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New owner of Mossberg 590a1 18.5 7 shot, need help on model.

Glenn

.410
I have been in the market for a 7 short Mossberg 590a1, I wanted the 18.5 barrel with ghost rings for home defense. I ordered one online from WholesaleHunter.com. I headed home to TX to pick up the gun from a FFL in town, and was in a rush to get back to Hollister, MO where I am staying for the summer.

So I get the shotgun and right away something is a little off, the mag tube on the bottom is not flush with the barrel like the Mossberg website shows. I look at the box, and checked serial numbers and it is a 7 shot 18.5 inch 509a1, it just does not match up with the exact same model that is on the mossberg website. I am pretty confused I didn't want to have to get an extension because it seemed that it was already set up the way I wanted it. Does anyone own the 7 shot 509a1 18.5 that came with the mag tube flush? I will attach pics of my gun and the exact same model number from Mossberg.

Thanks ahead of time for the help.
 

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Glenn, I'm going to blow your pix up a little so I can see them better.

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Glenn I see what you mean. Not sure why the web pic and the actual gun don't jive.
The proof is in functionality.
First make sure that the gun is unloaded and on safe. Mossbergs usually ship with a wooden dowel in the mag tube to act as a shell limiter. You need to remove this.
After this is removed get a box of shells and load it up. Safety on, fingers off the trigger and point the gun in a safe direction. If it takes 7 in the mag tube your good to go. To remove the shells just cycle the action and dump the shells out on a soft surface.
Mossberg's quality sometimes sucks. At least your front sight is installed correctly. Check out Sherrif Jon Brown's post. You will notice his mag tube is flush with the barrel. I think his is the same model as yours???
 
Glenn, if you put a wooden dowel down the barrel on a closed and unloaded action, so it touches the bolt face, how long is that measurement at the muzzle?
 
Glenn I see what you mean. Not sure why the web pic and the actual gun don't jive.
The proof is in functionality.
First make sure that the gun is unloaded and on safe. Mossbergs usually ship with a wooden dowel in the mag tube to act as a shell limiter. You need to remove this.
After this is removed get a box of shells and load it up. Safety on, fingers off the trigger and point the gun in a safe direction. If it takes 7 in the mag tube your good to go. To remove the shells just cycle the action and dump the shells out on a soft surface.
Mossberg's quality sometimes sucks. At least your front sight is installed correctly. Check out Sherrif Jon Brown's post. You will notice his mag tube is flush with the barrel. I think his is the same model as yours???
Thanks for the reply. Where would the wooden dowel be at? How would I get to the dowel? On the end closer to the barrel if you take cap off there is a spring on the mag tube.
 
Glenn, if you put a wooden dowel down the barrel on a closed and unloaded action, so it touches the bolt face, how long is that measurement at the muzzle?
Do you mean is it a true 18.5 inches like the box says on the barrel?
 
Hi. I was thinking that you might gain access to a wood dowel from Walmart or Lower or Home Depot or a craft store. Measure and see if the barrel is a true 18.5"

It the barrel is longer than that by an inch or so, and your magazine tube is then correct, I would not concern myself with the visuals.
 
Glenn the wood dowel that I think nitesite is referring to is to measure the barrel length. You could probably use a tape measure to get a close measure on barrel length on the outside not down the barrel. If you need a precise measure than go by a 24" wood dowel and stick it down the barrel until it comes out the other end. Mark it and the measure the length with a tape.

The wooden dowel I'm talking about is a piece that Mossberg puts in the mag tube at the factory to limit the rounds capacity to 3 or 4. This is based on legal hunting rules that probably vary by state. I'm not an expert here.

To remove this rounds limiter you need to remove the mag tube. Maybe on your model this is easy to do. You may be able to remove the front mag tube extension. On my Mossy's I need to unscrew the mag tube from the receiver. This can be a little more difficult. Don't try this unless you know how to do it correctly. YouTube it. There is a good video on this if you search S&J magazine follower for Mossberg 500.
Tip - before doing any of this try and insert some shells. You may find that there is no stroke limiter and that it takes 7 shells and you are all set. Let us know what you find when you do this.
 
Glenn the wood dowel that I think nitesite is referring to is to measure the barrel length. You could probably use a tape measure to get a close measure on barrel length on the outside not down the barrel. If you need a precise measure than go by a 24" wood dowel and stick it down the barrel until it comes out the other end. Mark it and the measure the length with a tape.

The wooden dowel I'm talking about is a piece that Mossberg puts in the mag tube at the factory to limit the rounds capacity to 3 or 4. This is based on legal hunting rules that probably vary by state. I'm not an expert here.

