Broken Mossberg 500 Rant

risk · Jul 20, 2014

My Mossberg 500 broke again. The forend wood split in half while shooting a round of trap. Then today while prepping the wood for repair, I notice one of the action slide arms had cracked at the bolt slide notch. I found the broken piece in the bolt slide. Assuming the broken slide arm caused the wood to split I'm thankful the broken chunk of metal didn't damage anything else as I shot an additional ~100 shells after the forend wood split and fell off.

Adding to my list of things that broke on my Mossberg 500 over the past 1.5 years of trap shooting (~8,000 rounds).

1. Ejector fell out and was lost...I now use loctite on the ejector screw.
2. Cracked extractor on the bolt
3. 1st broken forend wood in 2013
4. 2nd broken forend wood
5. Broken action slide arm

I'm still under warranty so I'm going to call Mossberg to see if they will replace the action slide and forearm.

I guess I should be thankful the Mossberg 500 is easy to repair (no gunsmith needed) and parts are cheap.

I realize ~8,000 rounds through a Mossberg 500 will require maintenance, I just wish the forend would stop splitting.

BradMacc82 · Jul 20, 2014

That's not too bad considering the use.

I went thru 5 trigger groups on my 500 - slide-firing would break the tabs on the front of the trigger group, finally got ahold of the aluminum group and put a permanent end to that.

Also made my own jig to ensure the retaining nut for the fore-end would be torqued to a specific ft./lbs. - haven't cracked a fore-end since.

bigjohn · Jul 20, 2014

Maybe get a poly stock set and have it hydro dipped to a wood finish

Mooseman · Jul 20, 2014

I'm not much of a shotgunner but that sounds like a pretty high round count for a Mossberg 500.

Selene · Jul 20, 2014

You get what you pay for. 500s are good guns, but they arent designed to be high volume. 99% of 500s get tacticooled by people that learned about shotguns from movies, or are low end hunting guns. I doubt most 500s see 100 rounds a year. Mossberg sells a product that fits that nich, and this is America so good on them. They keep price down by using cheaper materials and manufacturing processes. So if they need to warranty repair parts for 1% of there products that shoot high volume so be it. It is a great business model.

Bottom line, 500 is a good gun for what it is designed for, but it will never be a Caesar Guerini.

rico903 · Jul 21, 2014

Some things never change. Had the slide arm break on my 500 back in the 70s. Only used for hunting. My 79 Wingmaster, never a hiccup.

august1410 · Jul 21, 2014

At eight thousand rounds, I believe you got your money's worth and more.

Magnumite · Jul 21, 2014

What kind of round counts do the 590's endure between failures? I ask because it is the U.S. military standard issue shotgun.

Boom Boom · Jul 21, 2014

If I got 8,000 rounds out of my Mossberg 500, I'd be doing back flips and cartwheels in thanks to Mossberg for a job well done and a product extremely well made for the money it costs. Then I would retire it and buy another just like it.

Vile Shadow · Jul 21, 2014

New parts may still be cheaper than a new gun.

TomisinMd · Jul 22, 2014

Magnumite said:
What kind of round counts do the 590's endure between failures? I ask because it is the U.S. military standard issue shotgun.

590's pass the 3000 rounds of full power 00 buck without a failure test, among others.

risk · Jul 22, 2014

august1410 said:
At eight thousand rounds, I believe you got your money's worth and more.

Agreed. I've placed in two trap leagues and won many games of cut throat with this mossberg... More than I paid for the gun.

Magnumite · Jul 22, 2014

TomisinMd said:
590's pass the 3000 rounds of full power 00 buck without a failure test, among others.

Thanks, appreciate the info

fabsroman · Jul 23, 2014

Get a new gun. My Beretta 391 had 5,000 rounds through it the first year I bought it. Lord knows how many rounds total. Cost me somewhere around $1,300.

Replaced the recoil spring just recently because I read that it is recommended to replace it at the 5,000 mark. Had the gun since 2003 when it first hit the shelf. Oops.

If you are going to continue to shoot that much trap, I would suggest an o/u. Granted, your wife might wrap it around your head, which would SUCK. Even an entry level Beretta o/u will easily go 8,000 rounds without a hiccup.

I have no idea what a Mossberg 500 costs. Ok, just went to gunbroker and guessing around $400.

Silly me, I stopped at Bass Pro the other day to look for ammo and decided to look at the Benelli Super Sport. Price tag $2,000, but I really want the performance shop gun that is $2,500. The thing shouldered nice. Anyway, my point is that a higher quality gun in the $1,000 to $2,000 range will outlast the Mossberg 500 many times over. If you shoot enough, the new gun will pay for itself both in the number of times the Mossberg 500 needs to be repaired/replaced and in spades with less frustration having to deal with repairing the gun.

Good luck deciding on a course of action, but if you would like to shoot one of my 682 guns or one of my 391 guns, you are more than welcome to give them a try.

In the short run, repairing the Mossberg would get the the job done.

Broken Mossberg 500 Rant

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