The truth about TOSSBERG shotguns

to the OP...sometimes a manufacturer has a bad run with metallurgy or other QC problems; my experience was with Marlin lever rifles & the barrel band and threaded pin that holds it in place; first one was a 1894C in .357 mag...threaded pin broke and foreend slid up and down the barrel and mag tube; second one was a 336 in .30-30...pin fit was loose and barrel band swinging back and forth on the pin; both guns were new and purchased within 7 months of one another; kinda turned me away from Marlin's lever guns

my other experience was with a Remington 870 Express...bad QC; the threaded section on my turkey barrel wasn't centered properly and all my stuff patterned high and right no matter what choke was screwed into it; the field barrel I bought had a rough section of unpolished metal in the chamber that rusted no matter how much I cleaned it; the rusty chamber made me inspect the other barrel very closely and discovered the threading problem...basically wrote of Remington 870's;

I have had other problems with several Taurus revolvers bought at separate times from different shops, problems with 1911's from different manufacturers, a Browning BPS shotgun that wouldn't run properly due to rough finishing inside the receiver, et al...sorry about your Mossberg experience...the ones that I have owned on and off were workhorses
 
What is a Tossberg

I have a Mossberg 500 that I bought in 1970 at a Rod and Gun Club in Germany. This shotgun has been used, miss treated, and has at least 3,000 rounds thru it, never cleaned, poured solvent in the receiver a time or two, wiped it down with 3 and 1 oil maybe a dozen times in 39 years. It has never had a failure of any type. It is not pretty but it does what it was designed for- it goes bang every time.
 
I bought a used Mossberg heatshield for my $75 beater. The heatshield was missing the plastic spacer that goes in the front. I called Mossbergs 800 number and inquired about buying the spacer, and they sent it to me no charge, even though I told them I bought the heatshield used for my very used model 500.
 
my maverick 88

made by mossburg has been flawlsssnce 1989...1000's of rounds thru her...NO PROBLEMS AT ALL...just got a mossburg silver reserve o/u..so we shall see about this one:D
 
I am a big fan of Mossbergs.
They are made well enough I do not worry about damaging mine, a lot less expensive, much lighter, better ergonomics for me, and I really like their marine coat.

I own an 11-87, it is far more Robust, I probably would not have been able to afford it new, it gets a little heavy in the field, and the bluing rusts like a mofo. Obviously they have a version out with a coating similar to mossbergs marine cote, I just can't afford it.
 
I am reallly, really, really, reallllly loving my 590's now. So glad i decided not to sell. The spring problems have even abated a bit with my further use and maintenance. I've put around 100 rounds through the 590 that had the original spring issue both Sunday and today with ZERO issues. I'm going to wait until absolutely necessary to put in the Wolff's that I ordered. However as I've stated before i would highly discourage those of a smaller frame or stature from the 590 and would recommend and 18 inch rem870 or moss 500.
 
I'm appaled at the Mossberg problem,

as should everyone in this forum. Here a consumer purchased American and an established American company, in this case a firearms mfg, and his product proved to be unreliable. Instead of the Mossberg owner's defending them (I have a brand new never fired Mossberg Persuader) we should all be shocked by this firearm. I like the Mossberg layout of controls, but have heard that they're how shall I put it, second rate perhaps, not second to Remington, I mean second rate as for as workmanship etc. are concerned, but like I mentioned, I purchased it because of the layout of controls, slide release and safety.
Still makes you wonder, how can an established firearms mfg let something like that go out the door, the automobile industry as well. Just shaking my head as an American consumer, crap, most everything that's out there for sale made here or of course China, seems to be crap OR quality standards go farther and farther down.
 
as should everyone in this forum. Here a consumer purchased American and an established American company, in this case a firearms mfg, and his product proved to be unreliable. Instead of the Mossberg owner's defending them (I have a brand new never fired Mossberg Persuader) we should all be shocked by this firearm. I like the Mossberg layout of controls, but have heard that they're how shall I put it, second rate perhaps, not second to Remington, I mean second rate as for as workmanship etc. are concerned, but like I mentioned, I purchased it because of the layout of controls, slide release and safety.
Still makes you wonder, how can an established firearms mfg let something like that go out the door, the automobile industry as well. Just shaking my head as an American consumer, crap, most everything that's out there for sale made here or of course China, seems to be crap OR quality standards go farther and farther down.

I just purchased a Mossy 590 and while I can say that it was dirty as heck and a bit more scratched up than I would have liked for a "brand new" weapon, it still fits the bill (its no Benelli, but heck..I didnt expect it to be) and frankly, Im falling more and more for this thing the longer I own it. In terms of functionality, I believe it is just as good as any shotgun I have laid my hands on up to this point. Now, in regards to the feeding issues, this has been observed as being related to a spring issue mainly; easily cured by the way.

