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Mossberg International - SA-20 - Review + Pics

180K views 246 replies 70 participants last post by  shaner 
#1 ·
As most of you that read these forums know I am a HUGE fan of the Mossberg 930. When I was at the NWTF convention in Nashville in '07 the people at the Mossberg booth hinted that there was a 20GA autoloader in the works. I was hopeful, as were a lot of others, that it would be a scaled down 20GA version of the venerable 930. In November, I was lucky enough to see one at one of the distributors here in CT, I was quick to let everyone know that it wasn't a "920", but a Mossberg International SA-20. There was, of course, some initial disappointment that Mossberg didn't make one of their own, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt and waited for some reviews, I waited, and waited, and waited some more….

I have only heard of one person that bought a 28" barreled SA-20 and he was happy with it, but a sample size of one, doesn't make for a reliable basis for judgement.

Fast forward to March, turkey season is approaching and my son needs a 20GA autoloader (I have a 20GA super bantam model 500 for him, but the light weight of the gun is a disadvantage in terms of recoil). I begin my search, the 20GA Beretta 391 looks really nice, but I can't justify spending $800+ on a "kid's gun". My dealer has had a lot of issues with the Charles Daly semi's (more 12GA than 20GA, but still…). We were just about settled on a Remington 1100, but, new ones were expensive and used ones are almost impossible to find…

During my search I saw that Mossberg (International) was showing a "Bantam" model of the SA-20, it has a 24" barrel and a 13" LOP, I looked for more reviews and couldn't find any, so I figured I'd "take one for the team". I went down and talked with my dealer, he said they weren't listed in his catalog yet, but he'd see what he could do… I give him some money and 30 days later I get a call from him that it has arrived.

I picked it up and initial impressions are very good!!. The gun is packaged with the barrel off and the overall packaging is really nice, actually better that my 930's…

The gun comes with 3 drop spacers and 1 spacer for cast, it also comes with 5 choke tubes (the 930 only comes with 3), the choke tubes are packaged in a nice choke tube case with a very nice choke wrench.

The gun is made by www.armsan.com in Turkey, from what I gather they make guns for other makers, too (the Smith & Wesson guns look extremely similar). It is supposedly a copy of a Beretta A30x series, I don't know Berettas well enough to tell which model, if there's any Beretta gurus that want to figure it out let me know….

Here are the initial pics, my son and I will be taking it to the range tomorrow, more reviews to follow….

If anyone wants to know something to specific, let me know…

Smitty












Higher Res photos are in the PHOTO section...
 
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#227 ·
Many have had problems with Winchester loads in pump guns and semi's.
Something about the base metal and how it expands and has a tough time ejecting.
I reload all the gauges that I shoot so when I finally get me an SA-20 I will load HOT for the first couple thousand loads.
 
#228 ·
LTB45 said:
Many have had problems with Winchester loads in pump guns and semi's.
Something about the base metal and how it expands and has a tough time ejecting.
I reload all the gauges that I shoot so when I finally get me an SA-20 I will load HOT for the first couple thousand loads.
When I shot my SA-20 for the first time I used cheap Winchester Super Speeds, 7/8@1275 and the gun was "broken in" after 8 rounds. I fired two boxes of that stuff with no problems, then switched to my handloads.

Since then the gun has cycled everything down to 3/4oz @ 1200. The only loads I had trouble with were some ridiculously light 3/4oz @ 1100 I had loaded for my Mossberg pump, and the only problem with those were two rounds that did not fully cycle the action.

I have no idea why Mossberg would specify 15/16 ounce (a European standard) when the most common 20 gauge loads are 7/8oz, and the very similar Weatherby SA-08 and the Tri-Star don't.

Every gun is unique though, and KaylenZ's gun has the short barrel which does make a difference in how much port pressure is required to cycle properly. The same thing happens with the very short barrel AR-15's.

If you want to try the 15/16oz loads, the best place to get them is here: http://www.bandpusa.com/15-16-oz/



These are excellent loads and considering the free shipping, the price is right for top quality ammunition.
 
#230 ·
young gun 526407 said:
really nice gun for somebody in the market for a soft shooting 20 gauge.
I took mine afield for the first time yesterday.

I've used it quite a bit on the skeet range but yesterday I had a break between duck hunting sessions and went walking the marsh for some snipe.

It was too dry for the birds, no snipe to be had, but the SA-20 made a nice light walking around gun, which is exactly what I had in mind when I bought it.

Hope your enjoying yours as well.
 
