forend with shorter reach available?

[Kamen Rider]

Hello, sorry if this has been previously answered. I did a search but I couldn't find an answer.

I have a Mossberg 500 Magpul series. It came stock with the Magpul furniture. I find the forend too far a reach for me to be comfortable. My left arm is too straight. I already have the buttstock the shortest it can be. I am 5'9" and I don't think my arms are short for my size.

I was wondering if there was a recommended forend available that shortened the reach? I would rather not have to change the action slide assembly.

Is this something I just have to get used to? This is my first shotgun. I have only shot it a handful of times. I would shoot it more but it doesn't feel comfortable... plus it is too expensive to shoot too often. :/

Thank you in advance.

 

[MikeD]

I'm not really aware of any way to shorten the reach there. If you extend it back any furthur and you will run into issues cycling as it will have to overlap the receiver more when in the rearward position.

How much have you shortened you LOP. There are stocks that are adjustable and some fixed that will reduce it down to around 12". Thats about a 2" reduction over most std stocks.

How do you shoulder the gun? Perhaps it is a matter of technique. Do you stand squarely facing your target or offset a bit like most wing/clay shooters?

As far as price, Walmart's here have Win or Federal 100 round packs for around $20-25. Which I don't think is too bad.

 

[Kamen Rider]

Thanks for the response. I guess it is something I just need to get used to then.

I have removed all the spacers from the buttstock. LOP is about 12 1/4". I would like to stand square with the stock on my right chest, but the rifle is too far away with that stance and my left arm is almost straight. I stand offset with my left foot in front with the buttstock near my shoulder joint.

$20-$25/100 is cheap! In my area, I go to an indoor range and I am required to buy their ammo. It is over $1 a round. One range only has 00 and the other only has slug.

The outdoor target range is slug only, which we buy our own, but it is 100 yards. I prefer close distance shooting.

 

[Water Monkey]

Maybe a pic of the shotgun will help us.

I'm thinking the hogue 12" lop stock might be the ticket for your short midget arms

Lol jk. I'm 5'4" and the 12" lop stock was perfect for me.

 

[MikeD]

.

$20-$25/100 is cheap! In my area, I go to an indoor range and I am required to buy their ammo. It is over $1 a round. One range only has 00 and the other only has slug.

The pricing I listed was just for "low brass" field loads.

 

[Water Monkey]

Take up clay shooting. You'll have more fun and they wont make you buy redic priced ammo

 

[Kamen Rider]

Maybe a pic of the shotgun will help us.

I'm thinking the hogue 12" lop stock might be the ticket for your short midget arms

Lol jk. I'm 5'4" and the 12" lop stock was perfect for me.

It is around 12" now. If I try to stand square, then my arm is too short. Here is a pic of my shotgun. Very plain. I removed all the spacers in the buttstock.

Take up clay shooting. You'll have more fun and they wont make you buy redic priced ammo

I was thinking about it. We just have trap and skeet here. There is an introductory shooting event next month. I think I will check it out. I did watch a little in the past. I don't think anyone had a pump though. Either semi-auto or they had the over-under type.

I did see a video of a Mossberg Flex with an extended forend. I also found this pic. It is the one on the top. It seems like that will allow me to stand square.

I found a Flex conversion kit for the 500. Maybe I will pick up one of those. I would prefer the tactical one instead of the one on top. I don't know if the tactical one can come back as far as the one on the top though. It doesn't seem like it.

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[RichardL]

Edited.

 

[Water Monkey]

It is around 12" now. If I try to stand square, then my arm is too short. Here is a pic of my shotgun. Very plain. I removed all the spacers in the buttstock.


I was thinking about it. We just have trap and skeet here. There is an introductory shooting event next month. I think I will check it out. I did watch a little in the past. I don't think anyone had a pump though. Either semi-auto or they had the over-under type.

I did see a video of a Mossberg Flex with an extended forend. I also found this pic. It is the one on the top. It seems like that will allow me to stand square.

I found a Flex conversion kit for the 500. Maybe I will pick up one of those. I would prefer the tactical one instead of the one on top. I don't know if the tactical one can come back as far as the one on the top though. It doesn't seem like it.

Thanks for the help everyone.

I wouldn't worry about what people are shooting. Skeet shooting is very fun and you dont need a special clay gun to get started. If you are going to take the sport seriously then I would suggest getting a clay specific gun. All you really need is a gun that has a Skeet choke or an smooth bore cylinder with #8 or #9 shot.

You'll learn lead, shooting with both eyes open, and the joy of crushing clays.

Doubles will be tougher but you can shoot singles until you get a dedicated clay gun if that's what you want to do.

May the 4th be with you.....

 

[Kamen Rider]

That one on top is with the action opened. Hard to get a feel for it. The overlap is a no-go, though. Mike above is completely right. Why are you standing square with the stock on your right chest, though? That position seems, to me, to be the source of your problem, not the weapon.

I was thinking even with the action open, it would allow me better reach when the action is closed. IDK.

I was experimenting with the different stances. I saw some videos about how a square stance might be better in a home defense situation or comfort. Apart from my left arm being straight, I can see how that stance would be useful. That is why I wanted to see if there was a way to get some bend in my left elbow in that stance.
Here are a couple of the videos I saw that talk about the stance. I can't find the others right now. Just that even with the shorter LOP, I don't find it comfortable for my left arm. Even in the video, his left arm is really straight.

