Me and My Mossberg....

[Buckman18]

A couple of years ago, I found myself proudly claiming title to a Mossberg 535 pump 12 gauge for turkey hunting. For the past 3 decades, I had turkey hunted with a run of the mill Remington 870 Express...

Nothing was wrong with the 870, and I still have it, but becoming acquainted on forums such as this one and old gobbler, I thought it'd be fun to get a new rig. Besides, I've never owned a camo gun. My 870 has performed flawlessly since Bill Clinton was President, but feels like toting a 4x4 post on long journeys. My new Mossberg came with a 'turkey choke,' came with fiber optic sights, came studded for a sling, had been dipped in the Realtree camo, and only weighed about 6 pounds. The shorter 22" barrel would be less cumbersome and easy to tote on those several mile journeys in the mountains. Also, Made In The USA, I LOVE buying American. What's not to love, I'm in Turkey Heaven now! I could not wait to put it on a feed sack and dial her in...

Fast forward a few days. When I was putting it together, the rear sight snapped and broke... No big deal, its tapped for a scope. So I bought bases and rings and mounted a scope. I bought several varieties of 3 inch turkey shells. Its chambered for 3.5's but Im happy with 3s. Double X, grey box Winchesters, Remington Nitro and Premier, Longbeards, Federal, Hornadys, mixed up in 4s, 5s, and 6s. With my new 'turkey choke' I was determined to find the best load at 40.

Well, I got the scope close with cheap bird shot at about 10 yards. My oh my this thing thumps even with cheap bird shot... I back it up to 30, then 40 and finally got it good enough to start sampling the turkey shells. For the first time, I tried putting a shell in the magazine. It was quite a challenge to get it to go. Finally it did. Must be stiff, being brand new and all. 2nd shell finally went after a bunch of jamming and pressing with my thumbs (plural). I pumped the action to put a shell in the chamber. Nothing happened. I pumped again. Nothing. The 3rd time I pumped hard, the shell loaded. Weird. Must need breaking in? I slid another round into the magazine.

Oh my, what a kick!!! Ive never felt something quite like that. Glad it wasnt the 3.5's!!! But... its light, so its going to kick. And its for turkeys, not skeets, so I can deal with the recoil. I bet the trigger is north of 7 pounds, probably 9 or 10. I dont like that but I can deal with that also. After shooting many many brands and shot sizes in my 'turkey choke,' only the Longbeards produced over 100 pellets in 10 at 40, and it wasnt much over 100... So I ordered a Longbeard choke from Carlson. No big deal, really, just about $170 more to get it ready (cheap scope, bases, cheap weaver mounts, and now a new competent choke). But, there is a problem... every other round that I try to rack either will stay in the magazine or fall out the bottom... That's crap, but since its already Turkey season I'll just have the mindset that Im hunting with a single shot. I go on to shoot 2 toms with it to fill my limit and ill deal with these issues later. Im a dad with 3 kids, and, Ive got better things to do at the moment.

Stevens launched a new single shot 12 with screw in chokes, so I put the word in Santa's ear and got one in my stocking. I fixed it up and hunted with it in 2019...

Honestly, by now I had just about forgot I even owned the Mossberg. However, I recently decided that I need to get it fixed up like I want, like it should've been the day it left the factory. I really dont want a pump with a scope so I ordered some tru glo fiber sights (the all metal ones - $50). Mounted them, and just nearly got them dialed when something didnt feel quite right when I shot.... the recoil pad had molded over the butt of the stock, and the STOCK CRACKED under its own recoil. About half way to the receiver. So I ordered a new stock (ebay - $30 more). Now the cycling issue... A simple google search led me to a problem Mossberg has had with the shell stop. It needs to be bent. I took it out and bent it. Whoops, I mustve bent it too much because now I cant load shells in the tube. I try bending it back. You guessed it... It broke.

The new one is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. ($10 more)

I want to be a raving fan. I really like the gun. I have other Mossberg products and am quite happy with them. But my patience is growing a little thin. Looking back, I should have just sent it back to Mossberg and demanded a refund. Maybe this will fix it.

 

[Lilly001]

I had a Mossberg 535.
I sold it after a year.
Kicked like a mad mule.
And never patterned well with anything I tried except #8 Federal bird shot.

