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500 Breacher with Flush Magazine?

Howdy folks! I've seen some discussion of this but haven't seen much detail. I want to get the 18.5" breacher barrel for my 500 (currently have 20") but I want the magazine to be nearly flush with the end of the standoff. Application is home defense/fun gun. I would like the gun to have some capacity to fire less lethal rounds at distance for wild life deterrence if necessary. I have been considering several routes but none seem easy:

Option A - Sell my gun and buy a 590 with the breacher barrel. Install a mag extension. Easy but I vastly prefer to buy used and the configuration I want is hard to come by (market is dominated by shockwaves).

Option B - Buy 590 breacher barrel and mag tube. Install a mag extension. This has been my preferred route. Unfortunately Mossberg doesn't seem to sell 590 barrels. I've been trolling Ebay and they come up occasionally BUT I need the 590 mag tube as well and they also seem to be rare. I am not super clear on which mag tube I need for the 590 breacher barrel (5shot, 6shot, 14", 18.5" etc) and so would be frustrated to buy the wrong one.

Option C - Customize the setup at home:
- Buy new or used 500 breacher barrel
- Remove barrel stud. Heat with map torch to melt brazing and knock off. Paint or refinish barrel.
- Remove threaded plug from muzzle end of 20" magazine. Remove magazine, spring, follower from gun. Insert wooden dowel into mag tube. Tap dowel/tube on ground to pop threaded plug out the end of the tube. Heat if necessary.
- Cut down mag tube to preferred size. Deburr. Refinish/paint as necessary
- Reinstall threaded plug. Solder, braze or set screw/pin to secure
- Reinstall magazine tube
- Fasten barrel to magazine tube with barrel clamp (I have the Black Aces rail and it has a beefy aluminum clamp that I think will work for this) (this is the part I'm least confident about).

What are your opinions? Has anyone done this? Do you think a barrel clamp will do the job? I'm not super worried about wrecking barrels mag tubes. Used 500 barrels and mag tubes are easy to come by so I can just replace parts if I wreck them.

Current setup, although I have recently installed the high cheek riser on the Magpul stock to get a better view of the sights. In the future I would like to upgrade to Troy HK style flip ups but I'd like to wait for some used ones or knockoffs because they're stupid expensive.

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There aren't too many options... the 590 with the breacher and a mag extentions is about the best approach.

Or buy some cheesy clamp on breacher for the barrel

Or buy a 18" 5 shot mag tube model 500, get a breacher barrel, and deal with the fact your mag tube isn't the same length.

What you have now is one of the best configurations in my opinion (except I personally hate rails on shotguns) and in all reality, you won't ever need a breacher. You can blow hinges and knobs off just as well with no breacher, you just can't plant your barrel into the wood. You could get a clamp on spike that goes on the end of the takedown nut if you want to jam your gun into the wood...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Aces...rstClass!01430!US!-1:rk:1:pf:1&frcectupt=true


The configuration you want, isn't made from what I know


the other thing to consider is, the breacher is MADE to be longer than the mag tube... If the end of the breacher is flush with your mag tube, anytime you need to jam the breacher into something, you're most likely gonna smash the mag tube at the same time.

If you want something more flush, get an 18.5 inch barrel standard 5 shot mag tube, and get a breacher that clamps on the mag tube. Then the breacher will be almost the same length as the barrel.
 
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besides buying a 5 shot mag tube and an 18.5" barrel is about the same cost as buying a brand new Maverick 88 - if all your after is the look, get a maverick 88 with an 18.5" barrel, replace it with the breacher barrel, and make a faux extension on the mag tube to make it the same length as the barrel.

I understand wanting to build something cool, that satisfies your needs, and having something custom, but if you're gonna spend $600+ to get a 590 and mag extension to make something look cool, you could make something look cool for much less..
 
I took this from another thread in the accessories section
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I am not a fan of mag tubes extending past the end of the barrel except perhaps a competition gun. I especially would not want a breacher to blow hot gases/debris onto the tube "just in case".

BTW, Welcome Aboard, Avalanche! :)
 
I am not a fan of mag tubes extending past the end of the barrel except perhaps a competition gun. I especially would not want a breacher to blow hot gases/debris onto the tube "just in case".

BTW, Welcome Aboard, Avalanche! :)

Bobster I also don't like tubes extending past the tube. I want it to end with the barrel.

There aren't too many options... the 590 with the breacher and a mag extentions is about the best approach.