I wouldn't worry about what people are shooting. Skeet shooting is very fun and you dont need a special clay gun to get started. If you are going to take the sport seriously then I would suggest getting a clay specific gun. All you really need is a gun that has a Skeet choke or an smooth bore cylinder with #8 or #9 shot.

You'll learn lead, shooting with both eyes open, and the joy of crushing clays.

Doubles will be tougher but you can shoot singles until you get a dedicated clay gun if that's what you want to do.

May the 4th be with you.....

Yeah, it looks fun. They seemed like a mellow bunch of people. Looking forward to trying it.

 

[Pawpaw]

Doubles will be tougher but you can shoot singles until you get a dedicated clay gun if that's what you want to do.

He can also shoot what is known as "report doubles". At the sound of your shot at the first clay, the puller releases the second. AFAIK, it's not allowed in competition, but that's not what is being discussed.

 

[John A.]

I never enjoyed shooting a gun that felt wrong to me either. Even if it was the best and most awesome gun ever.

I don't think you'll get a much shorter length of pull than 12-1/2". That's already down into youth stock territory. Most guns have about 13 1/2" or 14" LOP.

On one of my Winchester 1300's, I swapped out to the shortest 2 3/8" youth forend. Once cycled all the way rearward, it comes WAAYY back over the receiver though but the action arms are considerably shorter so it is really fast to work the action.

I installed it mainly due to speeding up my reload times for faster followup shots. I dog eared it for HD shotgun, so it was important for me to do that. Downside is though, it does make marks on the receiver, which almost hurt me for a while to do because it was such a pretty blue job on it, but it I am a lot more into function over form so I haven't lost any sleep over it.

But if you change your stance may would be beneficial to you.

I don't normally square myself straight up with a shotgun. That seems like it would make for a poor stance with a shotgun (to me) and not really too ideal for how I shoot.

I turn my feet and body to the side and transfer my weight onto my feet, rather than letting the gun push into my whole mass.

This video discusses more what I am trying to say about shooting stance. Something you may want to try.

 

[MikeD]

He can also shoot what is known as "report doubles". At the sound of your shot at the first clay, the puller releases the second. AFAIK, it's not allowed in competition, but that's not what is being discussed.

After a little practice doubles with a pump gun should not be an issue. I never felt it was a hinderance once I got into the grove.

 

[Pawpaw]

After a little practice doubles with a pump gun should not be an issue. I never felt it was a hinderance once I got into the grove.

True, but the "report double" provides an intermediate goal while a shooter is working up to "true doubles".

 

[RichardL]

edited.

 

[MikeD]

The square stance gives you a broader FOV and a little better mobility. Despite making you a broader target, it prevents one shot from the front from penetrating multiple organs.

I do use this stance while training to be confortable with it and for some hunting situations but its not something I use for most hunting/shooting situations.

 

[RichardL]

edited.

 

[MikeD]

Your eyes are connected to your head, not your body. Your body has little bearing on where your eyes are looking. When using a weapon tactically, your gun follows your eyes at all times. Think that one through a bit. And the one organ thing....you're planning to stand facing someone with a gun and getting hit then? How about you plan NOT TO GET HIT and you shoot exactly like 99.999999% of the world and you utilize the weapon as it was designed and intended?

I remember one shooting manual that advocated lying prone on the ground and using your hat as a brace. Another was "lay flat on your back and brace your rifle barrel between your shoe tips". Another was one man hide behind another to use him as a brace and as cover. Another was hold both your elbows tight to your sides and hold your pistol approx 8" in front of your face in both hands as you sight down the barrel. Another was hold your pistol in your hand with your hand tight to your sternum as you shoot across your chest. Another was a cross draw holster and holding your gun tight to your belt buckle as you shoot. Should I go on? What did all have in common? One guess.

If you think your new position is better, more power to you. It might be a better idea to design your own weapon, however, that utilizes it instead of trying to half ass a perfectly fine weapon into something it wasn't intended? If the squared stance with the weapon in front of your chest rocks your boat, maybe it's a pistol you're looking for, not a shotgun.

I am fully aware of the location and function of my eyes and body. I have also thought it through and I stand by my response. Perhaps you should think outside the box a bit.

Everyone loves to throw out the "just dont get hit" response. In a defensive situation there is a high probability you are going to get hit and there is little that will stop a bullet. The objective is to neutralize the threat before it neutralizes you.

There are many advantages to standing square in a defensive position. Maybe not on the clays range but definitely in a gunfight.

If you choose to view that option as unacceptable or off the wall that is your choice. It does offer several advantages in some situations, esp actical/defense where you want to cover as much ground with minimal twisting and the ability to move left or right, relative to the target without backing up.

Perhaps offering constructive advice rather than criticism would be more helpfull to someone trying to figure things out.

 

[Kamen Rider]

Thank you MikeD. I really appreciate what you said.

As I said, this is my first shotgun and I am still trying to learn. I fired quite a few weapons while in the Army, but a shotgun wasn't one of them. I am just trying out different things to see what works for me and the squared stance looked interesting. Part of what makes this hobby fun is the experimenting.

Maybe you need to watch some more videos.

And yeah, a lot of what I learn about various things come from articles, forums, and videos. Maybe not the best way to learn, but that is what I have easy access to.

I wasn't expecting to be criticized for my question, but I guess that it to be expected from time to time on a public forum. I know I am an easy target since I don't know much about shotguns yet. Most people here are friendly and helpful.

 

[John A.]

Don't sweat asking a question.

What works for one, may not work for another.

No one here has all the answers, or knows everything.

Regardless of what you hear on the internet