#233 ·
Hello Y'all,
I finally got my replacement gun back in. I have been waiting from July for Mossberg to make me a new SA-20 and ship it to Davidson to get it to me. I really like not having to push the bolt release but to load in the extra shells. Here's a picture of her waiting to go out tomorrow to shoot some clays. Have fun, tony
P.s. As you can see the screwdriver is there so that I can put the shims in for the stock adjustment
 
#235 ·
Hey Y'all,
I took the new girl out this morning to make sure all is well with her. I loaded one in the chamber and five in the mag tube. One more time with a loaded gun. She jumped a lot when I tried to pull the trigger as fast as I could. And then one last round with just the two shells I had left. She handled them all well with no ftf's or fte's. It was a little to cold to be out there for me to keep on having fun. I took her home. I noticed right off that I believe the follower plug is red now. I think my first gen gun had a silver follower. I am trying to take her down to do the initial cleaning. The trigger group pin is being a pain. I need to go get my punch to get it out. If someone with a first gen gun could look at there follower plug and tell me it's color I would appreciate it. Well hopefully the global warming kicks in and it will warm up here so I can take her back out Wednesday. Y'all have fun, tony.
 
#236 ·
Update on my SA20 Turkey Thug. I posted earlier that I bought my grandson a standard SA20 and liked it so much I bought me a Turkey Thug. Have taken squirrel, quail, rabbit, dove, and 2 deer with it this past fall. Bought a cylinder choke tube and it loves 3 inch Brennke slugs. No problems at this time. It's so lite compared to my 12 ga 1100. Recoil is negligible even with 3 inch. Hope it serves as well as my 1100, since 1976.
 
#237 ·
Hi all, I have an SA-20 that has been bullet proof. It has shot everything I have fed it. The only cycling issue I have had is when it was shot and not tight on my shoulder while grouse hunting. I am looking to hand this gun down to my son(turning 12 soon). Although he is a big kid the standard stock is just a tad too long right now. I am looking to buy a used bantam stock for him to use for now. If anyone has one they would like to part with or knows any leads I would greatly appreciate the help. I know the Weatherby stocks will fit from reading this thread but $80 seems a bit high to me for a plastic stock. If i have no other options I guess I will have to bite the bullet and buy it. I have also placed a WTB thread in the classifieds.
F&F
 
#240 ·
thouk said:
Hello Y'all,
I saw a magazine extension for the SA-20. I was wondering if anybody has used or bought one yet? http://www.riflestock.com/store/do/product/02-04-43. Thanks, Tony
This is the same company that Mossberg buys the extensions for the SA-20 "Tactical", I wouldn't be afraid to order anything from them...

The owner, Fred, stands by his products....

Smitty
 
#242 ·
This is a great thread about this little gun. I bought one for my 11 years old son last Christmas, and will share my impressions.

Like the original poster, came packaged very well, easy to assemble, field strip, clean, etc.

My son has used it only for shooting clays so far - no hunting yet. He joined the clubs junior tournament team and has been using it for skeet, trap and sporting clays. I did buy Carlson extended choke tubes for it.

Early on, as mentioned by others, the gun would not reliably cycle anything under 1oz loads. I took a brass brush on a shaft that fit into the barrel, put it in a high speed drill, and worked the chamber pretty good, then cleaned it up nice. Since then we have not had any major issues with 7/8 oz loads. He has shot around 1,500 rounds of 7/8 oz Rio's and maybe 1 in 200 doesn't cycle.

I have run into an issue though, which I also want to share. This gun does like to be clean. We let it go a bit too long, and with the last field strip I broke the action spring. There was a lot of carbon built up under the piston, and the spring caught on it. When I tried to push it off, the last 1 1/2 inches of spring snapped off.

This spring had become very brittle, and could be easiliy snapped again. It appears to me to have been made from very cheap, poor quality metal. Please be careful with yours.

Also, having a hard time so far finding a replacement.
 
#243 ·
ecribbs said:
This is a great thread about this little gun. I bought one for my 11 years old son last Christmas, and will share my impressions.

Like the original poster, came packaged very well, easy to assemble, field strip, clean, etc.

My son has used it only for shooting clays so far - no hunting yet. He joined the clubs junior tournament team and has been using it for skeet, trap and sporting clays. I did buy Carlson extended choke tubes for it.

Early on, as mentioned by others, the gun would not reliably cycle anything under 1oz loads. I took a brass brush on a shaft that fit into the barrel, put it in a high speed drill, and worked the chamber pretty good, then cleaned it up nice. Since then we have not had any major issues with 7/8 oz loads. He has shot around 1,500 rounds of 7/8 oz Rio's and maybe 1 in 200 doesn't cycle.

I have run into an issue though, which I also want to share. This gun does like to be clean. We let it go a bit too long, and with the last field strip I broke the action spring. There was a lot of carbon built up under the piston, and the spring caught on it. When I tried to push it off, the last 1 1/2 inches of spring snapped off.

This spring had become very brittle, and could be easiliy snapped again. It appears to me to have been made from very cheap, poor quality metal. Please be careful with yours.

Also, having a hard time so far finding a replacement.
Have you called Mossberg about the spring? Your gun should still be under warranty and they will get the spring to you for free.

I have let my SA-20 get pretty dirty but have never experienced what you described.
 
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