ga shells. Does cdn tire or wal mart sell them?
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and theres the rub.
IMO, especially with your second gun and first shotgun, dont look further than a 12ga 870 for the most versatility and customizability. if recoil is a concern, with a high-quality recoil pad almost anyone can handle the recoil of 2 3/4" non-slug loads on a standard weight shotgun.

the 870 is the most common shotgun and can be easily adapted into whatever you want it to be with widely available components. if the stock doesnt fit, or you want to adapt it to another purpose, you can do so relatively inexpensively with common aftermarket parts.

IMO the only time a bolt serves a purpose on a shotgun is with the new rifled barrel 210F Slug Warrior Savages, which are essentially a modern bolt action rifle chambered in 12ga.
$270 seems pretty high for an old Mossberg, i see the 12ga ones going for $100 all the time and noone seems to want them.
 
That's waaaaay to much to pay for a Mossberg bolt which you intend to use for a variety of shooting. It's further hampered by being 16 ga and only 2-3/4" chamber. This is a gun best left to a dedicated Mossberg nut.

Versatile - 12 ga. with 3" chamber.
Bird hunting - pump or semi.
A Winchester 1200 (alum receiver) or Ithaca 37 are both light pumps.

Once you come to accept that you shouldn't be buying 16 ga., a used Remington Express 12 ga. can be found pretty cheaply.

By the way, vented ribs don't reduce recoil.
 
Hi Matt,

I agree with previous posters that $270 is high for an old Mossy bolt action.

I disagree that 16 ga is a poor choice for bird hunting. I hunt with several 16 ga shotguns and never have problems with ammo. But, to be totally truthful, it IS harder to find and anyone planning to shoot 16 ga is well advised to keep a supply on hand. Also, forget about target shooting with 16 ga, if you had considered it, as there are no cheap target loads available.

For bird hunting, I would put double triggered SXS's at the top of the list, followed by pumps and semis, as Grouseman says. My reason for saying this is twofold: instant choke selection and redundancy.

Grouseman is also right about vented ribs - no effect on recoil (unless you consider them added weight, in which case they will have the effect of reducing recoil, as would any added weight. Be careful about adding weight to reduce recoil, though. Ideally such added weight should be distributed across the entire shotgun so as to not upset the balance of the gun (as opposed to all the weight being added to the stock or the barrel, for example).
 
straightshooter said:
I disagree that 16 ga is a poor choice for bird hunting.
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i didnt mean to imply that - simply meant that i dont think a 16ga bolt action is a good idea for a first shotgun.
IMO stick to 12ga, or 20ga in a common gun like a used 870 wingmaster, or a new 870 express or mossberg 500 if he is looking around in the ~$300 price range.
 
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As mentioned already, a 12ga would be the most versatile. Should budget be the dominant factor......recommend look at various Pumps offered.

I notice SIR Mail Order lists Rem 870 Express ($329+tax), Mossberg 500 ($263+tax).....you may also wish to look at the 20ga (lighter in weight) should you be looking to use the shotgun exslusively for Upland birds.

However, if you are planning to use the firearm for Waterfowl as well then the 12ga would be the recommended choice. Steel shots (for Watefowl hunting) appear to pattern better in a 12ga.

Again, should you further wish to use the shotgun for big game i.e. Deer then adding a rifled barrel to that Pump (in the future) will not be too expensive.

The Equipment Exchange Forum (on this site) regularly have ads on Used pumps....good deals can be had if you are willing to take the time to wait.

The advantage is that both 12 and 20ga shells are readily available in various brands.
 
i agree with everybody. $270.00 for any bolt action shotgun is waaaay off the mark. a 16 ga. can be a sweet gun , but for your first a 12 ga. is better. you can buy an ithaca mod.37 used in good shape for $200.00 to $250.00 if you look around a bit. sorry a bolt action shotgun? someone said $100.00 earlier, well maybe.
 
12magnum said:
i agree with everybody. $270.00 for any bolt action shotgun is waaaay off the mark. a 16 ga. can be a sweet gun , but for your first a 12 ga. is better. you can buy an ithaca mod.37 used in good shape for $200.00 to $250.00 if you look around a bit. sorry a bolt action shotgun? someone said $100.00 earlier, well maybe.
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210fql0.jpg


if i wanted to hunt deer in a shotgun only season, i could easily see myself dropping $600 for one of these.
its basically a full-blown bolt action rifle like any of your .30-06's, but chambered for 12ga. that gun makes a lot of sense for anyone stuck shooting sabots... and im sure that with quality sabots it can be as accurate as many rifles.

but a bolt-action smoothbore like the Mossberg? seems to me like the answer to a question that noone asked. the fact that every gunstore always has 3-4 of these laying around at $100 for months on end seems to illustrate this.
 
yes they are somewhat accurate as many rifles, but we aren't talking about something like in your photos. what i meant was any used smooth bore bolt action shotgun that you refer to , that sits around gun shops forever. that's a nice gun in your pictures, but for me personally, unless i was in a shotguns only area for deer , i'd still take a .30-06. that one picture, without the scope, is it just been drilled and tapped?
 
i have to agree with the rest(which is unusual for me)...Bolt action 12 ga. rarely draw $125 and a 16 ga. much less......in the shop we would have trouble getting $100 for it, regardless of condition. We had a mint wingmaster in 16ga. that we had to mark down because it was a 16ga.
 