Or buy some cheesy clamp on breacher for the barrel

Or buy a 18" 5 shot mag tube model 500, get a breacher barrel, and deal with the fact your mag tube isn't the same length.

What you have now is one of the best configurations in my opinion (except I personally hate rails on shotguns) and in all reality, you won't ever need a breacher. You can blow hinges and knobs off just as well with no breacher, you just can't plant your barrel into the wood. You could get a clamp on spike that goes on the end of the takedown nut if you want to jam your gun into the wood...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Aces...rstClass!01430!US!-1:rk:1:pf:1&frcectupt=true


The configuration you want, isn't made from what I know


the other thing to consider is, the breacher is MADE to be longer than the mag tube... If the end of the breacher is flush with your mag tube, anytime you need to jam the breacher into something, you're most likely gonna smash the mag tube at the same time.

If you want something more flush, get an 18.5 inch barrel standard 5 shot mag tube, and get a breacher that clamps on the mag tube. Then the breacher will be almost the same length as the barrel.

Thanks for your input GT_80. I'm not really concerned about breaching doors, I just think it looks cool. I'm seeing breacher barrels for $160 new (I will wait for a used one) and I would use my existing mag tube for modifications. If I screw anything up I can go back to my old barrel and get a new mag tube for like $60.

Going to a Maverick is an OK option but I want the mag tube to be functional. There are some other aspects of the 88 that I don't like for instance I don't believe it's compatible with my magpul furniture.

I'm not worried about the equal-length-mag-tube diminishing the effect of the standoff for 2 reasons:
1 - I'm never going to use it to breach
2 - Most breaching techniques involve holding the gun at 45* down and 45* in/out so the top edge of the standoff is all that will be touching the door. The mag tube could protrude several inches further and not get in the way. Not that I would do that.

I AM trying to make something cool and I think that modifying the tube and using a good clamp like the Black Aces one will be very affordable and (hopefully) effective.

If I do it I'll document my work in the workbench thread.
 
the furniture for a mossy 500 is 100% interchangeable on the Maverick 88. I have done swaps both ways. The trigger assemblies are different, as are the safeties, but the foregrip and slide action tube, and stock as well as the bolt and elevator are 100% interchangeable.
 
Good to know. I really don't care for the cross bolt safety (I believe that's what it has). I suppose it would be good for pistol grips but I also don't care for pistol grips.
 
I have no problems with the magazine out past the muzzle. Just more boom boom.
 
Is that forward sling point attached to the forend?

It WAS mounted to the forend, I have since installed a mount on the picatinny rail on top around the same location. I was skeptical of mounting to the forend but I actually ran it that way for about 3 years and practiced all sorts of transitions and even running with the gun slung and never caused any damage whatsoever. No damage to the polymer forend, action bars, chamber release, nothing.

Despite it being pretty robust it did however cause ergonomic problems:
- Got in the way of the side saddle when I'd lift the gun into the "workspace" to reload. Obviously only a problem if you have a saddle.
- Put force on the slide when hanging from the sling so the action would want to come out of battery if you bumped the action release.
- Made the gun partially flip over when hanging at my side. This wasn't really so bad and was kind of comfortable to grab the grip when transitioning back to the shotgun.

I have no problems with the magazine out past the muzzle. Just more boom boom.

It just seems to be like a waste of space. If you're going to make the barrel or mag longer and increase your overall length, seems to me like you might as well lengthen the other component to match unless you're worried about the weight.

I want to keep my gun as short as possible. I'm not shooting skeet with it, I'm defending my house and property with it and possibly shooting slugs out of it to hunt with (although Michigan doesn't have necked cartridge laws so I'll almost certainly be using my 308 for hunting).
 
Many 88s as well as some 500s have plastic fore-ends directly pinned to the slide bars. In this case you need to get a metal slide tube and nut to be able to use the Magpul (or other) fore-end.

correct. I swapped the whole action slide tube to my Maverick from my 500 and vice versa
 
Hey team. I snagged a used breacher barrel off Ebay and went to work. I cut down my old magazine, removed the plug from the end, used the aluminum clamp from the black aces rail to secure the barrel. I need to secure the plug to the end of the tube still. I'm thinking I will just drill through the tube and plug and put a 3/16" clevis pin through it with a hairpin to secure it. That will also make it much more convenient to remove the plug, spring, follower for cleaning or installing a dowel to reduce capacity for restricted hunting areas.
 
That sounds like it would work fine.

The only thing the pin would do is capture the cap to keep it in place and the only tension that would be on it is whatever few pounds of tension is exerted from having a fully loaded magazine.
 
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