Mossberg 500 got MAJORLY jammed during reassmbly - help!

KCharlie · February 6, 2010, 11:21 PM

I just got a 500 and field stripped it to clean (solvent/oil) since it was was dripping with oil. I got it apart really easily.

However, I may have screwed up big time when putting it back together. I put the bolt assembly in, then the slide. Next, I put the elevator assembly in. I lined them up then dropped in the bolt slide in. It seemed to fit together nicely.

Now here's where I think something went wrong. I moved the slide forward then back, then it jammed. I looked inside and the bolt slide was all the way back but the bolt wasn't. It looks like the latch on the bolt slide isn't in the right place on the bolt assembly. The latch on the bolt slide is behind where's it's supposed to be. It looks like the bolt slide hook is latched to the part of the bolt assembly where you can usually see the spring, not farther forward where's it supposed to be.

Now absolutely nothing will budge. Is there anything I can do? How screwed am I?

the rifleer · February 6, 2010, 11:32 PM

I am trying to imagine what you did. i know that i did something like that once and it was a pretty simple solution, but i don't remember what it was

. I want to say that i just got frustrated and forced it, but that isn't smart and could do some damage.

can you post a picture? that would be very helpful. Its most likely a very simple fix, even if it seems completely jammed up.

just take a breather and set it aside for a little while, you don't want to make it any worse.

KCharlie · February 7, 2010, 12:10 AM

heh, a little late for that... I started tapping the bolt assembly down... it didn't make it very far but I realized I shouldn't be making things worse.

You can see that the bolt slide (black piece in the back) is too far back (relative to the bolt assembly underneath it). Nothing will move.

the rifleer · February 7, 2010, 02:01 AM

First, play with the safety. For some reason i seem to think that when mine jammed up upon reassembly the position of the safety helped, but i think i may have had a different problem.

with that said, you might want to wait for someone else to give better advise, but if i was in your situation and it was my shotgun I would just pull on the fore-grip/slide really hard. I doesn't look like you put the bolt in correctly and unfortunately i cannot think of any solution that doesn't involve force.

How did you get it jammed up so bad in the first place? the bolt slide doesn't look like its in the right place, it looks like its too far back. this may seem obvious, but can you do the exact opposite of what you did?

KCharlie · February 7, 2010, 02:13 AM

I'm pretty sure the bolt slide was in the right place. I just moved the slide and it got stuck there. The weird thing is that it took no force to get it stuck like that.

Dubs · February 7, 2010, 02:27 AM

I would take it to a professional gunsmith. He'll probably charge - maybe not if it's the store you bought it at - but he'll probably also be able to explain and show you exactly what happened or tell you if it's a lemon. Plus, if he breaks it trying to fix it, it's his fault.

If you just bought the Mossberg and followed the directions in the instruction manual to manage that, you may be one of the lucky winners of the mass production lottery.

hogdogs · February 7, 2010, 09:18 AM

Possibly didn't have the bolt squarely locked in the carrier tabs. Thus it slid off...

Tear down and reassemble.
Here is the vid I show folks for a painless tear down and reassemble.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TekCslIUWMQ
Brent

Carne Frio · February 7, 2010, 11:11 AM

Contact these guys and they will gladly help you:

http://www.mossberg.com/content.asp?...ection=service

KCharlie · February 7, 2010, 12:54 PM

I had already watched that exact youtube video before disassembly/reassembly. I can't tear it down if nothing is moving.

bswiv · February 7, 2010, 04:02 PM

NO HAMMERS!!!

I just took one of mine apart and compared it to your picture.

Looks like the bolt and carrier are out of sync. Seems that somehow you have the carrier fully to the rear while the bolt is still somewhat forward. If that is correct then the bearing surfaces of the bolt are putting upward pressure (up being relative to the picture. ) on the bottom of the carrier binding it in the reciever raceway.

The reciever is as you know aluminum so if you put to much pressure on the carrier or bolt in a effort to move them back forward and into alignment you will RUIN something.

Be very careful if you use force. Tapping the carrier forward, or the bolt back, may allow then to drop back into alignment but to much tapping could be a disaster.

If you tap on them do it only gently........

bswiv · February 7, 2010, 04:07 PM

And this just occured to me. Is the shell guide, that it the part that pops up to catch and guide a fresh round into the chamber, in it's place??

It's sort of a U shaped piece with a tit on each outside arm that slip into cutouts in the reciever. If that has slipped out it can be hindering things too....

Can't tell from the picture if it's out or not......

KC9LDB · February 7, 2010, 05:14 PM

You arent in Illinois right? Im very familiar with these guns. I would have to see it in person though.

KCharlie · February 7, 2010, 05:35 PM

"Looks like the bolt and carrier are out of sync. Seems that somehow you have the carrier fully to the rear while the bolt is still somewhat forward. If that is correct then the bearing surfaces of the bolt are putting upward pressure (up being relative to the picture. ) on the bottom of the carrier binding it in the reciever raceway."