thats the factory drill/tap job. they come with a 1-piece scope mount but i am sure you can get aftermarket ones for them too like the ones pictured, which look like Leupolds. they might even take just standard Savage mounts.

im not a big fan of sabot slugs simply because for the money they cost you can get something far better performing in a rifle round... but there is something just so cool about those big Savage bolt 12g guns. just look at the frikken bolt!! bwahaha

still, nothing touches the simple versatility and customizability of an 870 or 500/590.
 
manbearpig said:
i didnt mean to imply that - simply meant that i dont think a 16ga bolt action is a good idea for a first shotgun.
IMO stick to 12ga, or 20ga in a common gun like a used 870 wingmaster, or a new 870 express or mossberg 500 if he is looking around in the ~$300 price range.
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So true. As Ahsan says, if waterfowl are in the plans, 12 ga is best, for sure. I also agree that 20 ga is ideal for upland birds, although it depends WHICH upland species. Pheasants and Sharptail grouse require heavy loads that, in turn, favour heavier shotguns to mitigate recoil.

So, as you and others have said, 16 may not be the best gauge for your only shotgun. Still, if someone already has at least one 12 ga., I would encourage them to experience some of the other gauges (Kinda like blondes, brunettes, and redheads - nothing wrong with any of them.)
 
I wouldn't buy a sixteen gauge as your only shotgun. It is very hard to find ammo on Vanouver Island. (If someone would like to prove me wrong please do. I haven't found any target loads here anywhere.) CT and some gun stores sell #6 sometimes and I haven't been in a Wal-Mart in years. In fact, I haven't found anything but #6 since buying my 16 gauge almost a year ago. It is mostly just a piece of pipe in my cabinet right now as I bought it to play with on the skeet range and they want you to use #7 1/2 or smaller.
 
Nothing wrong with those shotguns, but yah I'd not go over $100 for it in good condition...esp' since it is a 16 gauge.

A 12 gauge I'd pay abit more in good condition...maybe $125.

I do know the Accu chokes they come with are pretty sweet, and I wish I could get one for my HP9 shotgun.

Some info on them...
http://home.epix.net/~damguy/index-shotgun.html
 
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Damn glad I asked. :)

Now that's behind me, I foresee owning both a 12ga and a 20ga. I just have to decide which to buy first - most of you are saying the 12ga first.

But if I foresee hunting upland birds before trying my hand at water birds, should I purchase the 20ga as my first shotgun? Then get the 12ga if and when I need it for water birds.

Here's another factor: I do foresee hunting Island black-tailed deer at some time. Could I use either the 20ga or 12ga for this with the correct ammo, or just the 12 ga.

Can either 12ga or 20ga be used for skeet/target shooting? We have a range club nearby.

Thanks again ....

PS My PAL should be arriving any day now ... . Next I plan on challenging the hunting licence exam after a good deal of study ...
 
when i first got my PAL i made a mistake, and spent a lot of money on a couple of guns that, in hindsight, i probably shouldnt have bought. theyre not bad guns by a longshot, just that i know what i want/need now and back then i didnt.

i would get the 12ga first, simply because of the unmatched versatility and customizability. if you decide you need a 20ga after that, its an excuse to buy another gun, but you will always have a use for the 12ga for as long as you live. a 12ga pump is one of the most versatile guns on the planet. you simply cannot go wrong with choosing a 12ga 870 as a first gun... or even a Mossberg 500.

you could use slugs in the 12ga for deer, or even buckshot - see the 'is buckshot suitable for hunting' type threads and make up your own mind on that... but really unless you are in a shotgun only area you are probably better off with a rifle for deer. there are many fine rifles out there, but may i suggest that until you know exactly what you want in terms of a rifle, caliber, etc you look no further than a Stevens 200 in .308 for $300 as a starting point for rifles.

for my first rifle i went out and dropped nearly 2 grand on a Remington 700P, Leupold VX-III 6.5-20x40mm, Timney trigger, 20MOA base, Harris swivel bipod, etc. while it is not a bad rifle by a long shot, in retrospect i wish i had bought a $300 Stevens first and just shot it for a few months before i started jumping to conclusions about what i wanted in a rifle. my tastes have since changed to much lighter rifles with low, fixed power scopes or iron sights.

there is a reason something like the 870 is one of the most popular guns on earth. its proven, reliable, widely available, easily repairable, upgradeable, customizable, adaptable, etc. you will never regret the ~$300 you spend on one.
 
MATTDOG-I would make it a point to befriend someone at a local gunclub who is
knowledgable about both shotguns and hunting to guide you, 90% of what you seek is not in textbooks and must be learned " hands on " over time! Passing all the tests for an FAC or hunting license does not mean that you are an accomplished shooter or very knowledgable about guns or hunting, just means that you passed a test!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Mattdog said:
Here's another factor: I do foresee hunting Island black-tailed deer at some time. Could I use either the 20ga or 12ga for this with the correct ammo, or just the 12 ga.
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IMHO for the few shotgun/multiple projectile only zones we have here on Van island, I'd go with the 12 gauge and 3" 000 Buck.

I recommend allot of practice to figure out what pattern your shotgun has with this ammo and to learn what the limitations are of your self, and the shotgun.
 
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