So, its my opinion that the Mossberg, while maybe not as "refined" as other shottys, can be just as reliable and enjoyable as any other shotgun out there. Besides, I have heard countless reports of other shotguns, costing twice the price, having just as many issues if not more than the obviously underrated Mossbergs.
 
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I'll chime in as well,my wife bought me a mossberg 500 2 years ago for Christmas and i've been really happy with it so far.I've fired at least 1,000 rounds with no problems.Heck i even let it go 6 months with out cleaning it,infact it's still got the dirt from my Christmas day hunt on it.I took it out just last week and fired 25 slugs just have alittle fun.
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kmrcstintn , like I said, as a consumer, it's all crap out there.

A real shame, quality control /quality seems to be a thing of the past, overall not just firearms, surely not only Mossberg, as your post clearly indicates.
Let's just all be thankful that ammo doesn't suffer the same low quality standards! (well, I hope that ammo hasn't, I don't shoot that much so I don't really know).
All hail Ralph Nader! (just joking).
 
Instead of the Mossberg owner's defending them (I have a brand new never fired Mossberg Persuader) we should all be shocked by this firearm.
Well, the truth is I have trouble believing his post. He's an anonymous guy on the internet and frankly his post borders on the absurd. People say things for various reasons. True? Maybe but I'll withhold judgment until I see or hear more.

I've owned Mossbergs (and Remingtons) for decades, including a 500 I purchased last fall that was even purchased from Chinamart-- the home of the allegedly inferior seconds. I've watched the military adopt the Mossberg after it passed one of the most rigorous reliability tests. I find it hard to believe that this guy and his buddy happened to get three bad egg Mossbergs. I would think if things had really gotten that bad, a few other people would have noticed too.

As for new Mossbergs being "dirty", they are packed in a type of packing grease and MUST be cleaned before shooting. If you don't clean that out of there, it could be a real bear to get out after you've heated it up. Shipping firearms in packing grease/cosmolene isn't really a new thing.
 
As for new Mossbergs being "dirty", they are packed in a type of packing grease and MUST be cleaned before shooting. If you don't clean that out of there, it could be a real bear to get out after you've heated it up. Shipping firearms in packing grease/cosmolene isn't really a new thing.

True enough. However, I must confess that my particular Mossberg was "over the top" dirty, almost as if it had many, many rounds of slugs fired through it and then left as is. It was so bad that, after attempting to clean this thing for several hours, I finally just gave up. Also, upon removing the heatshield for "deeper" cleaning, the barrel was excessively scratched and full of nicks (straight down to the steel). Sometimes I feel as if I paid new weapon price for used weapon quality.

Now, I realize that weapons come from the factory with all sorts of stuff on them (Ive bought enough new weapons to know this firsthand), but I do believe Mossberg could do a bit better job with the QC.

Keep in mind, I still like the gun, do not mean to slam it at all and still believe that I have a good weapon here. Indeed, I plan on owning it for many years to come. After all, it functions well and it seems like all of the important internals look good and hook up as they are expected. To me, this is the most important part of any weapon. Stuff like finish and appearance are certainly of secondary importance to me.

Would I buy another Mossberg? Sure would. In fact, I have my eye on a 590A1 right now. However, sometimes you just need to call a spade a spade (when it comes to Mossbergs apparent lack of detail attentiveness).
 
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Where did you buy your 590 at?


Mine had cosmolene on them as well, every gun I buy usually does, but the nicks and excessive amount is a bit curious.
 
Where did you buy your 590 at?

I bought it at a local gun shop. Im thinking the excessive nicks/scratches on the barrel is simply due to any lack of care and/or concern, upon installing the heatshield, on behalf of Mossberg staff. Still, as I mentioned before, I like the gun so I consider it a keeper.

If it comes down to it, I will probably just take it to a local shop and have the barrel re-parkerized; then it will be "case closed."
 
I feel it is absolutely necessary to revive this thread in order to declare to anyone considering what I said at ALL to know that I have done a complete 180 regarding Mossberg. The "malfunctions" I ran into were ridiculously simple fixes that weren't really issues at all. I had a problem with a 590 spring. What did Mossberg do? They sent out FOUR extra replacement 590 springs express UPS. I am completely loyal to the Mossberg design now and while I love the products other companies offer, such as your 870's, 1300's, Ithaca 37...have found it a major inconvenience to consider another brand of pump shotgun. The Mossberg guns just FEEL right, figuratively and literally.

I believe Mossberg gives the best value-out-of-box of any major shotgun manufacturer, and arguably gun manufacturer in general. I am 110 percent confident in buying Mossberg again. In fact I have...I've owned a 590a1 for a few months now and it's the nicest defense gun I've had the pleasure of owning, operating and breaking in fully.

Disregard my initial sentiment, Mossberg ROCKS!
 
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