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Mossberg SA-20 Reviews...

ok...I think I know...but just want other opinions.

Are these the same shotguns?

Mossberg SA20 Tactical
images


and the Weatherby SA459
sa_459_tr.jpg


Or the Weatherby TR459
pa_459.jpg


They sure look VERY similar, and appear to be the same as the STOEGER?
P350DefenseSteadyGrip_420.jpg
 
From what I've been able to find out the two shotguns are very similar.

I don't think that they are assembled in the same factory, but they share a lot of the same parts.

The Mossberg SA-20 & the Weatherby SA series are copies of the older Beretta 30x shotgun.

The differences between the two guns that I can find are:
The Weatherby uses a single action bar, the Mossberg uses two.
The Weatherby uses two gas pistons, a "Heavy" & a "Light", the Mossberg uses only one (self-regulating).
(The Weatherby gas piston is slightly larger (O.D.) than the Mossberg only by a couple thousands on an inch, but enough to make them not interchangable...)
Because the gas pistons are slightly different, I'm guessing that barrels aren't interchangable (this is just a guess, though)

The Stocks (Wood & Synthetic) are interchangable.
The Synthetic Forearms are interchangable.
The Walnut forearm from Weatherby will attach to the Mossberg with some slight modification.

The "newer" SA-20's are supposedly improved even more that when they were first released.
1. Spring tension on the bolt release button reduced.
2. No longer have to push the bolt/elevator release to load the magazine, now it loads like the 930.

Smitty
 
Thanks Smitty.

That's what I was thinking. I noticed that Weatherby offers theirs in a 12ga. Wonder if Mossberg will import a 12ga version - or would that be considered competing with themselves ?
 
mister_e said:
Are these the same shotguns?

Mossberg SA20 Tactical
images


They sure look VERY similar, and appear to be the same as the STOEGER?
P350DefenseSteadyGrip_420.jpg

Unlike the SA-20, the auto Stoeger M2000 has a rotary bolt and an inertia system. The pump Stoeger 350 (shown) has a rotary bolt. Both only come in 12 gauge.

buckmeister
 
I appreciate the reviews man! I'm seriously lookin at one of these for Allison!

So torn though. I really wanna buy an American made gun...
 
After much soul searching, I've decided against the SA20. I cant stomach buying a Turkish made gun when there are otherwise great American made firearms available at the same price. I'm getting a 930...
 
I'm looking for a pistol grip, adjustable/tactical stock for the SA-20 that
does come with a pistol grip. Does anyone know where I can
buy one?
 
Hey guys,

Just figured I'd throw my two cents in here on a review for the Mossberg SA-20 tactical shotgun.

Model info:
SA-20 20GA tactical style semi-auto shotgun
Mossberg # 75781
Comes with - 5+1 capacity (2 3/4" shells), 20" barrel, composite pistol grip tactical stock, picatinny rail, ghost ring sight, cable lock, cylinder bore with no threading for chokes and no chokes since it's for close and dirty home defense work. It will come with a plug to allow it to only hold 3 total shells as there are laws prescribing a limit to only carrying (3) shells in a shotgun if you are bird hunting with them. It was easy to remove.

About my skill level: Pretty much a novice. Grew up around other folks who owned guns and shot with them, but no where near experienced. Dad had an old Savage arms breach load one shot 12 gauge that his dad had growing up in our house growing up. Had shot 12 gauges, Browning 7.62 hunting rifles, 44 mags, 357s, 22 long rifles and pistols with my friends who lived in the country growing up.

Why the SA-20: This was my first gun purchase and for home defense. Yes I could have gone for the standard $200 Maverick 88 pump or 500 pump. After doing some research settled on the 20GA semi-auto as it had less recoil and less time to pump get back on shot for the wife if she needed to use it. The wife isn't scared of guns and agreed with the decision after we talked it through. Also liked the pistol grip in a roll out of the bed and put a hurt on someone if needed to rather than bring all the way to the shoulder. Also the cocking of the shotgun may or may not work in the real world. Cocking the autoloader should be sufficient sound deterent as well if so but with much more upside to the semi-auto imho. I don't regret my decision. Choose what's right for you and yours not what gun snobs say. Do your own research. There is a lot of great info on the net. The link to the shotgun world review in this thread was one part of the info I used to help make my decision. Thanks for that btw!

Purchase info: Ordered from Hinterland Outfitters for $434 before shipping. They were great to walk me through the FFL transfer process and I had it shipped to a local pawn / gun shop of folks that I know. Got the gun in like a week. Came in great condition with no defects that I could see. Had the folks there check it out as well since I value their opinion and they are much more familiar with guns than I.

