I got another shotgun yesterday !.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I got another shotgun yesterday. It is a Montgomery Wards Western Field 550 12 ga Pump. Paid $300 for it and it is in nice shape.

But it's really a Mossberg 500! I'm calling it the "Monkeyberg!"

Got all the Magpul stuff ordered yesterday, and this one will be getting the full treatment. I have to disassemble it completely first and deburr all the parts inside. That will make it run super smooth.

Going to do something different on the barrel of this one. I'm going to cut the Vent Rib 28" bbl down to 18" and send it off to Briley and have it threaded for Invector Choke Tubes as well as the Forcing Cone lengthened.

I want to be able to run an IC Choke Tube in this one so that my Regular Lee Slugs shoot better. My guns with Vang Comp shoot some slugs good but the easiest and cheapest ones to load are 1oz Lee Drive Key Slugs and they require a bunch of extra work to make shoot well in those guns. They are too small in dia to group well and rattle around in the bore as they travel down it so they have to have Mylar Wraps or Paper Wraps to make them fit the bore closer.

Anyway the rest of what will be done is in the Sticky Thread above "What I did to my Shotguns."

This gun is being built as my Car Gun because too much Crap is happening here in CA, and I refuse to come out of my car with only a CZ 82 if I get caught up in some Ship!

Pics to follow.

Randy

[chrisw]

Can't wait to see it. I never had much interest in a tactical type shot gun until I ready your "what i did" thread. Now i'm jones'n

[chrisw]

You may have mentioned this, but where do you order your magpul stuff from?

[W.R.Buchanan]

I got most of it from amazon but I had to get the Fore End from Midway as they weren't listed on Amazon

I got a Black SGA stock, the Butt Pad Adapter, a Limbsaver Butt Pad and a High Post Safety Button.

I already have an 18" cyl bore barrel but it has a XS Big Dot front sight on it and I don't want to waste a $70 sight to change it. So it will just get left in the safe for now.

Randy

[NorCalRefuge]

You had me at Mossberg, but I stayed for CZ

You're a man of good taste, Randy.

[BigPimping]

There's always room for another shotgun.

[Tarmy]

[BroncoMustang]

A friend of mine once said, if you know how many guns you have, you don't have enough.

[W.R.Buchanan]

So I got everything in except the fore end yesterday and installed it last night.

Waiting for the Midway package with the fore end to arrive by UPS, says Monday 7/19.

I've got alot going on right now so I will wait to detail the internals until after I get the fore end, next week. I'll try to show what I do to the internals at that time. There is only 4-5 parts in these actions and they are not hard to take apart and put back together. Simply knocking the sharp edges off the Bolt, Bolt Latch and Op Rods makes these guns run super smooth. It can be done with Sand Paper and a File. I will also change out the safety button when it's apart, as the safety button is the first part that goes into an empty Receiver.

After taking the stock off it, I was amazed at how little difference there is between this gun and a Factory Mossberg 500. So far the only difference I can find is the Roll Stamp on the bottom of the receiver with the MW Western Field Logo and the Steel Safety Button, and of course the wood furniture.

This gun has not been used very much at all and it has to be 30+ years old. Monkey Wards has been gone for that long at least. I'd rate the gun 98%!

It will get shot alot now. It's first 3 gun will be 8/2. I'll have time to suss it out before then.

If anyone is interested in the Wood Fore End and Buttstock PM Me. $100

Randy

[W.R.Buchanan]

The Fore end came in the mail today A few small things to take care of left,,, but mostly complete. Sorry about the pic I cannot get this site to show pics in their correct orientation to save my butt, now it won't accept any of my uploads! WTF?


Still have to deal with the barrel. This is just one I've had laying around since my first conversion. It runs pretty smooth but I still have to tweak on the Lifter so it doesn't catch shells being unloaded. Otherwise the action is done. Needs to be shot a bunch to get everything settled in.

Mods include Magpul Furniture with Limbsaver Stock Adapter and Pad. One spacer seems to work right for me IE: 13" LOP. Grov-Tec Limited Rotation Sling Swivel Sockets in stock,

High Ridge Safety, 3" Pic Rail under fore end.

Complete disassembly and deburring of all internal parts. I also buffed the Bluing off the Mag Follower so you can see it better to confirm the gun is not loaded.

It should be a winner.

Randy

[madland]

How much play are in the Grove-Tec swivels? I've gone back n forth wondering if I want full rotation or zero rotation on any swivels on any of my long guns. They all are currently non-rotating. Can you or anyone else give some insight as to a preference and pros/cons of both. Thx!!

P.S. Monkey Wards has only been closed around 20yrs+/-. Your post made me think back. My wife and I started dating in '91. I remember going to the one in West Covina with her parents to pick up a washing machine or dryer. Can't quite remember. Lol
That eventually turned into what is still now an IKEA.

[W.R.Buchanan]

The Grov-Tec sockets limit rotation to about 45 degrees in 4 different quadrants. What they do for you over full rotation ones is to not allow the swivel to fully rotate which invariably tangles you up. And especially when you are getting in and out of the sling frequently, like in a class. I see only cons on the full rotation sockets.

They also cost $7.50 for two of them as opposed to the Magpul version that are $20-30 each and are full rotation. Grov-Tec also makes 1 1/2" wide Swivels which I use as my Home Made Slings are made from 1 1/2" belt material. Midway USA for these parts.

I run one on both sides of the stock. When carrying Cross Body you hook the swivel on the Right Side of the stock so that the sling runs over the end of the butt and holds the gun flat against you while standing. It also keeps the sling away from your face when you mount the gun.



If you want to carry conventional or cross back you move the swivel to the left side which again keeps the gun flat against you on your back. Since these are Push Button QD Swivels it only takes a second to switch from side to side.

Side Note: Our Wards in Ventura was gone in the late 80's. It was cool though as in the 60's and 70's they had Auto Slalom Racing in that parking lot once a month and it was cool to watch the 7 liter Cobras burning their tires off racing around a tight course in first gear. The Big Cobras would do 80 mph in 1st gear and just over 100 in 2nd!!! But they never broke 40 mph on the tight course and the Mini's and Lotus 7's ruled that event.

That location is now a Lowe's, but it sat empty for 10+ years before they finally tore it down and built the new building for Lowe's which went in in 2002.

Randy

[W.R.Buchanan]

OK so the site appears to be fixed, so here's a pic of the complete gun. Still going to mod the Vent Rib Barrel that came with the gun by shortening it and adding Rifle Sights.

Randy

[W.R.Buchanan]

Spoke too soon, Can someone contact someone who can fix the damn Pictures on this site.

All the ones I posted above won't open now.

Something is not right in the Site.

Fix It !!!!

RAndy

[W.R.Buchanan]

Will some one please answer me ???????????????????????????????

Or is everyone asleep ?????