Mossberg 930 woes/questions

[pgb205]

took out my 930 to the range for the first time today (after giving it a thorough cleaning)

Had several unexplained issues and am concerned that they are caused by mostly my inexperience with shotguns (although gut feeling says its the weapon)

1. bolt should only lock back after there is no more rounds in the feed tube.
However, I've experienced several cases where it would lock back even with rounds left.
2. This happens even when I try to manually cycle the rounds from the tube. IE yank the charging handle back to eject all the rounds.
3. I've experienced several cases of double feeds which were difficult (I'm being nice here) to clear. one of the rounds is on the elevator and one is coming out from the tube back to back. I can't yank on the handle or lock the bolt to release the pressure. the only way is for me to pry them apart with my fingers for one of them to finally feed into chamber and another to fall out.

4. This one i don't think is a problem. But I thought I'd ask anyway
When bolt is locked back I am unable to feed rounds into tube. I can't move the elevator upwards. But I can feed directly into chamber and press bolt release button. then feed into the tube.

PS: rounds used were Estate, Winchester, Federal. 2 3/4 between 1140 and 1240 fps.

[TheDevilThatYouKnow]

The Mossberg is one of those shotguns that occasionally needs to be 'broken in'. Mine was not reliable with light loads for the first 200 rounds or so until tolerances slicked up a bit. I know it's not polite to say so, but the Mossberg is built to a price-point and occasionally needs a little more finesse than a shotgun costing a few hundred dollars more.

Mine will feed reliably even with light bird shot now.

[Virginian]

What kind of shells were you shooting ?

[pgb205]

@Virginian.

rounds used were Estate, Winchester, Federal. 2 3/4 between 1140 and 1290 fps.

[FITASC]

#4 is the way it is supposed to work

Does the 930 have a mag cut-off lever? Did you inadvertently activate it? My Beretta has one and I did that once and couldn't figure the cause at first.

[pgb205]

do you mean #4 and bigger shot? I didn't see anything of that sort mentioned in the manual. I would imagine fps would matter but not shot size.

What is mag cut-off level. there is charging handle, bolt-release.
You can also press on bolt release button on the inside of receiver to eject un-spent rounds.

[FITASC]

No, your item number 4 about the bolt and loading the gun.

[ATN082268]

Originally Posted by pgb205

3. I've experienced several cases of double feeds which were difficult (I'm being nice here) to clear. one of the rounds is on the elevator and one is coming out from the tube back to back. I can't yank on the handle or lock the bolt to release the pressure. the only way is for me to pry them apart with my fingers for one of them to finally feed into chamber and another to fall out.

Out of your problems, I've only had your #3 happen to me. It doesn't happen often but it gives me enough concern so I don't use the 12 Gauge Mossberg 930 as my primary home defense weapon. I'm not sure about anyone else's 930 but it is a tight fit for my fingers as far as reloading. Probably a non-issue as far as a typical home defense situation, unless you think you're likely to use more than 7+1 rounds, but I like to keep my options open

[Nathan]

The Mossberg is one of those shotguns that occasionally needs to be 'broken in'. Mine was not reliable with light loads for the first 200 rounds or so until tolerances slicked up a bit. I know it's not polite to say so, but the Mossberg is built to a price-point and occasionally needs a little more finesse than a shotgun costing a few hundred dollars more.

Maybe some do. Mine was fine with cheap bird shot, rifled slugs, premium slugs, reloaded slugs, etc. It has never failed that I can remember.

What do you mean by the word "tolerances"? I view that word as meaning the allowable variation in a manufacturing process. That doesn't substitute well in your sentence.

[SauerGrapes]

He meant, it needed breaking in until all the burrs were ground down. lol
Not much in the way of tight tolerances on modern semis with stamped steel parts.

[johnwilliamson062]

My 930 was like a boat. Day I bought and day I sold.

[Don Fischer]

Originally Posted by TheDevilThatYouKnow

The Mossberg is one of those shotguns that occasionally needs to be 'broken in'. Mine was not reliable with light loads for the first 200 rounds or so until tolerances slicked up a bit. I know it's not polite to say so, but the Mossberg is built to a price-point and occasionally needs a little more finesse than a shotgun costing a few hundred dollars more.

Mine will feed reliably even with light bird shot now.

I'd suspect this is right on. see it with shotgun's and rifle's and when something like this pop's up, name calling starts. In the past I was a pump fan and the best pump shotgun I ever owned or used was a mod 500. Just seemed to work and fit in my hands really well. Had a couple 870's but both gone to my son and he like's them. If there is a problem with them, I never experienced it.

Shotgun's and rifles even hand guns are made to a standard to be affordable to the company customer range. That auto loader Mossberg has now is a new one to me and I bet they do sell a lot of them, I've never even seen one on a dealer shelf. At least I don't think I have. I don't look for anything other than xS shotguns any more.

Sp, I think if you have a problem with the gun, first thing to do is contact Mossberg, not an internet forum. If they won't or can't help you, shout it all over the internet. Bottom line is if you could have afforded a more expensive shotgun, you'd wouldn't have the Mossberg huh? With my old 500's and my new Patriot's, I am firmly in their corner. My patriot's are not in the same class as a lot of much more expensive rifle's but they look great, I could afford them and they shoot with any other factory rifle short of match rifles. Call Mossberg!

[Rifletom]

I bought and use a 930 last year. The DC[Duck Commander] model. I have not had any issues with this gun at all. It will feed, shoot and eject any round I put thru it. Light trap/skeet loads or std upland bird loads. This is a field gun. No issues with mine. Just my $0.02.

[pgb205]

Got the shotgun back today. As there was nothing in the box to indicate what repairs have been done I emailed mossberg's customer support. They replied with:
replaced the shell stop assembly, replaced the barrel and reworked the headspace on this firearm.

Took the shotgun to the range and no malfunctions after 30 rounds or so.

Not sure how much I'd be willing to rely on this shotgun going forward, however. If they missed all these things at factory I wonder what else might be near breaking-point inside.

[Virginian]

If it's fixed I wouldn't worry. Manufacturers went thru a phase of cutting back on QC and let customer service fix any issues. I think they learned their lesson when the bad PR started filtering in to the equation. Massberg may be/have been lagging a little, but they do have very good customer service. A friend got two 930s for him and his son. His son's was perfect out of the box, but his had issues. He was thinking of tinkering with it and I told him to call Mossberg FIRST. He did and his came back fine and has been fine ever since and that was about 5 years ago I think. Everything from Sporting Clays to goose hunting.

[Rifletom]

Just a thought on the 930's: As mentioned, I have a field model 930. No problems so far. But, I have heard/read issue's with the tacitcal versions of these. Don't know what the differences would be. Maybe the mag holding more than 3 rounds. The way some shooters fire them[as fast as possible? The "field" models seem to be working as they should. Could be off base here, just an observation.

[johnwilliamson062]

Probably volume of fire also.
930 probably isn't too popular with anyone shooting high volume, but I'd be surprised if a few in the tactical shooting games didn't try one out.