Mossberg 500 Pump Action Customization and Modification
- Thread starter DHonovich
- Start date
GiovanniLuigi
Copper BB
Re: After market mods for HD 410?
We also have a Mossberg 500 .410 for HD. I didn't realize that only carried 3 rounds total (1 in the chamber and 2 in the tube)... that's RIDICULOUS! So, does anyone know if there's a way to add a longer tube to carry a least another 2 rounds?... It's not that I want to make it a tactical, but surely there's a way I can add a light and saddles and more rounds ready to go...
Thanks for any suggestions you might have...
We also have a Mossberg 500 .410 for HD. I didn't realize that only carried 3 rounds total (1 in the chamber and 2 in the tube)... that's RIDICULOUS! So, does anyone know if there's a way to add a longer tube to carry a least another 2 rounds?... It's not that I want to make it a tactical, but surely there's a way I can add a light and saddles and more rounds ready to go...
Thanks for any suggestions you might have...
saddlebagpix
Copper BB
Sawed off / chopped barrel for 500's
Hello all. I have not seen much info about cutting down or sawing off barrel's here, so I checked YouTube and some other places and just bit the bullet and did it. The original gun was bought used for $149, a well worn standard Mossberg 500 12ga. with hardwood stocks and a 26" vent rib barrel with modified choke and a bead sight. I decided it was cheaper for me to cut this barrel than buy a new 18" one for $80+/- since I have other guns to take the place of the 500 12ga. If I ever bird, squirell or rabbit hunt I'll use a 20ga. If I hunt larger game I'll use a rifle or the 20ga. with slugs or even this cut down 12ga. if it still patterns well with buck or slug.
I disassembled the gun completely, cleaned the metal innards, polished the wear spots, lubed and reassembled with an ATI front fore-end and pistol grip (which I already had). I degreased, then used a dollop of fluorescent orange paint in the worn out safety dot hole and sealed it with clear enamel nail polish to make the safety shine. I also filed/buffed down the sharp edges in the bottom loading port and touched up with aluma-black.
I added the small loop of leather strip to the rear grip screw to allow me to hang the gun on the back of a door on a hook, nicely disguised with a robe over it.
I left the vent rib attached so that I could mount the HiViz glow sights (about $25 total) which in conjunction with the small harbor freight push button flashlight taped to the side of the barrel allows me to see which way the barrel front is pointed when held at the hip; or as a glowing 3-dot combo when used in conjunction with a regular rear stock if aimed from the shoulder. The rear sight is clamped down onto the rib with 4 screws and blue loc-tite. The front sight is magnetic and seemed pretty strong, but as I planned on not being especially careful with how I handle this "beater", I went ahead and used some hot melt glue on the plastic sight base and vent rib to make it semi-permanent. The cheap $2 AA flashlight is simply duct taped to the side. I made sure to find something with a button rather than a "twist on". Yes, I know it's looks ugly and is not strong enough to be considered a tactical light, but I mainly just wanted something to illuminate a person in my house and add enough ambient side light to make the front sight glow bright.
Cutting the barrel was easy enough. After carefully measuring to make sure I had at least 18" and deciding where to cut the rib off, I used several layers of masking tape wrapped to protect the barrel finish. I left the barrel longer than the rib to help protect the sight and rib. I clamped vise-grips above and below the spot to cut (not squeezing the rib) and mounted it all in a wood vise. The vise-grips have flat sides which made the 30 tooth quality hacksaw blade run straight and true by going slow and easy. The more care you use cutting, the less time you waste trying to clean up a crappy cut with teeth marks! I cleaned up the crown with large felt wheel "bobs" using first rough, then fine compounds in my Dremel, which took out the few teeth mark scratches left. Flitz polish on a 3rd felt bob finished making the cut mirror bright and ready for cold blue. (*used the Flitz to polish the interior parts which smoothed the action an AMAZING amount).
Hope this helps anyone who's pondering the same question of whether to cut or not.
Hello all. I have not seen much info about cutting down or sawing off barrel's here, so I checked YouTube and some other places and just bit the bullet and did it. The original gun was bought used for $149, a well worn standard Mossberg 500 12ga. with hardwood stocks and a 26" vent rib barrel with modified choke and a bead sight. I decided it was cheaper for me to cut this barrel than buy a new 18" one for $80+/- since I have other guns to take the place of the 500 12ga. If I ever bird, squirell or rabbit hunt I'll use a 20ga. If I hunt larger game I'll use a rifle or the 20ga. with slugs or even this cut down 12ga. if it still patterns well with buck or slug.