Yes, this is exactly what happened (carrier = bolt slide).

trekkie951 · February 7, 2010, 05:51 PM

Well I want to help ya so I took mine apart and the only thing I can imagine that the slide would be stuck on is either the cartridge stop or cartridge interrupter, or both. Those are the two long black things that rest in either side of the receiver(I had to go to the manual to find their actual names). They aren't held in by anything other than the trigger assembly, if you worked the action without the assembly in place one could have half-fallen out and got hung up on the slide when you brought it forward again. I may be wrong about the circumstance so just ignore if so.. But if that is the case I would order replacements and try gently prying them out sideways.

The rear of the elevator is also in a position to possibly hamper movement, check that out too.

But, if neither of those are the case, then the slide must be wedged diagonal in the grooves in the side of the receiver itself against the bolt, which would be wild to happen in my mind, and then I think it would take some uncomfortable force to unjam it.

KCharlie · February 7, 2010, 10:44 PM

Neither the cartridge stop or cartridge interrupter are in yet. The bolt slide is under the track toward the back of the receiver. I think it's just that the bolt slide isn't fitting to the bolt in the right spot so the bolt is wedged down.

Wick · February 7, 2010, 10:49 PM

im not sure if it's the same as as a maverik(should be), elevator goes in first, then bolt. i cant even get the elevator in after the bolt or slide.

KCharlie · February 8, 2010, 01:20 AM

The elevator did go in first.

noyes · February 8, 2010, 01:51 AM

It looks like #39 bolt slide & #40 cartridge interrupter are stuck on top of your #37 elevator assembly at the forward end . Shouldn't be to much to push those in and lift your elevator assembly up some . That may free every thing up.

KCharlie · February 8, 2010, 09:08 PM

First of all, #39 is the cartridge stop, not the bolt slide (#38). The cartridge stop and the cartridge interrupter are NOT in the gun.

the rifleer · February 8, 2010, 11:37 PM

well any luck?

KCharlie · February 9, 2010, 12:51 AM

Nothing will move still

I emailed Mossberg the other night, hopefully they reply.

KCharlie · February 18, 2010, 01:29 AM

It's been well over a week and Mossberg hasn't replied to my emails. What terrible customer service!

hogdogs · February 18, 2010, 05:53 AM

They may be pretty busy, I have had a return reply in hours before. Have you tried the phone? They have a tech dept.
Brent

jlv08 · February 18, 2010, 10:53 AM

I have been in situations like this before. If you were able to get it in that condition, you should be able to get it out.

You are not fouled out on the safety and it appears that you are binding with your lifter and slide arms as well as wedged with your bolt and carrier assembly.

Take a wooden dowel and tap (GENTLY) on the rear of the bolt carrier and alternate to the front of the bolt to try to relieve the binding.

It appears that those two pieces are wedged and need to be moved to unbind the lifters/arms.

I have had, on several occasions done things that defy the imagination but steeled up, calmed down and approached it in a way to reverse engineer the screw up.

Just sit down with the receiver and look it over real good and find the place of the most, although maybe small movement and work from there.

Like I said, you CAN reverse engineer your mistake and learn something in the process.

all4h8 · March 31, 2014, 12:34 AM

when this happens you will need a rubber mallet.
this occurs when the bolt and carrier are lined up wrong when the forend arms are installed in to it then racked in a pumping motion thus locking everything up. prying and pushing on the bolt can cause damage but may free it, when this happened to me i took a rubber mallet and hit the bottom of the forend in a striking motion away from the receiver. all it took for me was one good smack, after doing so i inspected everything and no damage occurred, reassembled and everything works as it should.

February 6, 2010, 11:21 PM	#1
KCharlie Junior Member Join Date: February 6, 2010 Posts: 10	Mossberg 500 got MAJORLY jammed during reassmbly - help! I just got a 500 and field stripped it to clean (solvent/oil) since it was was dripping with oil. I got it apart really easily. However, I may have screwed up big time when putting it back together. I put the bolt assembly in, then the slide. Next, I put the elevator assembly in. I lined them up then dropped in the bolt slide in. It seemed to fit together nicely. Now here's where I think something went wrong. I moved the slide forward then back, then it jammed. I looked inside and the bolt slide was all the way back but the bolt wasn't. It looks like the latch on the bolt slide isn't in the right place on the bolt assembly. The latch on the bolt slide is behind where's it's supposed to be. It looks like the bolt slide hook is latched to the part of the bolt assembly where you can usually see the spring, not farther forward where's it supposed to be. Now absolutely nothing will budge. Is there anything I can do? How screwed am I?

