Mossberg 500 ?

[Country Boy]

Started to by a youth model for my wife but changed my mind and went with the 500 20 ga wood stock. I got it because the youth model only comes with one choke. Havent shot it yet. So don't know what to expect from a Mossberg. She wile only shoot it a few times a year when we go turkey hunting. It was 209.00 at Wally world is this a decent price ?

[lil_hunter12]

thats a good price they are about 250 at wally world here. mossbergs have better quality than most people think i have never saw someone have bad service out of a mossberg.

[HillBillyFarmer]

My cousin got a 500 20ga. for his wife last year (he has an 835) and all they ever do is fight over it! It's got a 24" vented rib barrel and it's an excellent shooting gun. He tries to sneak it out of the house, but she seems to catch him more often than not. It's very light and a real pleasure to shoot, she tagged out in the spring and fall turkey hunting with it.

[Country Boy]

Shot the gun yesterday and was very disappointed in the pattern at 25 & 30 yds. It shot low and left so I put a set of sights that helped but the pattern is very thin. I used the x-full mossberg  choke with 2 3/4  one oz.# 6 high vel. shot federal shells. I was shooting at a turkey head target and no shot was in the kill zone !
   Any suggestions ?

[LEO]

I have had good experiences with the Mossberg 500 series shotguns, some of the older ones had a problem with the safety button shooting loose but that was solved with a dab of lock tite, I think the factory is doing that now.  The forearms tend to rattle but that is easily solved by hanging on to it when you need it to be quite, I have also seen people make shims out of foam tape to quite them down but that is minor.  The only real gripe I have had with Mossberg turkey guns is the choke tube, my recommendation would be to put that tube in your junk box and go buy a hastings, briley, carlsons, whoever, anybodies but Mossberg's and give it another try.  As far as ammo goes, a buddy of mine who turkey hunts with a 20 ga. has had really good results with the Winchester supreme #6s, he shoots the 3" loads but I think it is offered in a 2 3/4" load also.  His kill zone pattern density is a lot better than a lot of 12 gauge guns and after all it is not the number of shot in the shell but the number of shot in the head and neck that kills the bird.  Good luck

[35Rem]

try different chokes and different loads

try the full, may work better....

[lil_hunter12]

i bought a super full turkey choke for my 12 gauge and my regular ful choke shoots tighter than it.

[Ranger J]

My Mossberg 500 12 GA is over 40 years old and has three barrels for it.  It came with a short smoothbore rifle sighted deer barrel, which shot slugs reasonably well but was more often used as a quail gun.  That was years back when we actually had enough quail to hunt.  I got interested in duck hunting for a while and got a 30’ full choke barrel for it, which is my turkey barrel today.  Then I got a cantilevered full rifled deer barrel for it and that shot really well.  In all the umpteen thousand rounds I have put through it, it has failed to load only once and that was with a paper shell reload in the middle of a rainstorm.  I can’t vouch for those new-fangled screw in chokes though.
RJ
 

[Country Boy]

Does anyone have a 24" 20ga bbl that would fit the 500. The one I bought has a 26" and it just doesn't look right. I tried the factory and they sauid they made them at one time but don't now. When the wind quits I will try again with some different shells.

[Slamfire]

Wrap some emery cloth around yore finger, and rough up the choke tube a bit, that'll usually tighten up the pattern.