Well, this has been a long time coming. I purchased this shotgun, new, mid-December. Upon getting home and doing a full inspection noticed that there was surface rust throughout the magazine tube. The rust appeared as a deep orange and was not immediately obvious. Long story short the gun went back to Mossberg on their dime. Total turnaround time was just under a month. They replaced the barrel and magazine tube. While it was there I paid to have them upgrade the trigger assembly to an aluminum one. Cost to me was about $70. The gun came back clean and well oiled, but my OCD kicked in so I broke it down, cleaned and re-oiled it. Mossberg did right by me and the gun is as it should be. I also have a metal safety in bound through Brownells. I am just going with the standard one since it works fine, will fit and not obstruct the sight picture. Future upgrades; possibly a shell holder and definitely a light.
Cleaning products used; Otis flex rod, nylon bore brush, patches and plug/gasket. Cleaner Hoppe's Elite in a pump/spray bottle. This stuff works decently and I bought it to hold me over until my absolute 'go-to' cleaner comes in (MPro-7). MPro-7 is absolutely the best gun cleaner I have ever used. It just works and works all the time. Lube: Militec-1 oil and some light dabs of Militech-1 grease over the heavy wear areas. Militec-1 is Outstanding and my 'go-to' for gun lube. Below are some pics from today. Range report to follow.
I wanted to post a reply/edit regarding my Mossy. This Saturday I took the family out shooting with the Thunder Ranch. We shot 50 rounds of 2 3/4, 71/2 bird shot. The gun performed excellent and the action was clean. However, the forend leaves something to be desired. At first, I thought the FAO tri-rail/forend was a good design and a nice bonus, but it is wide and there is a lot of lateral wobble. The issue we all had; was searching for a comfortable grip. When the gun recoils the picatinny rail thumps your thumb smartly. This occured with your thumb just behind the rail and even placed back without the thumb resting on the rail in conjunction with a firm grip. The first time stings and makes you take notice the second time stings and makes the tip of your thumb throb and numb. So now you are left searching for the 'ideal' grip which ultimately distracts you from shooting. For me the most comfortable hand position was to place my thumb on the picatinny rail. This too irritates the pad of your thumb. Other than that the gun is great, accurate, reliable and easy to clean. I was surprised how clean the gun was. Now I know it was only 50 rounds, but only the bore needed cleaning.
Today, I went to my local gun shop and picked up the standard LE forend. This is much better and, in my opinion, an overall improvement. The new forend fits tighter and has less lateral wobble as well. Removal of the forend was easy. I used a small allen wrench with a layer of electrical tape and placed the wrench within the grooves of the forend nut. With a pair of pliers placed in the middle of the allen wrench, and a little muscle, the cap unscrewed and was off. The forend tube was removed with a light tap on the plastic forend then it slid right out. The new forend was lightly tapped into place the locking cap was re-installed. Now I am no longer searching for the perfect grip, the overall profile is slimmer and cleaner and it just works! Here is something that may be of help to others when removing the tube from the forend when there is a very tight fit. Remove the locking nut and then reassemble the gun. Firmly and repeatedly cycle the action. The tube should shift enough to facilitate easier removal and possibly little to no tapping with a rubber mallet.
Since purchasing the gun, I have installed a Mossberg metal trigger assembly, metal safety and now the standard LE type forend. The gun is a keeper! What is really nice about this model is it fits a range of sizes; my mother, sister, her kids and mine could all shoot with minimal effort. I'll update with pictures a little later. Thanks.
Cleaning products used; Otis flex rod, nylon bore brush, patches and plug/gasket. Cleaner Hoppe's Elite in a pump/spray bottle. This stuff works decently and I bought it to hold me over until my absolute 'go-to' cleaner comes in (MPro-7). MPro-7 is absolutely the best gun cleaner I have ever used. It just works and works all the time. Lube: Militec-1 oil and some light dabs of Militech-1 grease over the heavy wear areas. Militec-1 is Outstanding and my 'go-to' for gun lube. Below are some pics from today. Range report to follow.
I wanted to post a reply/edit regarding my Mossy. This Saturday I took the family out shooting with the Thunder Ranch. We shot 50 rounds of 2 3/4, 71/2 bird shot. The gun performed excellent and the action was clean. However, the forend leaves something to be desired. At first, I thought the FAO tri-rail/forend was a good design and a nice bonus, but it is wide and there is a lot of lateral wobble. The issue we all had; was searching for a comfortable grip. When the gun recoils the picatinny rail thumps your thumb smartly. This occured with your thumb just behind the rail and even placed back without the thumb resting on the rail in conjunction with a firm grip. The first time stings and makes you take notice the second time stings and makes the tip of your thumb throb and numb. So now you are left searching for the 'ideal' grip which ultimately distracts you from shooting. For me the most comfortable hand position was to place my thumb on the picatinny rail. This too irritates the pad of your thumb. Other than that the gun is great, accurate, reliable and easy to clean. I was surprised how clean the gun was. Now I know it was only 50 rounds, but only the bore needed cleaning.
Today, I went to my local gun shop and picked up the standard LE forend. This is much better and, in my opinion, an overall improvement. The new forend fits tighter and has less lateral wobble as well. Removal of the forend was easy. I used a small allen wrench with a layer of electrical tape and placed the wrench within the grooves of the forend nut. With a pair of pliers placed in the middle of the allen wrench, and a little muscle, the cap unscrewed and was off. The forend tube was removed with a light tap on the plastic forend then it slid right out. The new forend was lightly tapped into place the locking cap was re-installed. Now I am no longer searching for the perfect grip, the overall profile is slimmer and cleaner and it just works! Here is something that may be of help to others when removing the tube from the forend when there is a very tight fit. Remove the locking nut and then reassemble the gun. Firmly and repeatedly cycle the action. The tube should shift enough to facilitate easier removal and possibly little to no tapping with a rubber mallet.
Since purchasing the gun, I have installed a Mossberg metal trigger assembly, metal safety and now the standard LE type forend. The gun is a keeper! What is really nice about this model is it fits a range of sizes; my mother, sister, her kids and mine could all shoot with minimal effort. I'll update with pictures a little later. Thanks.
