• Mossberg Owners is in the process of upgrading the software. Please bear with us while we transition to the new look and new upgraded software.

I have this old gun...

Alright guys, just wanted to let everyone know that I got the other extractor and fitted it to the bolt and took it out for a few shots.

Worked really great.

It likes the smooth sided Remington STS shells better than the ridged exterior federals, which doesn't really surprise me too much, but I can live with that. It worked really good with either shell.

I didn't even shoot for patterns today. Today, I was just concentrating on function.

In fairness, it's not really an improvement to a single shot because after you pull the trigger, you still have to take if off your shoulder to cycle another shell and isn't really any quicker than loading and re-shouldering a single shot, but I still see myself hunting with it this fall and am really looking forward to it.

Next time I take it out, is going to be for patterns at various distances and with different size shot to see what it likes.

 
I checked the choke with a set of calipers before I did any work to the barrel, and I think it's a bit tight for a slug.

The barrel is marked as a FULL choke, but when I put a set of calipers on it, was .688, which is somewhere between an extra full and an XXfull Turkey choke.

I'm a bit hesitant to shoot anything besides birdshot out of it to be honest. The end of the barrel is also pretty thin. When I rethreaded it for the new bead, only caught about 3 threads of a 6-48 pitch.

Though, I'm looking forward to trying out a bunch of different loads in it through and patterning it to see what it likes and to see where the POA/POI is at.
 
I agree with you John, no slugs. I also pity any squirrel that sits long enough for you to get the gun up on him. It patterns great.
 
Yeah, I think I'll be able to experiment enough with it before August to see what it likes.

I'm happy to see it going again. Considering the condition of it when I first laid hands on it, my gut instinct was that it was probably never going to see another shell fired through it.

So, it was gratifying to see it bark a few times today.
 
Last edited:
Thanks.

Least now it isn't laying in a broken heap. Though I'd like to get a better stock for it. I don't pretend to know how long the wood glue is going to hold it together.

It wouldn't bother me so bad if it was just a hairline crack, but this crack went through and through from the front end of it all the way back to behind the trigger at the grip. I don't trust it.
 
Is there enough room to drill it span-wise and glue wooden dowels in the holes? My Dad has done similar repairs with good results. He the fills the holes with wood putty or sands the dowels to match the contour of the wood.
 
The wood is pretty thin in the area where it cracked. I don't think there is enough room to drill out and put dowels in it. If it is, the dowels would have to be really tiny.

Like 3/32 tiny maybe ??
 
So, maybe another Father & son project? Find a nice bit of wood and carve a new one.

OK, I haven't started mine, because I am still "seasoning the wood".

;)

Plus I'm getting lazier in my old age. :oops2:
 
I would be more inclined to start a butt stock project if I had a belt sander. I really should get one, but too many other projects on the table.
 
The wood is pretty thin in the area where it cracked. I don't think there is enough room to drill out and put dowels in it. If it is, the dowels would have to be really tiny.

Like 3/32 tiny maybe ??

At that small maybe cut off some cheap drill bits and epoxy them in. The spiral of the drill bit can act kinda like an anchor maybe?
 
It's serviceable. But no, it's not like I wanted. I would like to replace it.

But finding a replacement stock for a gun that they stopped making 65 years ago, is quite a challenge.

I have seen entire guns being sold for less money than you can buy a stock :crazy:
 
I have the same type problem with an old shotgun. It's an old, maybe 100 years, Knickerbocker. The stock is a mess. I think it will remain a wall hanger.
 
Is there enough room to drill it span-wise and glue wooden dowels in the holes? My Dad has done similar repairs with good results. He the fills the holes with wood putty or sands the dowels to match the contour of the wood.

With as much as I have went back and forth about replacing the stock, with as much as they cost, would be more than the old gun is worth and I cannot in good conscience do it. So, I took your advice and drilled completely through the stock in 7 different places and glued in 3/16" wooden dowels. If that doesn't hold it together, it wouldn't be worth shooting anyway.

I do believe your Dads technique will stabilize it enough to use it without worrying that it's going to fragment on me, or whoever is using it.

I also inletted the stock some more where the kydex barrel band is, and also inletted the rear of the grip at the trigger guard and countersunk it a little more. That made it a lot more comfortable to hold and no doubt shoot too. Your palm doesn't even feel the aluminum trigger guard now at all.

After I filed down the wooden dowels, I sanded the gun with some 220 grit and went over it with some 400 grit too. This smoothed out any little slivers from the dowels and made them a lot more seamless.

I didn't steam the stock to try to get a lot of the deeper knicks and gouges out of the wood. After all, I'm trying to make it functional and considering the condition it was in when I got it, I didn't want to cover up all the battle scars it had taken over the years.

Anyway, here's some pictures of the process. I'm going to let the stain soak in overnight because the wood is so dry anyway it won't hurt it, and tomorrow I'll put on a few coats of shellac or something. I'm pretty sure that was what was on the gun originally anyway judging by the fine pinkish walnut dust that went everywhere when I was working on it. Here you can see the wood dowels before I stained anything. I had sanded them flush with the stock though.

QOAp3rQ.jpg


Z4bgb30.jpg
 
Alright, it's as done as it's going to be. The gun is back together.

Look at it up close, and it still looks like something that was found in pieces in the trunk of an old Rambler in a junkyard.

But the important thing is, now it works and is safe to use again.

Stain is done. A couple of coats of shellac. And the stock feels a lot more solid.

Despite sanding and re-staining, I tried to keep the stocks old patina where it was darker around the grip and the bottom of the stock where it was carried for so long. I could've sanded a lot deeper and probably bleached it and started over from scratch but that seemed "wrong".

And like I said, I kept many of the gouges and scars anyway.

Atm4M7p.jpg


kDZoDBn.jpg
 
Back
Top