To remove this rounds limiter you need to remove the mag tube. Maybe on your model this is easy to do. You may be able to remove the front mag tube extension. On my Mossy's I need to unscrew the mag tube from the receiver. This can be a little more difficult. Don't try this unless you know how to do it correctly. YouTube it. There is a good video on this if you search S&J magazine follower for Mossberg 500.
Tip - before doing any of this try and insert some shells. You may find that there is no stroke limiter and that it takes 7 shells and you are all set. Let us know what you find when you do this.
Jmm so when I take the cap off the mag tube I just remove the spring out of it. I honestly found no videos on removing this for a 590 or 590a1. I am glad everyone mentioned this because this is my first shotgun. I learned years ago on a Thompson Contender and now I also own a Glock 19 Gen 4. I am pretty excited about the gun. I need to get a wood dowel long enough to see if the barrel is truly 18.5. I did google my model number and I found a bunch of my stock numbers with the same length mag tube. I don't know why the Mossberg page shows it flush. Thanks everyone for the replies. I am hesitant about messing anything up by removing barrel, but I need to get the wooden dowel out of there if it is in the mag tube.

Edit: Okay now I am completely confused. I took the mag cap off and removed the spring and the barrel is obviously glued (like the front sight) onto the mag barrel. I took the spring out and look down the mag tube with a flashlight and didn't see a wood dowel at all. Would I be able to see it by looking down the mag tube?
 
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Glenn you made a great choice on the shot gun. It's a beauty. There are lots of disassembly/reassembly videos on YouTube. It's not hard the take the shot gun apart. No tools required. Take your time and learn how to take it apart and put it back together. You'll need to do this from time to time to clean it. You should at least clean the barrel before you fire it. The barrels are pretty dirty right out of the box.
 
Glenn you made a great choice on the shot gun. It's a beauty. There are lots of disassembly/reassembly videos on YouTube. It's not hard the take the shot gun apart. No tools required. Take your time and learn how to take it apart and put it back together. You'll need to do this from time to time to clean it. You should at least clean the barrel before you fire it. The barrels are pretty dirty right out of the box.

Thanks JMM, I was able to pull off the cap and take spring out and I didn't see a wood dowel in the mag tube. I do want to learn how to break it completely down as I think that is essential to owning any firearm. What are you using to clean the barrel with I have Hoppes #9 and CLP for my glock. What do you recommend for cleaning the barrel on my 590a1?
 
Thanks for that, I forget how to use an image host, but have it figured out now. It is not much of a difference but the mag tube definitely isn't flush with the barrel like the photo on Mossberg's page. I have been trying to find out if anyone else has the 18.5 509a1 so I can compare but no such luck on 2 different forums so far. The model number is 50774 for the 7 shot gun I bought.

Glenn, I'm going to blow your pix up a little so I can see them better.

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Thanks JMM, I was able to pull off the cap and take spring out and I didn't see a wood dowel in the mag tube. I do want to learn how to break it completely down as I think that is essential to owning any firearm. What are you using to clean the barrel with I have Hoppes #9 and CLP for my glock. What do you recommend for cleaning the barrel on my 590a1?
Hoppes #9 and CLP are both fine products and they'll work fine on the Mossy. Good news on not having the magazine stroke limiter. Now just load up some shells and see if it will take 7.
 
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The barrel will not come off if the action is closed with the bolt forward. It will behave as if it is glued on but it is not.

The long wood dowel I mention is to drop down the muzzle and let it rest against the closed bolt face. That is the barrel length as far as the BATF cares.
 
I want to thank everyone who helped me out on this. I called Choate and they are send an extension on my Mossberg 590a1 18.5 inches 7 shot. Fred was amazing, and they got back to me right away and the company gave incredible customer service. I highly recommend them.
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From the looks of it, to me it looks like there is a longer mag tube extension in the pic from the site compared to the one on yours. I could be wrong, just my 2 cents


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Glenn I see what you mean. Not sure why the web pic and the actual gun don't jive.
The proof is in functionality.
First make sure that the gun is unloaded and on safe. Mossbergs usually ship with a wooden dowel in the mag tube to act as a shell limiter. You need to remove this.
After this is removed get a box of shells and load it up. Safety on, fingers off the trigger and point the gun in a safe direction. If it takes 7 in the mag tube your good to go. To remove the shells just cycle the action and dump the shells out on a soft surface.
Mossberg's quality sometimes sucks. At least your front sight is installed correctly. Check out Sherrif Jon Brown's post. You will notice his mag tube is flush with the barrel. I think his is the same model as yours???
Jmm14534 is "bang" on - quality control at Mossberg seems to be suspect. My 590 however is the 20" 8+1 version.
 
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