February 6, 2010, 11:32 PM	#2
the rifleer Senior Member Join Date: March 5, 2008 Location: Sunny California Posts: 1,281	I am trying to imagine what you did. i know that i did something like that once and it was a pretty simple solution, but i don't remember what it was. I want to say that i just got frustrated and forced it, but that isn't smart and could do some damage. can you post a picture? that would be very helpful. Its most likely a very simple fix, even if it seems completely jammed up. just take a breather and set it aside for a little while, you don't want to make it any worse.

February 7, 2010, 12:54 PM	#9
KCharlie Junior Member Join Date: February 6, 2010 Posts: 10	I had already watched that exact youtube video before disassembly/reassembly. I can't tear it down if nothing is moving. Last edited by KCharlie; February 7, 2010 at 01:05 PM.

February 8, 2010, 01:51 AM	#18
noyes Senior Member Join Date: December 27, 2008 Posts: 1,032	It looks like #39 bolt slide & #40 cartridge interrupter are stuck on top of your #37 elevator assembly at the forward end . Shouldn't be to much to push those in and lift your elevator assembly up some . That may free every thing up. Last edited by noyes; February 8, 2010 at 02:08 AM.

February 18, 2010, 10:53 AM	#24
jlv08 Senior Member Join Date: October 25, 2008 Posts: 122	I have been in situations like this before. If you were able to get it in that condition, you should be able to get it out. You are not fouled out on the safety and it appears that you are binding with your lifter and slide arms as well as wedged with your bolt and carrier assembly. Take a wooden dowel and tap (GENTLY) on the rear of the bolt carrier and alternate to the front of the bolt to try to relieve the binding. It appears that those two pieces are wedged and need to be moved to unbind the lifters/arms. I have had, on several occasions done things that defy the imagination but steeled up, calmed down and approached it in a way to reverse engineer the screw up. Just sit down with the receiver and look it over real good and find the place of the most, although maybe small movement and work from there. Like I said, you CAN reverse engineer your mistake and learn something in the process. Last edited by jlv08; February 18, 2010 at 11:00 AM. Reason: grammar

February 7, 2010, 12:10 AM	#3
KCharlie Junior Member Join Date: February 6, 2010 Posts: 10	heh, a little late for that... I started tapping the bolt assembly down... it didn't make it very far but I realized I shouldn't be making things worse. You can see that the bolt slide (black piece in the back) is too far back (relative to the bolt assembly underneath it). Nothing will move. Last edited by KCharlie; February 7, 2010 at 12:27 AM.

February 7, 2010, 02:01 AM	#4
the rifleer Senior Member Join Date: March 5, 2008 Location: Sunny California Posts: 1,281	First, play with the safety. For some reason i seem to think that when mine jammed up upon reassembly the position of the safety helped, but i think i may have had a different problem. with that said, you might want to wait for someone else to give better advise, but if i was in your situation and it was my shotgun I would just pull on the fore-grip/slide really hard. I doesn't look like you put the bolt in correctly and unfortunately i cannot think of any solution that doesn't involve force. How did you get it jammed up so bad in the first place? the bolt slide doesn't look like its in the right place, it looks like its too far back. this may seem obvious, but can you do the exact opposite of what you did?

February 7, 2010, 02:13 AM	#5
KCharlie Junior Member Join Date: February 6, 2010 Posts: 10	I'm pretty sure the bolt slide was in the right place. I just moved the slide and it got stuck there. The weird thing is that it took no force to get it stuck like that.

February 7, 2010, 02:27 AM	#6
Dubs Senior Member Join Date: April 10, 2009 Posts: 108	I would take it to a professional gunsmith. He'll probably charge - maybe not if it's the store you bought it at - but he'll probably also be able to explain and show you exactly what happened or tell you if it's a lemon. Plus, if he breaks it trying to fix it, it's his fault. If you just bought the Mossberg and followed the directions in the instruction manual to manage that, you may be one of the lucky winners of the mass production lottery.

February 7, 2010, 09:18 AM	#7
hogdogs Staff In Memoriam Join Date: October 31, 2007 Location: Western Florida panhandle Posts: 11,069	Possibly didn't have the bolt squarely locked in the carrier tabs. Thus it slid off... Tear down and reassemble. Here is the vid I show folks for a painless tear down and reassemble. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TekCslIUWMQ Brent

February 7, 2010, 11:11 AM	#8
Carne Frio Senior Member Join Date: August 28, 2008 Location: Near Fairbanks Alaska Posts: 829	Contact these guys and they will gladly help you: http://www.mossberg.com/content.asp?...ection=service

February 7, 2010, 04:02 PM	#10
bswiv Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2006 Location: NE FL....... Posts: 1,081	NO HAMMERS!!! I just took one of mine apart and compared it to your picture. Looks like the bolt and carrier are out of sync. Seems that somehow you have the carrier fully to the rear while the bolt is still somewhat forward. If that is correct then the bearing surfaces of the bolt are putting upward pressure (up being relative to the picture. ) on the bottom of the carrier binding it in the reciever raceway. The reciever is as you know aluminum so if you put to much pressure on the carrier or bolt in a effort to move them back forward and into alignment you will RUIN something. Be very careful if you use force. Tapping the carrier forward, or the bolt back, may allow then to drop back into alignment but to much tapping could be a disaster. If you tap on them do it only gently........