 

[tree cutter 08]

I've never been real impressed with the mossbergs. Had one I bought for a bedside gun and finally got rid of it. Action was so stiff it would hang at times and I decided I didn't need that happening if something went bump in the night. I bought 2 of the youth models for the kids, they are decent but nothing to brag about. The more they are shot the better they get but still a crude gun.

 

[rosewood]

You should definitely have contacted Mossberg. They only state a 2 year warranty mind you, however... I bought a used 935 from a pawn shop. I bought some upgraded fiber optic sights to put on it and realized the vent rib was twisted, spiraling around the barrel from front to rear a bit. Had to push the rear sight all the way to one side to zero it. So I called them to complain, they had me send it in. Few weeks later I get it back with a new barrel. I was quite pleased. I cannot remember if I had to pay shipping to them or not, but for what I paid for the gun, it didn't matter to me.

With that kind of service on a gun out of warranty, if your is still under warranty, I am sure they will take care of you.

I have a camo 500 that I picked up maybe 20 years ago at a pawn shop for $150. Haven't had a minutes trouble with it. Killed turkey, doves and a bunch of clays with it. I did install a fiber optic sight on it also.

Rosewood

 

[hdgapeach]

I got the wife a 20ga. Shockwave and put a light / laser on the end of it. That's her "bump in the night" gun. Loaded with #3 buck and stays by the bed (her side). She's shot it at steel quite a bit, loaded with #8 bird shot. It shoots and functions fine, so far.

Other than that, the only Mossbergs I own are a couple of the old bolt action .410s that are from when I started skwerl huntin' as a kid, nearly 50 years ago. I never caught the Mossberg fever. I felt they rattled too much and would spook game. I always depended on the older Remington 1100s and 870s, the ones with the metal trigger assemblies. Everyone I grew up with that had Mossbergs always had problems.

 

[transfixer]

I've owned a couple of Mossbergs over the years, they worked, no issues I can remember, but they always felt cheap to me, and if you shake them they rattle , never liked that. I've always liked and depended on my 870's, but now even the new ones of those need upgrading, still , I'd rather have them than a Mossberg,

You know you can get a short barrel that will accept chokes for your 870

 

[Hillbilly stalker]

I am a Remington 870 man to the core but.......a 835 Mossberg will out shoot a Remington with turkey loads. I was always told it was because the Mossberg barrels were over bored. The ones I handled were very loose fitting, you could shake them with one hand and they would rattle like a box of rocks. Loose tolerances made for easy actions. Maybe the newer ones are made cheaper like the newer 870's I hear people fussing about ? I would never force a shell into a chamber or action like that , and I would never work an action I had to man handle. That's not safe and your begging for big trouble. The old Mossbergs were work horses for sure , they would shoot with anything you put on the table with them. I hope you get it fixed.

 

[rosewood]

The 835 is overbored, something like a 10 gauge bore. Seems like it keeps the pellets from beating each other up and groups better. I think the 935 is also. The 535 and 500 are standard 12 gauge bores.

Rosewood

 

[biggdogg]

The only pump shotgun I own that isn't a Mossberg is a 20 ga Winchester model 120 that I got a deal I couldn't pass up. I've never had or shot the 535, but the 835's and 500's we have have never failed us. Always been a Mossberg fan. I do know the 535 is more or less a budget friendly version of the 835 and from what I've heard and read, it's kick is much worse than the 835.

 

[Knotmuch]

I have a Mossberg 935 NWTF edition. It's accurate with turkey loads, but it is heavy.

 

[Buckman18]

Update:

The little part (shell stop) arrived and is now installed, and the gun appears to be functioning as it should. So that's good news.

Now ill just need one or two more shells to dial in the new sights, and we should be ready to rock. The stock I bought weighs about a pound more than the original, so now I have a 'normal' 7 1/2 pound shotgun, instead of a lighter weight pump gun that originally peaked my interest.

Conclusion: after the upgrades and fixes, I now have considerably more stones and headaches invested in this thing than I would have if I wouldve bought a Winchester SXP NWTF edition. If I could do over, Id by the Winchester, and still have a 6 pound gun.

 

[Buckman18]

Looks like what I experienced are known issues, other than a cracked stock...

Mossberg 535: How I Fixed Problems With the Feed and Replaced the Sights | SkyAboveUs
https://skyaboveus.com/hunting-shooting/Mossberg-535-Problems-and-Fixes