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Old November 10, 2002, 11:28 PM   #1
Borf
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Mossberg barrel issues (slightly wordy)

I've got a Mossberg 500 12 ga. I bough new about 8 years ago. Never shot it a whole lot (mebbe 500 rounds?). Most things I wanted to go after were better suited for either my 20 ga. or a rifle. Not to mention, it seemed to pattern like hell (as we shall soon see).

While finishing up a boat I'm building, it occured to me I could make this the year to get my feet wet with waterfowl. I'll probably be done with deer by Dec 1st or so, giving me a bunch of weeks to work on getting myself a duck. Never an idle moment when you've got sandpaper and tru-oil. Stock being refinished. Decide to make hardwood shims to replace those paper ones I've got crammed in there. Clean and lube receiver. Working my way up toward the business end of things. Realize I'll need a new choke to handle the steel shot so I take out the choke that's in place (modified) just to check things out. I should mention that I've only removed this choke a time or two - it's the only one I own for this gun. Also when cleaning the barrel, I'm always looking down it from the breech end.

As a result of these two things, I seem to have missed the fact that the choke tube is not centered in the end of the barrel. It looks like when the barrel was bored out and threaded for the tube, whatever did so was not concentric with the bore axis. The bored area is slanted to that the bbl wall thickness at the muzzle in the thinnest area - about 5 oclock as you look down the barrel - reads ~.023". The thickest portion, which is exactly opposite, reads ~.051". These measurements are with the choke tube removed.

Looking down the barrel from the breech, it's not overly obvious to my untrained eye that anything is out of order, although now that I know it's there I can see a little strangeness in the line. Looking down the barrel from the muzzle, the is a BIG gap at 5 o'clock at the far end of the choke, between where the tube ends and the inside barrel surface picks up. This can easily be felt with a finger. One other thing which could affect the warranty situation. This barrel has been home cold-blued. I took it hunting a couple of snowy winters in a row, and whether by my own fault or the bluing's, I could barely keep ahead of the rust patches. Finally got to be so many I stripped and reblued the barrel figuring it was a beater gun anyway. No rust since.

What to do? I'm going to call Mosserg in the morning and see what their warranty folks might have to say about this. Has anyone had an experience like this? Any first hand reports on Mossberg's warranty service?

If I'm beyond warranty help - plan B is to cut this bbl down to 22-24" or so and have an open choked field gun. A replacement 28" VR barrel is $119.00, and can be here before too long if I get it from Cabella's or someone like that. Is there anything I should know about cutting down the barrel?

Possible plan C is to have a smith cut bbl down a few inches (past the out of whack bits) and re-cut for accu-choke. Anyone have any experience or feedback on having this done? I'm assuming it will cost almost as much as a new bbl so I might as well cut down the one I have and have 2 afterwordsl

Sorry about being so wordy, but I've been mulling this over since Fri. night and need some input!

Thanks,
Borf
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Old November 11, 2002, 05:05 AM   #2
Dave McC
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Regardless of the reblue, Mossberg should hold up its end on the botched choke job.Hope they do.

The shortened bbl on Frankenstein,my ugly and overpublicized parts 870, is the same way. More metal on one side than t'other. It doesn't seem to affect anything, tho, it patterns nicely right on the money left/right and a tad high.

More important is the gap between the tube skirt and the bore.

If Mossberg weasels out, I'd have a decent smith cutncrown this bbl and call Cabela's for a new bbl. Rethreading,etc, runs about the same as new bbl.

And, the new bbl can be cut to 20" or shorter down to 18 for a fine HD tool and quail gun.
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Old November 11, 2002, 02:55 PM   #3
Poodleshooter
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Just as an aside if you don't want to pony up for the new barrel, "Gun Parts Corp" often has used Mossy barrels in the $50-80 range. I bought an 18.5" riot bbl from them for $49.95.
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Old November 11, 2002, 07:08 PM   #4
Borf
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Spoke with Mossberg today. Seems they have a 10 year limited warranty (not sure what the "limited" part is). Ran my serial # and said I was covered. Reblue not an issue. I'm sending bbl off via UPS tonight. They said around 2-3 weeks turnaround this time of year. I'll post updates as appropriate, but it sounds like Mossberg will make good.
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If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom;
and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money it values more, it
will lose that, too.
-- W. Somerset Maugham
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Old November 17, 2002, 05:05 PM   #5
Borf
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Mossberg impressed me. 6 days from sending the defective barrel to the replacement bbl arriving on my doorstep.

Need to hunt down a patterning board now!
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A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices. -- Wiliam James

If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom;
and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money it values more, it
will lose that, too.
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Old November 17, 2002, 08:14 PM   #6
Al Thompson
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Good stuff! I quiit talking bad about Mosseberg after my bro-in-law pulled one out of a duck pond. Lots of rust, ten minutes with WD-40 and steel wool and it was shooting.

Nice to hear that their customer service is up to speed as well!
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