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In 1998 I walked into Walmart in Southwest Austin to buy a shotgun for dove hunting. I fixed on a Mossberg 500 with 28" Vent Rib Accuchoke barrel and gave the princely sum of $179.99 + tax for it.
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In the intervening years I used it for bird hunting, clay target shooting, snake/possum/feral cat eradication. I shot thousands upon thousands of rounds of all kinds of loads through it over the years and it never failed to fire, eject or chamber. When I wasn't hunting with it I kept it loaded with 3" 00 for home defense (28" barrel and all).
A few years ago my agency sent me to firearms instructor school so I went to Cabela's and picked up an 18.5" barrel for the Mossberg and it went to school with me. We shot a whole bunch of birdshot, buckshot and slugs and I learned a lot of new stuff that I hadn't learned 10 years or more prior when I last had any shotgun training. I learned that I wanted a sling so I made one out of tubular webbing and some hardware I had left over from another project.
This forum let me know that I wanted a light mounted on the gun as well. I bought a TLR-1
and a Streamlight magazine tube mount and put it on the Mossberg.
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I've put a lot more rounds through the gun in the past few years and have run a lot of drills. Every time we have a range day I work with my shotgun between officers showing up to qualify. The sling and light that I have on the gun now have yet to give me any problems.
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Thanks to this forum I was turned on to the Federal Tactical 00 and have used it excusively ever since.
A few months ago I noticed that the magazine spring was starting to get pretty weak. Thanks to the generosity of a forum member a spring showed up in the mail and I put it in the gun. A few weeks after that the generosity of another forum member resulted in a 3 Gun Gear 7 round velcro sidesaddle showing up in my mailbox. Unfortunately the field model forearm on my shotgun wouldn't clear the sidesaddle.
This week I completely disassembled the shotgun and cleaned all the inside parts. I cut down, reshaped, stripped, and refinished the forearm to clear the sidesaddle. As long as I was refinishing I cut down the buttstock and stripped and refinished it. All I'm lacking is some kind of new butt plate and I'll probably just pick up a plastic one at a gun show and shape it to fit.
So here it is almost all finished. I'm still considering a metal safety and a BigDot.
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And within seconds I can put the long barrel on it and head out for doves, ducks, turkeys or whatever.
I've gone back and forth on the idea of sending the man his money so I can cut the barrel down even with the magazine tube. Who knows what the future will hold?
In the intervening years I used it for bird hunting, clay target shooting, snake/possum/feral cat eradication. I shot thousands upon thousands of rounds of all kinds of loads through it over the years and it never failed to fire, eject or chamber. When I wasn't hunting with it I kept it loaded with 3" 00 for home defense (28" barrel and all).
A few years ago my agency sent me to firearms instructor school so I went to Cabela's and picked up an 18.5" barrel for the Mossberg and it went to school with me. We shot a whole bunch of birdshot, buckshot and slugs and I learned a lot of new stuff that I hadn't learned 10 years or more prior when I last had any shotgun training. I learned that I wanted a sling so I made one out of tubular webbing and some hardware I had left over from another project.
This forum let me know that I wanted a light mounted on the gun as well. I bought a TLR-1
and a Streamlight magazine tube mount and put it on the Mossberg.
I've put a lot more rounds through the gun in the past few years and have run a lot of drills. Every time we have a range day I work with my shotgun between officers showing up to qualify. The sling and light that I have on the gun now have yet to give me any problems.
Thanks to this forum I was turned on to the Federal Tactical 00 and have used it excusively ever since.
A few months ago I noticed that the magazine spring was starting to get pretty weak. Thanks to the generosity of a forum member a spring showed up in the mail and I put it in the gun. A few weeks after that the generosity of another forum member resulted in a 3 Gun Gear 7 round velcro sidesaddle showing up in my mailbox. Unfortunately the field model forearm on my shotgun wouldn't clear the sidesaddle.
This week I completely disassembled the shotgun and cleaned all the inside parts. I cut down, reshaped, stripped, and refinished the forearm to clear the sidesaddle. As long as I was refinishing I cut down the buttstock and stripped and refinished it. All I'm lacking is some kind of new butt plate and I'll probably just pick up a plastic one at a gun show and shape it to fit.
So here it is almost all finished. I'm still considering a metal safety and a BigDot.
And within seconds I can put the long barrel on it and head out for doves, ducks, turkeys or whatever.
I've gone back and forth on the idea of sending the man his money so I can cut the barrel down even with the magazine tube. Who knows what the future will hold?