Testing:
AMMO - Read on some reviews that they didn't like cycling steel cased ammo too well until broken in or until you polish the chamber. Took it out the first day I got it and shot one 25-shot box of high brass Winchester AA birdshot through it. Shot like a champ. I then ordered a mix of ammo (all 2 3/4" shells) to test it out and make sure what shot best through it to keep for home defense ammo. Know your ammo and know your gun. I ordered a mix of Remington and Winchester # 3 (20-shot) high brass buckshot, Rio Royal #0 (9-shot) high brass buckshot, box of cheap low steel Winchester 7 1/2 birdshot from Wal-Mart, box of high brass Remington rifled slugs, Winchester high brass #6 birdshot, box of Federal high steel 7 1/2 birdshot. Long story short it likes high brass shells rather than steel casings. High brass better than low brass. Had hardly any failure to cycle or ejects in any version of high brass shells until the barrel got a little hotter (say 30 shots or so). It does not like steel cased ammo in high or low casing. Per some suggestions on forums, took the barrell off, got a 20GA cleaning brush, wrapped some 0000 steel wool around it, put it on a brush rod, stuck it in the old dewalt drill and polished the chamber some. Test shot again. Still didn't cycle steel cased ammo any better. Currently in the process of sending it back to Mossberg to get them to work out the kinks on it and get it where it will shoot even the cheapshot. Don't think that's an unreasonable request. I've read other people have done this and it will cycle any ammo you put in it afterwards. I'll keep you updated.

BTW - Rio Royal ammo shoots well and is CHEAP. $12 for a box of 25 #0 (9-pellet) 2 3/4" buckshot. It is a little bigger than 2 3/4" so you won't be able to load the full 5 + 1 in the gun with it but it cycles and fires fine. Bought the Remington and Winchester #3 high brass buck from ableammo.com for like $4.83 a box of 5.

Accuracy - Put up some human sized targets and went to town on seeing the pattern spread etc. Within 15 - 20 ft it has a nice 6-7" pattern with birdshot. Put up some reactive targets and stepped it back to 30ft. First shot at 30ft with #6 bird 2 3/4" high brass Winchester ammo from wal-mart exploded and filled out a full 8" circle smack dab in the chest of the target. Went from black to a nice big circle of yellow. Very very nice. Max shooting distance I have in the home is 40ft. Still shot a nice chest-wide grouping of shot from that distance too. Buck same thing but with less pellets of course. It has a cylinder bore. My buddy had a Remington 870 20GA with a full choke it in and comparatively put three inch holes from the same distance just to give you some comparison. For short distance work without having to aim hardly at all and to put a lot of shot 8" wide and 12" deep into a home intruder this little thing will do the trick. I likey. Ghost ring sights are very nice and accurate too.

Felt Recoil - much less than a 12. My wife had no problem shooting it. I'm 6"1" 194lbs. She's like 5'7" mid 100s (I don't ask much lol). Shot it from the hip as well to see how bad the recoil was and to get back on target if you had to just jump up and fire in the middle of the night. Crazy as it sounds...less felt recoil this way (tucked in between the waist and arm using the pistol grip) than on the shoulder. She shot without a problem either very comfortably. It's a fun gun to shoot.

Weight - Light...real light...very nice to handle. Pistol grip is really comfortable. Stock is a little less tall than a standard shotgun.

Overall I'm really happy with it. I knew about the steel case ammo coming in so it wasn't a HUGE disappointment. You shouldn't have problem with any high brass ammo. Accuracy is good. Stopping power of a wad of 8" shot hitting a perp should be massive. The cylinder bore wide shot pattern should do the trick at night when you're groggy and need to make sure you put some pellets on target. Pistol grip makes this baby way comfortable to shoot from hip or shoulder. Felt recoil is not a big deal. Short barrel makes it hop a little more than a longer barrel 20GA would but it isn't hard at all to keep a lot of lead steadily into the target.
 
Under "Why the SA-20" Mean't to say "the SOUND of cocking a shotgun may not run off every intruder" Not as written "Also the cocking of the shotgun may or may not work in the real world."
 
Update on my review. Talked to Mossberg about FTEs and was informed that you'll need to be shooting 1oz weight of shot or better to get the correct cycling that you want with this baby. Got some Magnum turkey loads to confirm this (1 1/4 oz loads) and they cycled like a champ as did everything else that was 1 oz load or better.
 
Hi, I'm new to the forum. I recently bought a Mossberg SA-20 tactical. I didn't really need it. I already had a 12 gauge home defense shotgun and a 20 gauge pump but something about the gun appealed to me.

DSC_0936b.jpg


On the first trip out, it failed to eject any of the Wally World low brass 7/8 oz. Winchester steel base shells. It had no problem with 1 oz. loads or slugs.

