Mossberg shotguns, are they any good?

MrCamerican said:
For 300 dollars canadain a 870 express with wood stock is amazing.

Wont break, isnt very pretty though lol
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I bought a new one several years ago that would not reliably feed, nor extract. A royal POS. After that I went with a $289 mossberg which does actually work, and fits me well. Interestingly enough though, my mid-1980s vintage 1100 was an excellent shotgun.
 
Mossberg is what I steer new Hunters towards, they can upgrade later if they wish.

Remington is junk now, they are riding on a good reputation established many moons ago. Mossberg always made economical and sturdy guns. Easy to fix and cheap.
 
They're a good shotgun, from the cheap Mavericks all the way up the line. They run well and take a beating. Wouldn't touch one of their rifles with a 10 foot pole though.
 
I had a 500 I bought many years ago. It would eject the second shell on the ground (or in the water) and chamber the third shell. At times I would go to shoot and there would be nothing because the safety wasn't going all the way off for some reason. The finish on the stock was peeling off after about 1 1/2 years. The last time I used it was for "pasture clays" and I pumped it and half the internals fell out on the ground. I got rid of it. Now I know there have been many Mossberg 500's made that have been great guns and I don't tell people not to buy one because of my experience with one. In fact I bought my wife and dad each a 930 semi auto and they have been great. All I am saying is that they are not all trouble free which goes for any brand of gun.
 
I've had a 500 for over 30 years and it has never miss-fired or jammed once yet....also bought an inexpensive Maverick 88 to take with me for protection when Salmon fishing in the Grizzly inhabitated waters of Northwestern BC...also has never malfuctioned.
 
gunsaholic said:
I had a 500 I bought many years ago. It would eject the second shell on the ground (or in the water) and chamber the third shell. At times I would go to shoot and there would be nothing because the safety wasn't going all the way off for some reason. The finish on the stock was peeling off after about 1 1/2 years. The last time I used it was for "pasture clays" and I pumped it and half the internals fell out on the ground. I got rid of it. Now I know there have been many Mossberg 500's made that have been great guns and I don't tell people not to buy one because of my experience with one. In fact I bought my wife and dad each a 930 semi auto and they have been great. All I am saying is that they are not all trouble free which goes for any brand of gun.
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I've been shooting and hunting for over 40 years (will probably closer to 50) and I can honestly say that out of the 150-200 or so guns I've owned, I've never once had a gun that was this unreliable (including "Jamzilla" my Remington Nylon 66).sometimes you have to consider the operator when you hear this kind of story...to me it sounds like there was some type of damage to this particular gun that the owner didn't know how to trouble shoot...sorry bud, but after being a Mechanic for WAY to long the one thing I've learnt (learned) is...You can't knock a design because of one persons pathetic story!!!! :confused:
 
My dad seems to like his mossberg defender. Normally he doesn't buy cheap. His favourite is his invector which isn't as cheap of a price tag as the mossberg. I will say he doesn't shoot the defender much though. He prefers over unders... I think he said he likes the dependability. He used to be a big time trap shooter. Now its more ranch/cow range shooting.
 
hawk-i said:
I've been shooting and hunting for over 40 years (will probably closer to 50) and I can honestly say that out of the 150-200 or so guns I've owned, I've never once had a gun that was this unreliable (including "Jamzilla" my Remington Nylon 66).sometimes you have to consider the operator when you hear this kind of story...to me it sounds like there was some type of damage to this particular gun that the owner didn't know how to trouble shoot...sorry bud, but after being a Mechanic for WAY to long the one thing I've learnt (learned) is...You can't knock a design because of one persons pathetic story!!!! :confused:
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I don't normally get ticked off from responses on forums but your response is full of crap. I too was a mechanic, in fact I was the shop forearm in a Chrysler dealership for 20 years. And I also have had a lot of guns, in fact I have 150 right now and this has been the only gun that caused any grief. And the gun in question was not abused as none of my guns are. You can ask anyone that hunts we me or you can come and look at my guns for yourself. There was no damage to this gun from anything. In fact it only got used in the fall for hunting and the occassional pasture clay around that time. Do you actually think Mossberg is beyond having problems. And if you don't belive what I say I will give you the names of people that were present when these things happened. Because you had no problems doesn't mean someone else didn't. I would hope and expect that most of them didn't have problems and I am saying that mine was probably the exception. You will see this in anything doesn't matter if it is a gun, car, appliance or whatever. Everyone once in awhile a lemon is produced. But when someone gives their honest experience (not opinion, plus you will note I never said don't buy one)) and gets told their story is pathetic and the owner doesn't know anything about guns, that becomes a personal insult which I thought the board was not allowing. And as far as trouble shooting, I fixed the damn thing when something did happen. If you want to give your opinion that Mossberg is great (and they are, I bought two 930's) that is fine. You don't need to add personal insults as you know nothing about me, the gun I had, plus you were not there to witness any of it. I can give you the names of others who were.
 
I too have a Mossberg 500 camo/multi barrel 12g and I'm very happy with it for a hunting rig. It's a basic, hunting pump action 12g that has served me well for over 3 years with ZERO issues. Been to hell and back in the bush, on the ATV and again absolutely NO issues of any kind no matter the weather conditions. It cost under 400 all in and I will hunt with it until it actually falls apart. The camo finish is very durable too... The only problem I had was it took Mossberg 6 weeks to return my email as I did not receive any swivel studs for the barrels with my purchase. They mailed me two... so problem solved.

I actually won a 535 camo package in raffle on CGN for a fish and game club a couple of years ago and sold the 3 barrel package and I have regretted it since because I would of loved to keep one shotgun slug barrel ready and a second gun bird/bunny barrel ready!
 
