Newbie shotgun questions

[honkylips]

Hey all,......just bought my first shotgun, a mossberg 590. I have a question (probably a dumb one, but...). My question is about the action lock. When the gun is unloaded, should you be able to rack the slide without depressing the action release button? Secondly, when I grip the forend, it will rotate side to side maybe a 1/4 or 1/2 inch. Is that normal?

Sorry if these are dumb questions, like I said, I'm a newb with long guns.

[TxGun]

1) Loaded or unloaded, the action lock will lock the slide forward until you pull the trigger (or depress the tab) and release it.

2) Some side-to-side play in the forearm is completely normal. There will be a certain amount of flex in the action bars due to their length.