I then polished the chamber, cleaned it thoroughly and lubed the operating parts. On my second trip out, it ejected about 95% of those same shells. An occasional one still hung up, either stove piping or still remaining in the chamber. Everything else fed, fired and ejected fine. The cheap Winchester shells just dribbled out of the gun, landing at my feet. However, empties from 1 oz. shells and slugs were thrown quite a distance away. With 1 oz. bird shot, I can pull the trigger as fast as possible and it will not hiccup. I'm hoping that running a few more shells through it will help with the lighter loads.


It must have been a new old stock gun as the tri-rail on the mag tube came stock. I understand that the part is no longer sold with the gun due to issues with BATFE. However, the bolt release button is not hard to press. While it definitely won't go off if you just brush it, it doesn't take that much effort to push it. Also after the bolt closes, you can load the magazine without pushing the button again. So it is the later style but still had the tri-rail so I'm assuming it was made sometime in 2012

I like the tri-rail but I'm torn between adding a Choate mag extension or just leaving it as is. If I add a mag extension, I will lose the tri-rail. One reason why I put the red dot on there is that the ghost ring sight needs to be raised to its highest position to hit point of aim with slugs at 25 yards. The problem is that when you rotate its elevation screw to allow that, the screw comes loose and falls off with recoil. The rear sight is a poor copy of someone else's design. It would be nice to find a decent replacement.


DSC_0915a.jpg

I like the size too. It's light but not puny. It is close to the same length as my 12 ga. 870 home defense gun but it is slimmer in all dimensions. The recoil is negligible, especially with the 7/8 oz. loads. You can double and triple tap (that was fun :)) and still keep the gun on target. So far every one who has seen it at the range has asked to shoot it and they have all been complimentary of it. This is one gun that is just plain fun to shoot.

My only hope is that someone will come out with more accessories for it. Choate makes +2 and +3 magazine extensions for it but that's it. I would like to see a single point sling attachment point between the receiver and the stock and maybe a folding or adjustable stock of some kind. I would also like to see a fore-end with some picatinny rail and tape switch attachment points like Magpull has for their SGA fore-end.
 
I have come far in my knowledge of my SA-20; thanks to all of you that contributed to my education .
I still have trouble inserting shells into the mag tube -I have to push VERY hard to get them in there . I'm thinking ( even after having a gunsmith work the gun) I need to hone out the tube ...........
Andy suggestion's as to how best to do this ? Thanks !!
 
I thought I posted a few paragraphs here last night but they seem to have disappeared. Or I forgot to hit POST. I'll try again

I would try a few things before removing any metal. I am not sure what you are comfortable taking apart and putting back together. IF you are not confident go slowly or have someone help or do it for you. There are some you tube videos too.

What did the gunsmith say? Did he see the problem and just could not fix it or could he not find anything?

Safety first of all, you can order dummy shells on line that have lead shot in them but no powder or primer. Much safer than live shells and great for loading practice.
I am not a gunsmith nor do I play one on TV so take this from where it comes. Amateur

You may have already tried some or all of these items. Lets see if I can remember them again.
First, if you are comfortable with it, safety on and remove the trigger group, including the lifter and try to load right into the tube, at least 3 shells. If they load easily, the lifter may have been restricting it and that should remove the problem. If it does, get a new trigger group from Mossberg. Leave the safety on and do not pull the trigger while out of the gun, it will damage the housing.

Second, with trigger group out, try to push the follower down the mag tube with your finger. It should move fairly easily and smoothly, not hanging up. then use something soft like a wooden dowel or a piece of rubber tubing so it does not scratch anything and go further. When it stops, compare and see how far it went in the tube.

Third, bolt closed, no shells in the tube, see if you can push the bolt release button down and rock it towards the rear of the gun and see if the shell catch moves out of the way of the mag tube opening. If not, try to push the catch lip back by hand towards the outside of the action to clear the tube push the button too, it may help. If this does not move, oil it and try to free it up, if not, there is a button mechanism that may have to be replaced. That is very tricky, I would send it out.

Fourth, actually this could be done first. Take off the mag tube cap and forend and remove the barrel, being careful not to damage anything. just look at the mag tube first to see if it is dented or bent. Get a cheap vernier or caliper and check the diameter of the mag tube at several points along the tube all the way to the action to see if it is round or if it has been dented or crushed, possibly in manufacturing. they should all be equal. Check every 3 or 4 inches, through the spring, measuring each point 2X at 90 degrees to each other to see if it is out of round. If the tube is damaged, it will have to be replaced by Mossberg. I have not heard of anyone removing the mag tube.

These steps may be out of order for ease of testing. They can mostly be done in any order.

Let us know how it goes.
 
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