Mossy's are not very attractive and certainly not the most lively shotgun in your hands.
But...mine has been durable, always chambers, goes boom when I pull the trigger plus I don't worry too much about scratching it in the woods.
And at the price they sell for, that's good enough for me.
Jim
I beg to differ, Jim......
I have a 20 bore New Haven Model 600 (house-brand 500 with single action bar) that I've owned since I was 14 years old. Mine came stocked with mahogany from the factory, and the buttstock wood is highly figuered with plenty of contrasting grain. Its like the wood used on Remington's 870 LT Series. It isn't walnut, but it is very pretty, never the less. I did worry about scratching it, so I took great pains not to abuse it while in the field.
Flash forward 30 years and the wood on that gun is still stunningly pretty. Not only that, but the wood flows nicely into the receiver with a fit every bit as good as that of a Wingmaster.
When I got it, the gun sported a 28" C-Lect Choke barrel. Thus configured, it didn't feel very lively in the hands. After ten years or so of ownership, I scored a deal on a 24" vent rib / Accu-Choke barrel. This barrel transformed the gun into a very sweet swinging, lively, and properly balanced upland game gun. That barrel shoots nice, centered, evenly distributed patterns with a wide variety of ammunition, too.
The action on this gun had a very positive feel when new and still does now. It was snot-slick and pretty much self loading thirty years ago and its even slicker now.
After three decades of use, the receiver was starting to show some external wear to the finish that was detracting from the look of the gun. I had the local 'smith sandblast it and re-finish it with satin black Gunkote. I also had the ancient Pachmyr "White Line" ventilated recoil pad replaced with a Limbsaver unit. These upgrades really give the gun a classy, expenisve, and refined look.
The only failure I've ever had with this gun occured in my second year of ownership. The cheap plastic safety selector slide broke on a subfreezing day while trekking across the California High Desert after valley quail. I made a new replacement out of brass in my junior high metal shop class and the gun has been 100% reliable ever since.
I have no idea how many rounds of ammunition that gun has digested, but its over 10,000, for certain and still going strong, with plenty of life left in it yet.
That's a good thing because I happen to think it is a nice looking, sweet handling gun. I wouldn't trade it for anything.
-JP
