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That came off easy enough

JayC

.270 WIN
Ever since I got my 500, I have wanted to take my magazine tube off. I mainly wanted to because of that goop Mossberg put on there. I wanted to be able to get it off in case I ever needed to take it off. I read that you needed a heat gun to get it off, and I was always nervous about doing that. I've had a heat gun laying around for awhile now, so I finally decided to try and get it off. I used the wood dowel that came with my 500 to push the follower back into the tube. I thought the follower was plastic (I didn't want it to melt), but to my surprise it's metal. The only casualty was one of the rubber o-rings on the dowel. It split, and I didn't think to take them off. I don't see why they're needed anyway, and I still have one. I don't hunt fowl anyway, so I don't really need it. Once I heated up the part of the tube I needed to, it came off rather easy in a few minutes. I was really surprised. I wish I had done it sooner.

I also wanted it off because I keep entertaining an idea in my head. Since I don't really hunt with it, and I've always wanted an 8-shot tube, I keep thinking about getting a conversion I see on eBay every so often. I think I've gone mad. :D
 
Glad to hear you got it off easily.

I did the same thing to my 20" persuader to put a 24" barrel and 5 shot tube.

Ya gotta love the 500 platform.

,,,,,and your not mad,,,,:D
 
I took my magazine off of my 500 a month or so back. Mine is from 1979 and the magazine was tight with goo and funk, used the Wife's hair dryer, small piece of leather and vise grips. All in all, it came off easy enough. Dang it was dirty inside!!! LOL
Mark
 
What I noticed is once you get the tube off is to clean good the threads on the tube and in the receiver.

Also be careful putting the tube back in the receiver, they are some funky threads.
 
I didn't crush mine, used pliers on the end where the take-down screw goes in, but I was careful with it.
Mark
 
Don't reuse any loctite or such. But later just check the tube for tightness once in a while. And yes, I found that it doesn't take much heat to loosen the tube.
 
^ I agree & dont use or reccomend loctite either being I sometimes switch between an 18.5" & 20" barrel, even if i did not i dont find it necessary.
 
I tried to scrape some of the goop off, but I didn't get it all. I may go back sometime and really clean that stuff off. I forgot about cleaning it. o_O That was another thing that I wanted to be able to take it off for. That and if I ever need to replace the spring. There is a video on YouTube somewhere of a guy that tried to get his magazine tube off. He had a horrid go of it. He ended up crushing it.
 
I've taken off a couple mag tubes from different Mossberg pumps and that they really don't tighten them down....what's keeping them from turning is the loctite they use. Once you get that stuff to melt they have unscrewed by hand. Instead of using a tool just use the heat gun till it turns by hand. The heat gun doesn't get hot enough to compromise the receiver metal
 
Same here, removed mine with a bit of heat and clamped her down between two pieces of harness leather. Might have said a couple of curse words that made the dogs ears perk up. But came off without much hardship. Removed all the residual Locktite and installed a Wolff spring. Much easier to maintain. 11187809_463139937176271_6990414890202404305_o.jpg
 
There is a video on YouTube somewhere of a guy that tried to get his magazine tube off. He had a horrid go of it. He ended up crushing it.

GooTube has a lot of beneficial videos by selfless craftsmen willing to share and demonstrate their knowledge. :) Unfortunately, there are also a lot of numbnuts who don't have a clue what they're doing. :rolleyes: A quick look at the ratio of thumbs up/down and comments good or bad will tell you if you should devote any time to watching the video. Some videos are absolutely painful to watch! :(
 
GooTube has a lot of beneficial videos by selfless craftsmen willing to share and demonstrate their knowledge. :) Unfortunately, there are also a lot of numbnuts who don't have a clue what they're doing. :rolleyes: A quick look at the ratio of thumbs up/down and comments good or bad will tell you if you should devote any time to watching the video. Some videos are absolutely painful to watch! :(

I agree with you there! Some videos really are horrid. YouTube has become such a wonderful tool for me, though. Without it I wouldn't have learned so much about small engines and stuff like that. If I remember right, the video I mentioned above was posted on this forum somewhere.

Can I ask another question of you all? Now that my magazine tube is removable, how did you guys get the rest of that red gunk off? I managed to scrape some off, but even that took awhile. Is there some solvent that will take it right off? Will Hoppes take it off? I don't have too much Hoppes, so I didn't want to experiment only to find out it doesn't do a good job getting that red gunk off. :oops:
 
It should just "scrape" off with a hard plastic edge. Be careful as metal may scratch the finish under the loctite.
 
the stuff on mine was not red but rather greyish ? I just wiped it off as best I could and tried taking the tube off and on several times and it seemed fine.
suggest you try that first before using some harsh chemicals.
 
I've never had problems taking any tubes off. I protect the receiver in a vice and use a strap wrench to remove the magazine tube.

After it is off I clean the threads with a soft wire brush and a knife or screwdriver tip.

I've done quite a few swaps on the four or five 500s I've built and have more issues getting the tube back on.

The 20" barrel and 8 round mag is a sweet swap. If you shop around you can get the barrel, tube, spring, follower and heat shield for $150.
 
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