I disassembled the gun completely, cleaned the metal innards, polished the wear spots, lubed and reassembled with an ATI front fore-end and pistol grip (which I already had). I degreased, then used a dollop of fluorescent orange paint in the worn out safety dot hole and sealed it with clear enamel nail polish to make the safety shine. I also filed/buffed down the sharp edges in the bottom loading port and touched up with aluma-black.
I added the small loop of leather strip to the rear grip screw to allow me to hang the gun on the back of a door on a hook, nicely disguised with a robe over it.
I left the vent rib attached so that I could mount the HiViz glow sights (about $25 total) which in conjunction with the small harbor freight push button flashlight taped to the side of the barrel allows me to see which way the barrel front is pointed when held at the hip; or as a glowing 3-dot combo when used in conjunction with a regular rear stock if aimed from the shoulder. The rear sight is clamped down onto the rib with 4 screws and blue loc-tite. The front sight is magnetic and seemed pretty strong, but as I planned on not being especially careful with how I handle this "beater", I went ahead and used some hot melt glue on the plastic sight base and vent rib to make it semi-permanent. The cheap $2 AA flashlight is simply duct taped to the side. I made sure to find something with a button rather than a "twist on". Yes, I know it's looks ugly and is not strong enough to be considered a tactical light, but I mainly just wanted something to illuminate a person in my house and add enough ambient side light to make the front sight glow bright.
Cutting the barrel was easy enough. After carefully measuring to make sure I had at least 18" and deciding where to cut the rib off, I used several layers of masking tape wrapped to protect the barrel finish. I left the barrel longer than the rib to help protect the sight and rib. I clamped vise-grips above and below the spot to cut (not squeezing the rib) and mounted it all in a wood vise. The vise-grips have flat sides which made the 30 tooth quality hacksaw blade run straight and true by going slow and easy. The more care you use cutting, the less time you waste trying to clean up a crappy cut with teeth marks! I cleaned up the crown with large felt wheel "bobs" using first rough, then fine compounds in my Dremel, which took out the few teeth mark scratches left. Flitz polish on a 3rd felt bob finished making the cut mirror bright and ready for cold blue. (*used the Flitz to polish the interior parts which smoothed the action an AMAZING amount).
Hope this helps anyone who's pondering the same question of whether to cut or not.
Attachments
bubba in c.a.
.270 WIN
Re: Sawed off / chopped barrel for 500's
I whacked a vent rib a while back. I did it because I like vent ribs, not for lack of another barrel.
My barrel ended up 18 5/8 inch--18 inch to keep the legal minimum, plus a little more to keep an entire vent rib support intact, plus a little more to have the barrel longer than the vent rib as you point out.
Measure twice, cut once, yada,yada,yada. This is a half hour job if you have the tools and vise and everything available. I used a hacksaw and a file on this one. On regular barrels I always used a tubing cutter and file.
Don`t forget the legal method to measure--close the bolt on an empty chamber and use a rod down the barrel to measure from the bolt face to the end of the barrel.
I whacked a vent rib a while back. I did it because I like vent ribs, not for lack of another barrel.
My barrel ended up 18 5/8 inch--18 inch to keep the legal minimum, plus a little more to keep an entire vent rib support intact, plus a little more to have the barrel longer than the vent rib as you point out.
Measure twice, cut once, yada,yada,yada. This is a half hour job if you have the tools and vise and everything available. I used a hacksaw and a file on this one. On regular barrels I always used a tubing cutter and file.
Don`t forget the legal method to measure--close the bolt on an empty chamber and use a rod down the barrel to measure from the bolt face to the end of the barrel.
Re: Sawed off / chopped barrel for 500's
saddlebagpix~
Those are some very interesting project ideas for a person looking to perform; well... a ribbed barrel PG cut-down project with GLO sights.
I really enjoyed your photos of the project. Excellent Job on the photos!
How is it doing at range distances beyond 3-5 yards????
saddlebagpix~
Those are some very interesting project ideas for a person looking to perform; well... a ribbed barrel PG cut-down project with GLO sights.
I really enjoyed your photos of the project. Excellent Job on the photos!
How is it doing at range distances beyond 3-5 yards????
DamnYankee
.410
Re: Sawed off / chopped barrel for 500's
I did the same thing to my 500CG 20ga a while back. It was easy. It was originally a 28" now cut down to just under 19". I left the vent ribs too.
Finished product.
Before the bluing.
I did the same thing to my 500CG 20ga a while back. It was easy. It was originally a 28" now cut down to just under 19". I left the vent ribs too.
