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Sabot Slugs

I bought a new Mossberg 500 last week with both the 28" barrel and the 24" rifled slug barrel. I shot 3 #8 dove loads through the long barrel and it worked slick and smooth. I then put the slug barrel on it and shot it twice. I used Hornaday SST sabot slugs. They shot accurately but the empty shells were very hard to eject. At first, I thought I had a malfunction. I then changed barrels, tried more of the #8 shot and it again worked great.

Is this normal or have I done something wrong?
 
It sounds like a tight chamber on the slug barrel or a problem with the ammo. I'd really clean the slug barrel well with special attention to the chamber. If that doesn't fix it, try different slugs. If THAT doesn't fix it, you might want to contact Mossberg. It is possible, though unlikely, that the chamber is out of spec. That being said, my bet is that if you go over the chamber well with bore cleaner, the problem will be solved.
 
It sounds like a tight chamber on the slug barrel or a problem with the ammo. I'd really clean the slug barrel well with special attention to the chamber. If that doesn't fix it, try different slugs. If THAT doesn't fix it, you might want to contact Mossberg. It is possible, though unlikely, that the chamber is out of spec. That being said, my bet is that if you go over the chamber well with bore cleaner, the problem will be solved.

Thanks, I suspect you are right. I didn't really clean the barrel other than making sure it was clear and running a soft cloth through it with a little oil on it before I shot it. The slug's specification is 2,000 fps so I suspect the pressure is very high and I wondered if the pressure might have swelled the brass. I will clean it with bore cleaner and try it again. Would a little light lube be OK?
 
I cleaned the chamber with bore cleaner. An unfired slug slips in and out easily (like it did before I cleaned it). However, the shot cartridge gets tight when about half of the brass goes in the chamber and I have to use a tool to remove it. That indicates that the brass expands due to the shot pressure. I have 8 unfired slugs left but I am reluctant to use them. Has anyone else ran into this issue with Hornaday slugs?

Thanks
 
I would take some very fine steel wool (0000) and put some on a wire bore brush in a hand drill and polish up the chamber.
 
When I first bought my 930 SPX, it didn't want to extract fired Federal buckshot hulls. The other brands I tried worked fine, but the the chamber gripped a Federal hull so tight the extractor would just slip off and I'd have to pry it out. Unfired, the Federals cycled fine.

Mossberg sent me a shipping label (after I insisted it wasn't right to make me pay for shipping a brand new gun back for repair) and I got the gun back two weeks later, all fixed.
 
When I first bought my 930 SPX, it didn't want to extract fired Federal buckshot hulls. The other brands I tried worked fine, but the the chamber gripped a Federal hull so tight the extractor would just slip off and I'd have to pry it out. Unfired, the Federals cycled fine.

Mossberg sent me a shipping label (after I insisted it wasn't right to make me pay for shipping a brand new gun back for repair) and I got the gun back two weeks later, all fixed.

So, it was to tight of chamber? Below minimum spec.?
 
I would take some very fine steel wool (0000) and put some on a wire bore brush in a hand drill and polish up the chamber.
I took a wire bpre brush and put some Simichrome on it and used the hand drill for a couple of minutes. I then used a soft bore brush to get the excess off and smooth the chamber more. The spent shell goes in easily most of the way but I think it will come out with the dual extractors now. I pushed it all the way in and it was not hard to extract pushing it out with a cleaning rod. I will give it a try tomorrow.
 
Sounds like it'll work. You want to use some fine steel wool or scotch brite works also. Just remember to only polish(hone) the chamber section.
I've used 0000 steel wool and some Hoppes gun oil.
 
Sounds like it'll work. You want to use some fine steel wool or scotch brite works also. Just remember to only polish(hone) the chamber section.
I've used 0000 steel wool and some Hoppes gun oil.

Simichrome is a German product made for motorcycles to clean up aluminum castings on motorcycles like engine blocks, heads, wheels and similar things. It is mildly abrasive. I put a brass bore cleaning brush for a 12 gauge in an electric drill with Simichrome on it and polished the rear part of the chamber. I didn't do the rest of it because my only concern is where the brass fits. I think it is easier to work with than fine steel wool (and I finally found it in the garage where I put it 7 motorcycles or about 15years ago). The cylinder now looks and feels slick and smooth.
 
Sounds like you got it licked. Keep us posted after the range.
 
Sounds like you got it licked. Keep us posted after the range.
I have to do some charity work for kids in the morning and will shoot it tomorrow afternoon. My "range" is my 6.4 acre "mini-farm" or my sister-in-law's 'mini-farm" of 10 acres just behind me or my brother's 70 hidden farm and woods about 4 miles from me. I have open fields on both sides of me and an empty 50 acres in front of my house. I don't think my neighbors can her my handguns but they can hear my shotguns.
 
Shot three additional rounds through it this afternoon and it shot flawlessly. I doubt my polishing was what did it. I suspect DFBonnet was correct when he suggested that all I probably needed to do was clean the chamber with bore cleaner. I did that first but then I did the polishing in addition since the gun barrel was laying on my downstairs kitchen table next to my den and wood stove. I also had everything I needed handy.
 
Good stuff. Shoot the crap out of it and enjoy your shotgun.

I like this shotgun more than any others I have ever had. I've always had single shots since the 60s but always wanted a pump. I traded for an old J. c. Higgins pump with a modified choke last summer that was made in 1947, the year I was born. I used the possibility of turkey hunting as an excuse to buy a new shotgun. It came with 3 choke tubes and the rifled slug barrel. I just got a turkey choke for it that I have not tried yet. I will practice and learn to hit turkey head and neck sized things with the turkey choke when the weather improves. I think my new Mossberg 500 will cover about anything I will ever need or want to do with a shotgun. I now need to sell someone my single shots in 16 and 20 gauge that were made in 1948 and 1950. I will keep the old pump J. C. Higgins because it was made the year I was born.
 
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