February 7, 2010, 04:07 PM	#11
bswiv Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2006 Location: NE FL....... Posts: 1,081	And this just occured to me. Is the shell guide, that it the part that pops up to catch and guide a fresh round into the chamber, in it's place?? It's sort of a U shaped piece with a tit on each outside arm that slip into cutouts in the reciever. If that has slipped out it can be hindering things too.... Can't tell from the picture if it's out or not......

February 7, 2010, 05:14 PM	#12
KC9LDB Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2009 Location: Woodridge, IL Posts: 147	You arent in Illinois right? Im very familiar with these guns. I would have to see it in person though.

February 7, 2010, 05:35 PM	#13
KCharlie Junior Member Join Date: February 6, 2010 Posts: 10	"Looks like the bolt and carrier are out of sync. Seems that somehow you have the carrier fully to the rear while the bolt is still somewhat forward. If that is correct then the bearing surfaces of the bolt are putting upward pressure (up being relative to the picture. ) on the bottom of the carrier binding it in the reciever raceway." Yes, this is exactly what happened (carrier = bolt slide).

February 7, 2010, 05:51 PM	#14
trekkie951 Member Join Date: September 7, 2008 Posts: 47	Well I want to help ya so I took mine apart and the only thing I can imagine that the slide would be stuck on is either the cartridge stop or cartridge interrupter, or both. Those are the two long black things that rest in either side of the receiver(I had to go to the manual to find their actual names). They aren't held in by anything other than the trigger assembly, if you worked the action without the assembly in place one could have half-fallen out and got hung up on the slide when you brought it forward again. I may be wrong about the circumstance so just ignore if so.. But if that is the case I would order replacements and try gently prying them out sideways. The rear of the elevator is also in a position to possibly hamper movement, check that out too. But, if neither of those are the case, then the slide must be wedged diagonal in the grooves in the side of the receiver itself against the bolt, which would be wild to happen in my mind, and then I think it would take some uncomfortable force to unjam it.

February 7, 2010, 10:44 PM	#15
KCharlie Junior Member Join Date: February 6, 2010 Posts: 10	Neither the cartridge stop or cartridge interrupter are in yet. The bolt slide is under the track toward the back of the receiver. I think it's just that the bolt slide isn't fitting to the bolt in the right spot so the bolt is wedged down.

February 7, 2010, 10:49 PM	#16
Wick Junior Member Join Date: November 30, 2009 Location: Lytle, TX Posts: 2	im not sure if it's the same as as a maverik(should be), elevator goes in first, then bolt. i cant even get the elevator in after the bolt or slide.

February 8, 2010, 01:20 AM	#17
KCharlie Junior Member Join Date: February 6, 2010 Posts: 10	The elevator did go in first.

February 8, 2010, 09:08 PM	#19
KCharlie Junior Member Join Date: February 6, 2010 Posts: 10	First of all, #39 is the cartridge stop, not the bolt slide (#38). The cartridge stop and the cartridge interrupter are NOT in the gun.

February 8, 2010, 11:37 PM	#20
the rifleer Senior Member Join Date: March 5, 2008 Location: Sunny California Posts: 1,281	well any luck?

February 9, 2010, 12:51 AM	#21
KCharlie Junior Member Join Date: February 6, 2010 Posts: 10	Nothing will move still I emailed Mossberg the other night, hopefully they reply.

February 18, 2010, 01:29 AM	#22
KCharlie Junior Member Join Date: February 6, 2010 Posts: 10	It's been well over a week and Mossberg hasn't replied to my emails. What terrible customer service!

February 18, 2010, 05:53 AM	#23
hogdogs Staff In Memoriam Join Date: October 31, 2007 Location: Western Florida panhandle Posts: 11,069	They may be pretty busy, I have had a return reply in hours before. Have you tried the phone? They have a tech dept. Brent

March 31, 2014, 12:34 AM	#25
all4h8 Junior Member Join Date: March 30, 2014 Posts: 1	a fix to this problem if anyone ever needs help when this happens you will need a rubber mallet. this occurs when the bolt and carrier are lined up wrong when the forend arms are installed in to it then racked in a pumping motion thus locking everything up. prying and pushing on the bolt can cause damage but may free it, when this happened to me i took a rubber mallet and hit the bottom of the forend in a striking motion away from the receiver. all it took for me was one good smack, after doing so i inspected everything and no damage occurred, reassembled and everything works as it should.