I have a Maverick 88 and a 930.

Both have been flawless.

The 88 I have beaten the hell outta and continue to do so. It is a true knock around trunk gun that I have put through hell and back for 3 years and it shows no sign of quitting.

I paid $500 for the 930 with waterfowl and slug barrels and can honestly say it is probably the best purchase I have ever made.

On the Rem 870; My hunting group for our controlled hunt here had 2 new guys who were told by gun shop snobs that the 870 was the way to go. They paid a little more for the 870 combo then they would have for the Mossberg 500 combo, and I can tell you right now they did not get any more value!

The finish on the new express series is absolutely terrible, and the actions are not even close to the older 870's I have experience with. We hunted last year in alot of rain, and by mid day these guys poor guns were showing signs of rust. Strange that my maverick 88 never had any issues.

The one guy that did buy the Mossberg combo in camo couldn't have been happier with his choice.
 
I have a 835 , works good, no problems, and i do not baby it, tarp strap on front of quad , mud rain, never had a problem with it, not pretty green plastic , but never let me down yet. Don't have to worry about scratches, bought it to use not look at, a friend had a maverick 88, he has had no problems with his gun neither,
 
I love my 930. The recoil is light for a shotgun and it is accurate with either rifled or smoothbore barrels. Many geese and one bear have learned how accurate it is.

I also have a 535 which is a great gun but not a semi.

I have an 870 express but have not shot it yet.

I have had a Benelli Nova and didn't like it.
 
gunsaholic said:
I don't normally get ticked off from responses on forums but your response is full of crap. I too was a mechanic, in fact I was the shop forearm in a Chrysler dealership for 20 years. And I also have had a lot of guns, in fact I have 150 right now and this has been the only gun that caused any grief. And the gun in question was not abused as none of my guns are. You can ask anyone that hunts we me or you can come and look at my guns for yourself. There was no damage to this gun from anything. In fact it only got used in the fall for hunting and the occassional pasture clay around that time. Do you actually think Mossberg is beyond having problems. And if you don't belive what I say I will give you the names of people that were present when these things happened. Because you had no problems doesn't mean someone else didn't. I would hope and expect that most of them didn't have problems and I am saying that mine was probably the exception. You will see this in anything doesn't matter if it is a gun, car, appliance or whatever. Everyone once in awhile a lemon is produced. But when someone gives their honest experience (not opinion, plus you will note I never said don't buy one)) and gets told their story is pathetic and the owner doesn't know anything about guns, that becomes a personal insult which I thought the board was not allowing. And as far as trouble shooting, I fixed the damn thing when something did happen. If you want to give your opinion that Mossberg is great (and they are, I bought two 930's) that is fine. You don't need to add personal insults as you know nothing about me, the gun I had, plus you were not there to witness any of it. I can give you the names of others who were.
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Sorry Gunsaholic, I wasn't looking to ruffle anyones feathers....just responding to what I read....if the design is good (IMHO) there is no such thing as a lemon (a lemon to me would indicate a bad design), in the case of your Mossberg I'd have to say there was definately some mechanical fault with that particular gun that needed to be identified and repaired!!!! Again, sorry if I offended you...happy hunting!!!! :wave:
 
hawk-i said:
Sorry Gunsaholic, I wasn't looking to ruffle anyones feathers....just responding to what I read....if the design is good (IMHO) there is no such thing as a lemon (a lemon to me would indicate a bad design), in the case of your Mossberg I'd have to say there was definately some mechanical fault with that particular gun that needed to be identified and repaired!!!! Again, sorry if I offended you...happy hunting!!!! :wave:
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Apollogy accepted. One thing about the net is that one has no way of knowing how something was suppose to sound like or how it was to come across. Regarding the 500 I had, although I had problems, they were not major and it didn't take much to remedy them when they did occur. And if I were in the market for a budget pump, I would not be afraid to give another a try because I know that what I had is not the norm with them. Plus my wife and dad are very happy with the 930's. In fact, I also have 35 Mossberg .22's of various years and models because I have a passion for them. I think they were/are great guns. Anyhow, have a great day.:wave:
 
tbrwlf said:
I love my 930. The recoil is light for a shotgun and it is accurate with either rifled or smoothbore barrels. Many geese and one bear have learned how accurate it is.

I also have a 535 which is a great gun but not a semi.

I have an 870 express but have not shot it yet.

I have had a Benelli Nova and didn't like it.
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I never had a 535 but like you I also had a 870 express but I never shot it. Actually bought it for my wife but she loved that walnut 930. I traded the express(unfired) to someone on here for a SxS (cause I have a passion for them as well). I do have an 870 special field from 1986 that is a great upland gun.
I also had a Benelli Nova that I also didn't like. Not because it was a bad gun but because it didn't fit me. I bought it from my brother when it was 2 years old because he wanted something else. It was a 3 1/2" gun. The fit was such that it was too long for me and I wasn't pumping it hard enough at times to fully close the bolt. I didn't want to mess around with a synthetic stock so I sold it to someone who wanted it (and it has been fine). He has longer arms than I. But this goes to the advice you often hear, don't buy a gun if it doesn't fit.
 
I have a 400g (same as 500) that is about 33 years old. Still functions as it did when my grandpa bought it new. Nothing smoother than a well used Mossberg. Only thing Ive done is refinished the wood and metal, and added a no-jam follower for cosmetic reasons.
 
Well i just got my Mossberg 500 JIC Mariner. Have to say my first impression was, this is a flimsy piece of s**t lol. I tightened up the mag tube where it attaches to the barrel, it was just finger tight. I gave it a cleaning, and i cycled some 12 guage snap caps through it and it cycled fine. Have to wait to see how it shoots. Here are some pics.


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