Mossberg has slowly closed out its factory here in CT and relies on out-sourced parts mainly from Mexico to reassemble the components across the Rio Grande, in Texas, to proudly claim, "Made in America." Mossberg has used more and more out-sourced parts for a while now. I'm not sure if the after market barrels from China are now used by Mossberg, but I know they exist. Buy a used 500 made in the 1980s for half the price and rest assured it will run forever.