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The troubled history but bright future of the 930 SPX

Just my 2 cents from the most recent visit to FrontSight. 4 people came there with there 930's in my class. 2 worked flawlessly for the whole 4 days course. 2 (mine included) only lasted for a day before starting to act out.
I had just got mine from Buds couple of days before the course and didnt have time to test it. I did install sidesaddle on and did some cleaning - gun was pretty clean. Upon arrival at the range my safety wouldn't engage - problem was solved with loosening of the saddle bolts a bit. For the first day I was generally a happy camper - even low recoil birds shots cycled the gun flawlessly. On the second day my saddle bolts got loose and I had few jams where elevator got stuck under the bolt release (not sure of the exact name of the parts). It did get better with the tightening of the saddle bolts but I continued to have occasional jams - especially with bucks and sluggs. So I decided to remove the saddle, cleaned and lubricated. It lasted for maybe a half a day or so with only occasional jams, but then magazine stopped feeding the rounds - removed the extension tube and the coil was bended inside several loops((. Had straighten it up, reinstalled, cleaned and lubed again - my last day on the range was plain horrible with jams after every few shots, failures to eject - what a joke ((
Loved my first day so and the 2 other guys,that didn't have any problems, also loved theirs 930. it's a perfect fit for me ergonomically - size wise. Gonna try and make Mozzy fix it for me.
If someone can summarize needed upgrades - follower, magazine spring - which models, where are to buy them from? Should I just give up magazine extension? Frequent jamming on the powerful shots is an issue of my particular gun - am I correct?
 
Sounds like most of those issues were related to the side saddle in which is a known issue unfortunately. The magazine extensions have also been problematic for 930spx owners but Mossberg will take care of that issue or you can switch over to Nordic Compoents. As for the last day of jamming I do not have a good explanation. I would start with keeping the side saddle removed, get the extension magazine issue resolved and do another tear down. Mossberg will certainly fix any issues the gun may have but it can be a lengthy process in some cases. Keep us updated and I am sure others will chime in with their .02.
 
Well, the saddle was off after the second day - so, unless I had screwed up something while removing it - it's unrelated. Well, emailed Mossberg today - let's the wait begins.
 
They are emailing me shipping labels - for some reason it can take up to 5 business days. Never got an answer to my email, but it took around 5 min to get a hold of their customer service.
 
930SPX..........Finally got to shoot it!

Finally got to really wring this thing out this past weekend.

Over the past few weeks, I've been reading everything I can on the board on regards to the 930SPX. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about what would happen.

So after going through the ritual of cleaning and tightening, I was ready to have at it. One thing I did was to take the sharp edges off of each end of the spacer tube. Probably didn't need it, but those edges were darn sharp and a couple of swipes with some 800 grit paper did just the trick.

Ran a box of Remington #4's through it without a hitch. Then proceeded with an old 100rd value pack of cheap Federal 7 1/2 and went without a hitch (the lower recoil rounds were pleasing after the #4's ;) ). A box of cheap Winnie afterwards and again, not a hiccup.

A quick disassemble revealed that there was virtually no wear on the mag tube. Even though I believe this is an area in which wear should most likely be present (I mean come on, two metal parts rubbing together? Of course there's gonna be wear), I was surprised in how minimal it was compared to what I've seen on the board. Wonder if it was because of the deburring of the spacer tube....... who knows.


I can't help but be a little ecstatic at how well it performed out of the box. Wish I woulda had this 8 years ago when I was shooting 3-Gun. ;)
 
Re: 930SPX..........Finally got to shoot it!

LeMat, it's good to here your positive review. People are more likely to post negative comments on message boards it seems. I want to echo what you are saying. I have put about 250 various rounds through my Gen 3 930 SPX. Nothing under 1200 FPS and it has performed very nicely with only a handful of FTE early on (never w/ anything above 1200 FPS). I like your idea of de-burring the spacer tube. It certainly can't hurt. Before I ever shot this gun, I disassembled it and cleaned / lubricated it very thoroughly. I have polished the barrel and mag tube internals using a hardwood dowel with 0000 steel wool wrapped around one end and chucked up in a hand drill. Also a little extra attention to the chamber end of the barrel with some metal polish and cotton wheel in a dremel. This should prevent any shells hanging in the barrel. I replaced the factory spring & follower with a 28" Wolff XP spring and GG&G follower. She always takes 7 in the tube easily and feeds super smooth. I do have some scratches on the outside of the mag tube and the barrel is not the easiest to remove and replace. These were there the first time I disassbled the gun. I have adjusted (centered) the metal spacer ring in the piston / spring area. I don't have a problem with making these adjustments because the way I see it, a gun is like a machine and machines need to be tweaked to operate properly. This is not an $1800 hand crafted masterpiece so I wouldn't expect it to be "perfect" right out of the box. I also added a Limbsaver recoil pad (shoulder surgery earlier this year) and it is a nice addition and has nice fitment.

