Mossberg 500 got MAJORLY jammed during reassmbly - help!

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KCharlie

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I just got a 500 and field stripped it to clean (solvent/oil) since it was was dripping with oil. I got it apart really easily.

However, I may have screwed up big time when putting it back together. I put the bolt assembly in, then the slide. Next, I put the elevator assembly in. I lined them up then dropped in the bolt slide in. It seemed to fit together nicely.

Now here's where I think something went wrong. I moved the slide forward then back, then it jammed. I looked inside and the bolt slide was all the way back but the bolt wasn't. It looks like the latch on the bolt slide isn't in the right place on the bolt assembly. The latch on the bolt slide is behind where's it's supposed to be. It looks like the bolt slide hook is latched to the part of the bolt assembly where you can usually see the spring, not farther forward where's it supposed to be.

Now absolutely nothing will budge. Is there anything I can do? How screwed am I? :(
 
I am trying to imagine what you did. i know that i did something like that once and it was a pretty simple solution, but i don't remember what it was:D. I want to say that i just got frustrated and forced it, but that isn't smart and could do some damage.

can you post a picture? that would be very helpful. Its most likely a very simple fix, even if it seems completely jammed up.

just take a breather and set it aside for a little while, you don't want to make it any worse.
 
heh, a little late for that... I started tapping the bolt assembly down... it didn't make it very far but I realized I shouldn't be making things worse.

You can see that the bolt slide (black piece in the back) is too far back (relative to the bolt assembly underneath it). Nothing will move.


IMG_0003-1.jpg
 
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First, play with the safety. For some reason i seem to think that when mine jammed up upon reassembly the position of the safety helped, but i think i may have had a different problem.

with that said, you might want to wait for someone else to give better advise, but if i was in your situation and it was my shotgun I would just pull on the fore-grip/slide really hard. I doesn't look like you put the bolt in correctly and unfortunately i cannot think of any solution that doesn't involve force.

How did you get it jammed up so bad in the first place? the bolt slide doesn't look like its in the right place, it looks like its too far back. this may seem obvious, but can you do the exact opposite of what you did?
 
I'm pretty sure the bolt slide was in the right place. I just moved the slide and it got stuck there. The weird thing is that it took no force to get it stuck like that.
 
I would take it to a professional gunsmith. He'll probably charge - maybe not if it's the store you bought it at - but he'll probably also be able to explain and show you exactly what happened or tell you if it's a lemon. Plus, if he breaks it trying to fix it, it's his fault. :D

If you just bought the Mossberg and followed the directions in the instruction manual to manage that, you may be one of the lucky winners of the mass production lottery.
 
I had already watched that exact youtube video before disassembly/reassembly. I can't tear it down if nothing is moving.
 
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NO HAMMERS!!!

I just took one of mine apart and compared it to your picture.

Looks like the bolt and carrier are out of sync. Seems that somehow you have the carrier fully to the rear while the bolt is still somewhat forward. If that is correct then the bearing surfaces of the bolt are putting upward pressure (up being relative to the picture. ) on the bottom of the carrier binding it in the reciever raceway.

The reciever is as you know aluminum so if you put to much pressure on the carrier or bolt in a effort to move them back forward and into alignment you will RUIN something.

Be very careful if you use force. Tapping the carrier forward, or the bolt back, may allow then to drop back into alignment but to much tapping could be a disaster.

If you tap on them do it only gently........
 
And this just occured to me. Is the shell guide, that it the part that pops up to catch and guide a fresh round into the chamber, in it's place??

It's sort of a U shaped piece with a tit on each outside arm that slip into cutouts in the reciever. If that has slipped out it can be hindering things too....

Can't tell from the picture if it's out or not......
 
"Looks like the bolt and carrier are out of sync. Seems that somehow you have the carrier fully to the rear while the bolt is still somewhat forward. If that is correct then the bearing surfaces of the bolt are putting upward pressure (up being relative to the picture. ) on the bottom of the carrier binding it in the reciever raceway."

Yes, this is exactly what happened (carrier = bolt slide).
 
Well I want to help ya so I took mine apart and the only thing I can imagine that the slide would be stuck on is either the cartridge stop or cartridge interrupter, or both. Those are the two long black things that rest in either side of the receiver(I had to go to the manual to find their actual names). They aren't held in by anything other than the trigger assembly, if you worked the action without the assembly in place one could have half-fallen out and got hung up on the slide when you brought it forward again. I may be wrong about the circumstance so just ignore if so.. But if that is the case I would order replacements and try gently prying them out sideways.

The rear of the elevator is also in a position to possibly hamper movement, check that out too.

But, if neither of those are the case, then the slide must be wedged diagonal in the grooves in the side of the receiver itself against the bolt, which would be wild to happen in my mind, and then I think it would take some uncomfortable force to unjam it.
 
Neither the cartridge stop or cartridge interrupter are in yet. The bolt slide is under the track toward the back of the receiver. I think it's just that the bolt slide isn't fitting to the bolt in the right spot so the bolt is wedged down.
 
im not sure if it's the same as as a maverik(should be), elevator goes in first, then bolt. i cant even get the elevator in after the bolt or slide.
 
It looks like #39 bolt slide & #40 cartridge interrupter are stuck on top of your #37 elevator assembly at the forward end . Shouldn't be to much to push those in and lift your elevator assembly up some . That may free every thing up.



mossberg500.jpg
 
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First of all, #39 is the cartridge stop, not the bolt slide (#38). The cartridge stop and the cartridge interrupter are NOT in the gun.
 
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