PSA: Mossberg 500 Safety Fails!

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  • GuitarmanNick

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 9, 2017
    2,221
    Laurel
    I worked on one of these a few days ago and when completed I performed a complete function check, as usual. I had noticed some unusual wear on the connector that mates up to the safety selector so I was anticipating an issue.

    When the hammer was cocked and the bolt closed, with the safety selector in the safe position, I squeezed the trigger. The safety appeared to be functioning until I released the pressure on the trigger and then the hammer fell!

    This is not an uncommon problem in Mossberg 500s made before around 1994 from what I have read. The fix requires replacing the connector and the part is readily available, reasonably priced, and can be done by almost anyone with no special tools or skills required.

    With hunting season upon us, please check the function of the safeties on your Mossberg 500s to avoid an AD.
     

    remrug

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 13, 2009
    1,762
    manchester md
    In the early 90s I bought a new 500 from a LGS. The trigger pull was terrible.With the rifled barrel,scope and rings attached,you could hang it on your finger,and the hammer would not drop.Whats that? 10lbs or so?Try to sight that thing in with slugs.I took it back and the LGS sent it back to Mossberg. Mossberg returned the shotgun(about 6 months later) with a letter stating the trigger was within their specs.Needless to say I was very disappointed.Then I was really pissed when I got it home...the safety wouldnt work.It stayed on FIRE.The LGS sent it to his gunsmith to fix the safety then tried to charge me for the repair.Nope.....I want my money back.

    He relented and I had the trigger worked on at my expense.It patterns turkey loads like no other but I have never since and never will buy another Mossberg product again.
     

    GuitarmanNick

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 9, 2017
    2,221
    Laurel
    Mine is from the late 70's and after some initial issues, has been very reliable. Initially, it had a Select Choke barrel but the choke was not installed correctly. When shooting a slug @ 50 yards to check the POI, it was hitting 2' high and about 1' to the right. I sent it back to be repaired, and they just turned it 180 degrees so it was hitting 2' low and 1' to the left. It was months between these outings and when I contacted Mossberg again, the nice lady said they would replace it but no longer offered that barrel. She asked if I would accept the 28" ventilated rib with the extra chokes and choke wrench. Since I was prepared to request this barrel anyway at additional expense, I gave her an immediate yes response and thanked her.

    Over the years, I have taken tons of small game and several nice bucks with it. It has proven to be quite accurate using just the beads on the replacement ventilated rib barrel and has a very nice 3.5 pound trigger pull. In 40 years, it has only been completely disassembled once very recently for a thorough cleaning. Admittedly, there was more crap inside the receiver than I would have imagined since I am careful about cleaning and storage of my toys. It was still running without any hick-ups with dust, dirt, hair, powder residue and even a few spiders inside the receiver.
     

    AlphabetSoup

    Member
    Oct 28, 2019
    67
    Thanks for the heads up. Just got a new (to me) 500A that was in the family as my first shotgun and hope to put it to use soon once I get a slug barrel on it...

    Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
     

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