general observations and questions

[mbshop]

so I got the 500 TA all sorted out and back together. ran about 20 rounds through it without firing, just dry run. a few things I noticed. the last 2 rounds can be a bear to load ! my thumb is sore. if you load a shell at an angle, yer good to go. but if the round is fully parallel to the gun it won't load properly. the brass catches on the little finger of the elevator assembly. any one run into that ? does that finger need to be bent down just tad so that doesn't happen ? how do you load the last 2 rounds without breaking yer thumb ? also I noticed that you deffinately need to be firm in the back and forth movement or the shells will not load or eject properly. one last thing, the cartridge stop sure adds to the effort of loading. how far should it go over the bottom of the shell ? mine covers a good 1/8th of the bottom of the shell. thanks,

 

[LAZY EYED SNIPER]

I wouldn't bend or modify anything until after you've run some live rounds through it.

Different manufacturers' 2-3/4" rounds will be different lengths when loaded due to the variance in internal components. Shells from another manufacturer may not give you any loading issues at all. If you try a few different brands and you're still having issues I would recommend trimming a coil or two off of the mag spring to make some extra room in the mag tube. It's the cheapest part in the entire assembly and the easiest to replace if necessary. As for the cartridge stop there are several cases of out of spec parts, but I still wouldn't suggest modifying that either until after you've put a few rounds down range. Things tend to loosen up a bit after some use...

 

[mbshop]

I forgot to ask about the mag spring. for hd one would have it loaded constantly. any issues with the spring because of this ?
and I do agree, I will not tweek anything till I get a couple of hundred rounds through it. thanks !

 

[LAZY EYED SNIPER]

No Sir, not at all.

Leaving the mag spring compressed under a full mag tube will not degrade performance. Repetitive compression and expansion of the spring is what would wear it down, but this would take forever. We have members with shotguns they've used for thirty or more years that are still running with the original factory springs...

 

[mbshop]

great, good to know. strong little bugger, it sure looks weak though.