Finished product.
Before the bluing.
KnesekGuns
Copper BB
My Mossberg 500 build
New Mossberg 500 build -
12GA, 18.5″ Barrel, Cylinder, Plain Bead Sight, 6-SHOT
Blackhawk SHOTSHELL SLNG BLK
Surefire 323LM 3V LED Tactical Light
Mesa High Tube w/ Full Rail and Sling Swivel
Mesa Adapter Shell Holder — 6 shot
Magpul CTR AR15 Adjustable Stock
Magpul MIAD Basic Grip Kit
Magpul MBUS Gen 2 Front and Rear Sight
KAC 98720 Push Button Swivel & Rail Mount
http://www.knesekguns.com/commercial/Mossberg-500-Knesek-Package-Tactical-Breaching-Shotgun-12GA
New Mossberg 500 build -
12GA, 18.5″ Barrel, Cylinder, Plain Bead Sight, 6-SHOT
Blackhawk SHOTSHELL SLNG BLK
Surefire 323LM 3V LED Tactical Light
Mesa High Tube w/ Full Rail and Sling Swivel
Mesa Adapter Shell Holder — 6 shot
Magpul CTR AR15 Adjustable Stock
Magpul MIAD Basic Grip Kit
Magpul MBUS Gen 2 Front and Rear Sight
KAC 98720 Push Button Swivel & Rail Mount
http://www.knesekguns.com/commercial/Mossberg-500-Knesek-Package-Tactical-Breaching-Shotgun-12GA
Re: Sawed off / chopped barrel for 500's
Just gotta remember to lock up the action, drop a dowel rod down the bore, mark it, measure it. Guy I know was not aware that barrels are measure from the bolt face, and chopped off too much. He asked me what to do, and I said, "To start with, NEVER do that again!" Second, I told him to ALWAYS leave the barrel longer than eighteen inches.
Just gotta remember to lock up the action, drop a dowel rod down the bore, mark it, measure it. Guy I know was not aware that barrels are measure from the bolt face, and chopped off too much. He asked me what to do, and I said, "To start with, NEVER do that again!" Second, I told him to ALWAYS leave the barrel longer than eighteen inches.
nasa
.270 WIN
Re: Sawed off / chopped barrel for 500's
I have found that a chop saw does a lot neater job that a hack saw. I used a shop rag in the vice on the chop saw to prevent marring the barrel and deburred the edges using a flat mill file on the outside edge and a round mill file in the inside edge. Finished it up with a little Blue Wonder gun blue for a nice professional finish.
My brother just bought a Russian 12 gauge single shot for cheap. Someone took a hack saw to it, did a crappy job and cut it to 17 1/2 inches. I told him he might as well go ahead and chop it up for good or be prepared to buy a tax stamp. Some idiot ruined an otherwise beautiful weapon.
I have found that a chop saw does a lot neater job that a hack saw. I used a shop rag in the vice on the chop saw to prevent marring the barrel and deburred the edges using a flat mill file on the outside edge and a round mill file in the inside edge. Finished it up with a little Blue Wonder gun blue for a nice professional finish.
My brother just bought a Russian 12 gauge single shot for cheap. Someone took a hack saw to it, did a crappy job and cut it to 17 1/2 inches. I told him he might as well go ahead and chop it up for good or be prepared to buy a tax stamp. Some idiot ruined an otherwise beautiful weapon.
My new build
I have been lurking here for awhile, but never registered.
So I will not bore you with stock pics of my 500. I do have a parts list that has been order and waiting to arrive.
Hogues Overmolded 12"LOP stock and forend
Elite Tactical Advantage safety
GG&G center sling mount
Spec Ops Lonestar sling
XS Big dot Tritium front sight
Tacstar side saddle
All parts are order and should be here in the week or two. I have signed up for a Tactical Response Fighting shotgun class, so I need to get built and some rounds down range before then.
I still have to work out a tactical light and mount at some point.
It should be great gun when done, I hope.
I have been lurking here for awhile, but never registered.
So I will not bore you with stock pics of my 500. I do have a parts list that has been order and waiting to arrive.
Hogues Overmolded 12"LOP stock and forend
Elite Tactical Advantage safety
GG&G center sling mount
Spec Ops Lonestar sling
XS Big dot Tritium front sight
Tacstar side saddle
All parts are order and should be here in the week or two. I have signed up for a Tactical Response Fighting shotgun class, so I need to get built and some rounds down range before then.
I still have to work out a tactical light and mount at some point.
It should be great gun when done, I hope.
