Mossberg 500

[essjay]

Had the opportunity to shoot one of these (alongside a comparably-priced 12g and a Winchester... 1200?) with a friend last weekend, and I'll be damned if I'm not sold. I'm planning on getting the combo pack with the rifled slug barrel with adjustable sights. The main use would be slugs at the range and birdshot at clays, with little-to-no hunting usage. HD would be a type of use that I hope to avoid.

Anyway, the question I have is this: Given that I live in a generally warm/dry area, is there any true benefit to going with synthetic over wood? Personally, I prefer the way that wood looks, and I didn't notice a huge difference in weight between the synthetic Mossberg I handled and the two shotguns with wood furniture.

[DArBad]

All else being equal, the synthetics are more forgiving of rough use and temperature variance.

That said, like you, I like the looks of wood. They just exude..quality, most especially if they are cared for properly.

If the Mossberg 500 you saw is offered at a FAIR price, go for it, you won't be sorry.

Good luck.

[border.bandito]

the only benefit i can think of is that if you go with the synthetic stock/forend, you wont ever have to worry about termites....

[gunhun]

If you are going to shoot clays, you might consider one with chokes.

[bigbearbear]

My recommendation would be to forget about the rifled barrel and just get one with a barrel that comes with removable choke with at least 26" in length for clay shooting. If you're looking at a Mossberg, I'm guessing that you're on a budget? If so, check out the prices of sabot slugs, which is what you'll need to use with the rifled barrel. They're more than $1 a shot, some times MUCH more.

For example, the Winchester Super X 1oz Sabot Slug is priced at $14.99 for 5 rounds. Shoot a lot of these and you might as well get yourself a Perazzi shotgun instead.

[essjay]

From what I'm reading, the kit comes with "Accu-set" chokes.

[Jeff213]

the remington sluggers will get acceptable groups out of a smooth bore cylinder choke. I put tru-glo style sights on a spare barrel I had and hack sawed it down to 22 inches for my remington 870 and it shoots pretty darn well with slugs. I can hit clay pigeons most of the time at 50 yards. More than adequate for a shotgun.

I like my mossberg 500 full choke with a 28" barrel also, but do not shoot slugs through it.

[essjay]

So, just to make sure I understand, rifled barrels are sabot-only, whereas I can shoot non-sabot slugs out of a standard barrel with the chokes removed? Is that right?

[bigbearbear]

So, just to make sure I understand, rifled barrels are sabot-only, whereas I can shoot non-sabot slugs out of a standard barrel with the chokes removed? Is that right?

You can shoot rifled/normal slugs through a smooth bore barrel, even if you have a choke on it. However, it might reduce the accuracy and some believe that it has the potential to damage the barrel/choke.

If your barrel comes with a set of chokes, DO NOT ever shoot anything without any choke installed, you'll damage it. What you'll want to do, is to install a more open choke (eg. Improved Cylinder or Skeet choke) when you're shooting slugs.

I sometimes forget and leave my Modified choke on my shotgun when shooting slugs, doesn't seems to hurt anything though.

P.S.: One other thing about choke and barrel, when you're cleaning your barrel, leave the choke in the barrel. Don't remove it when cleaning the barrel or you'll have gunk on the the threads.

[essjay]

Gotcha. I'm assuming that you'd be damaging the choke threads by shooting a slug without a choke on?

As for budget, I wouldn't say that I'm really limited by budget (I probably won't be buying for at least a month unless I see a really killer deal). I could theoretically go all the way up to about $700, but for something that won't get nearly as much range time as my handgun, I need to be able to find several really good reasons to justify spending more money.

[bigbearbear]

Gotcha. I'm assuming that you'd be damaging the choke threads by shooting a slug without a choke on?

As for budget, I wouldn't say that I'm really limited by budget (I probably won't be buying for at least a month unless I see a really killer deal). I could theoretically go all the way up to about $700, but for something that won't get nearly as much range time as my handgun, I need to be able to find several really good reasons to justify spending more money.

Not only that, the barrel wall is thinner where the choke goes on, so if you shoot without the choke, it might bulge and damage it.

Another thing about wood vs synthetic; if you're going to be shooting clay targets like trap, skeet, sporting clays or 5-stand, go with a wooden stock. Clay shooting requires a good gun mount and you can't mount it correctly unless the stock fits you. Wooden stocks are easier to customize.

[wpod]

I have a small kit containing
-space blanket (tarp)
-poncho
-chemlight stick
-matches
-1/2 CD (signal mirror)
in the hollow synthetic stock of my 500.

[essjay]

Might end up going with synthetic anyway. Been to three of the local stores and none of them have any kind of Mossberg with wood furniture in stock.

Did see a damn good deal on an Ithaca Model 37, though... although the barrel was too short for me to use it the local sporting clays spot.

[rvicta]

If you are planning on getting the 500, check out the Flex 500. That's what I use for trap. Comes with a 28" barrel and 3 chokes. If you want to make it look tactical you can get the other stuff and change it in < 5 mins.

[sjdude]

@wpod: Cool idea! Thanks!