This gun just gets better the more I shoot it.

Thanks to this forum for providing tons of information and everything you wanted to know about the Mossy 930, but were afraid to ask!

Hammer
 
Re: 930SPX..........Finally got to shoot it!

Thanks for the kind and informative reply Hammerhead100.

One thing I noticed was that there are two split rings on the piston. They remind me of the split rings on an M16 bolt (although there are three on the M16). I remember (even all these twenty-some-odd years) that the splits in those rings should always be opposite of each other. I don't recall in my reading any mention of this. That would be one of the first things I'd look for if the action was not cycling properly.

I have noticed that the chamber could use some polishing. In my CAS days, I used a brake cylinder hone to polish the chambers on my doubles. Picked it up for a dollar from a junk store. ;)

I entertained the thought of selling it before I had even shot it. Not now. :D
 
Re: 930SPX..........Finally got to shoot it!

Great to read Gentlemen!

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us...
 
Re: 930SPX..........Finally got to shoot it!

LeMat said:
One thing I noticed was that there are two split rings on the piston. They remind me of the split rings on an M16 bolt (although there are three on the M16). I remember (even all these twenty-some-odd years) that the splits in those rings should always be opposite of each other. I don't recall in my reading any mention of this. That would be one of the first things I'd look for if the action was not cycling properly.
Click to expand...
I was taught the exact same thing. However, the position of the gap in the rings has absolutely no bearing on the weapon being able to cycle.
Same as on the AR platform, the gaps in the ring for the 930 don't have to be staggered either.
 
930 SPX *range report*

I took my brand new SPX to the range for the first time yesterday. When I first got it I cleaned it really good, but anyway... I shot various loads through through it and there wasn't a single issue. Accurate & ate everything I fed it. AWESOME shotgun!!
 
Re: 930 SPX *range report*

Sweet...I love a happy ending.
 
generation differences???

I just put a 930spx on layaway but wanted to find out the differences between the generations. I got it for 350 so I am assuming it is going to have some issues. I know the rail screws are already loose/stripped out but that is nothing a milling machine and some taps cant fix. The gun store thought it was a home defense but i looked it up and it is defintely an spx, just curious if someone had a link to a thread for the gen differences. I searched but couldnt find much other than the aluminum follower is 3rd gen I believe. -V/R, MM1(SS) Haines
 
Mossberg 930 SPX Lemon??

Well I just sent back my brand new mossberg 930 shotgun for warrenty work. Just bought this firearm last friday and already had to send it back. Nothing but problems so far. Had to call mossberg 8/13 reg a magazine spring that was bad. Gun would only load 5 rounds of 2 3/4 shells. Mossberg sent out new spring this week.Then on thursday this week I took the gun apart to do a detail cleaning only to find horrible deep scratches underneth the gas piston on barrel. Called mossberg today spoke to david who was a great help. Said that I would have to send in my firearm for them to replace the factory magazine tube and replace the coil spring/and piston assembly. Sent out today should have back in a few weeks. I am hoping that this shotgun comes back better than it left. I fell like I bought a lemon. I have spent 700.00 on this firearm and haven't even shot it yet and it's already being sent back. I am keeping my fingers crossed for good things to come out of this.

P.S- Has anyone else had the problems with marks on magazine tube from piston assmebly and had to send your gun back to mossberg???????????
 
Re: Mossberg 930 SPX Lemon??

Sorry to see you're having these issues.

Sadly you're not alone, but here's a thread from one of our members with the same issue and a positive outcome...

Scratch Marks on Magazine Tube

Keep on them and I'm sure Mossberg will have you up and running in no time. Be sure to keep us posted on how it goes...
 
Re: Mossberg 930 SPX Lemon??

Hang in there, Mossberg will make it right but it may be a frustrating process getting there. Trust me it will all be worth it when it finally is working the way it is supposed to. The Mossberg 930 is my favorite shotgun to shoot.
 
Re: generation differences???

Hello and Welcome,
You may want to read m24shooter's thread on "The troubled history but bright future of the 930 SPX".
The ability to identify the various front sight's helps a lot with the different generations.
Best...
 
Re: generation differences???

Welcome to the Mossberg Owners Forum !!

Can't really help with the generation differences...sorry !
 
Re: generation differences???

Thank you for the help, I only have a smartphone to search on so it kind of stinks. I know the gun I am purchasing has a steel or aluminum follower. Have any of you guys bored and tapped the rail mount holes on yours before as my two front holes are stripped out. I have access to a milling machines so it wont be bubblegummed.
 
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