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Changing Barrels on a 2 year old MB 500

Tiercel

Copper BB
I am far from an expert on Mossberg models but bought a Mossberg 500 tactical 12 gauge from my grandson. I pick it up tomorrow. It is about 2 years old, and I don't think it has ever been fired. He is now in the Navy. It has an 18 1/2" barrel. I assume it is an improved cylinder or such. It has a full standard black synthetic stock (no pistol grips).

I saw somewhere that a drawback of the 500 is that changing the barrel might require changing the magazine tube as well and is not as simple as a Rem 870. Is this true? Is that the advantage of the 500 Flex?

As you can see I have no idea what I'm talking about. While I want it primarily for home defense, I wondered about having an additional barrel to give it a little versatility to hunt with. I will only do that if it is fairly simple to change back and forth and not too much expense.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Tiercel
 
Howdy! If you want a 28” or similar for hunting or shooting clays, you should be able to find one easily. Take a look at how the barrel lug screws into the top of the magazine tube. Any other barrel you put on there needs to have this lug in the same position relative to the tube, regardless of the overall barrel length. Fortunately, almost all will fit this profile, with the exception of the 20” Security version which has to have a 7 round tube.
 
There are different length magazine tubes.

Most 18.5" barrels are the standard (shorter) magazine length. 5+1 capacity with the wooden dowel limiter removed. And almost all of the longer barrels are compatible.

Look at the photo in the link below. That's the standard magazine length for the 500.

https://www.mossberg.com/category/series/500/

There is another option from the factory, or available as aftermarket parts where the magazine tube is extended the entire length of the barrel and the lug/ring on those barrels are placed up near the end of the barrel. But you can see the longer magazine length in the link below.

https://www.mossberg.com/product/maverick-88-security-31048/

When you get your shotgun, just look to ensure that the longer hunting barrel has the mounting lug in the same location for the short mag tube if that is the mag length you have (almost all are).

The location of the mounting lug have the screw built in, unlike the rem 870 which is a threaded cap. But, as long as the barrel ring/lug and magazine tube are the same length, you won't have any problem switching out the long and short barrel. Almost everyone I know have both.
 
You guys are great. Thanks for the help.

I got the shotgun, and fortunately or unfortunately, it has the longer magazine. Great for home defense, not so great for barrel compatibility as I understand it. I was able to put (8) 2 3/4" shells in the magazine. I closed the action, stuck a tape measure down the barrel, and measured about 20 3/4". That was a little longer than I expected.

I am assuming this is an Improved Cylinder choke since a dime has just some slight wiggle room at the muzzle.

I live part of the year on 90 acres of land with a pond, wild turkey, deer, squirrel, and rabbits. I don't typically hunt these days, mostly because I enjoy seeing the wildlife around, but I would if I needed to.

As I consider - barrel length has little effect on velocity and no effect on the pattern, I wonder if I really even need another barrel.
This is the only shotgun I own other than an old 20guage single shot. I do own a Ruger AR.556 and Ruger 10/22, both with Red Dots.

Sorry for rambling. I am just kind of thinking out loud.
 
The choke is what determines more how the gun patterns than anything else. Barrel length doesn't really matter. But, the cylinder choke would limit hunting (or skeet shooting) to very close distances because it allows it to spread out more.

Yes, you can still hunt with it, but the effective range would be seriously diminished over using a full choke or even xxtra full choke, which I would mainly use for squirrel and turkey and stuff. I like a modified or an improved choke for rabbits and bird hunting.

The cylinder bore is perfect for slugs in the usable distance you would use them for bigger stuff once you figure out where to hold for it if you don't use some type of red dot. And cylinder choke is OK for buckshot, though like birdshot, your range would be more limited than other (tighter) chokes.

Another option that you have, and one that I feel is a possible viable solution for you in your situation, would be to possibly have your barrel threaded for screw in chokes. It would probably be cheaper than buying a new barrel and you'd have the best of both worlds. When you wanted to use it for HD, use a cylinder or improved cylinder choke. And when you wanted to get it out for hunting, get some modified and full chokes for it.

Some states limit your mag capacity to a certain amount of shells while hunting though. You could still use a wooden dowel rod just like the factory uses on new guns to accomplish that.
 
Thanks, John. I was wondering about the possibility of having it set up for screw-in chokes. I was not sure if that was possible or if it took a special barrel thickness etc. As a kid, I had a 16 gauge with an old poly choke you seldom see.

I think I will price the barrel threading /adjustable choke route to see what that costs. As you say, that would be great if that system patterns decently and the cost for threading and chokes is not much over a couple hundred $.

It would make a fairly versatile shotgun.

PS - IN PA you need a plug for everything but Deer and in GA you only need a plug for Federal migratory birds
 
State laws vary all over. In KY, you are limited to hunting with 3 shells for nearly everything.

The cost of the tools to thread the barrel yourself if you have a vise and a drill and some really thin cutting fluid (such as transmission fluid) to help keep the bit lubed and cool would cost less than a couple of hundred. Then you could thread basically any barrel you wanted.

But after a quick search, I found several businesses offering the services for around $100, which is less than the cost of the reamer/threader and bushings and such.

And even less expensive method, here is a company where you can rent the reamers too. You'd also want to rent the one in the link below because it also includes all the various bushings so you can match the appropriate one with your specific barrel. Not every shotgun barrel is the exact same inside diameter. And thus why there are different bushings. The bushings go on the end of the reamer tool to keep it straight with the bore so the chokes are straight when you are done.

There's several videos on youtube that show how easy it is.

https://4drentals.com/product/12-gauge-win-choke-tap-reamer/

There are a couple forum members who have threaded their own barrels. It's not terribly hard, but I take it really slow with a 1/2" drill and keep the reamer clean and cool. It takes me about 35 or 40 minutes to complete the job. I'm considering renting another because I have 2 more barrels that I would like to thread. A winchester 18 inch barrel and another 18 inch mossberg 500 barrel. I could thread both in a single day to keep the rental cost low.

For what it's worth, we may be a mossberg owners forum, but we like just about every gun brand out there. We're gun guys in general. So, don't think we only talk about mossy's. We'll talk about 870's, ithaca's, winchesters, stevens or whatever. My first shotgun was a 16 gauge stevens for that matter. And I have another old 16 gauge with an adjustable choke. The brand on it is vari-choke I think. But I know exactly what you're referring to.

 
I’m pretty sure I have a 5 rd magazine & spring sitting around here. Get me an address and you can have it. If you have a strap wrench and a vice it is a simple job to swap magazine tubes. You can find the longer hunting barrels that come with chokes fairly easy.
 
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