Which mossberg 500 do i have

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Sleek-looking and multi-functional, this shotgun…. Customer Service within all 50 states [email protected] U. Sleek-looking and multi-functional, this shotgun… » View. These simple yet powerful attributes would make various versions of the M the go-to shotgun for hunters, law enforcement officers, and soldiers for decades to come.

When you disassemble a Mossberg , the first thing you notice is how basic the parts are. There are no tiny detent springs or little roll pins, no assemblies of small parts that you have to take photos of so you remember how they should be positioned. Other than a punch to pop out the pins that hold the trigger assembly in place, it can mostly be taken apart with your bare hands. The other thing you notice, even though the receiver is streamlined and not at all bulky, is all the room inside around the action bars, elevator and other components.

While barrels, stocks, grips, and sights for the Mossberg are many and varied, the receiver and action is pretty much the same on every version, save for differences in chamber length. The M has an anodized aluminum receiver and steel bolt that locks into a steel extension of the barrel, which is and always has been interchangeable. The fact that users could swap out barrels in a few seconds without going to a gunsmith meant one shotgun could serve various functions simply by purchasing additional barrels and chokes, scoring big points with hunters on a budget.

One feature that made it so easy to swap out barrels on a Mossberg is the design of the magazine tube. As with most pump guns, the magazine tube is located beneath the barrel and is screwed directly into the receiver. One large locking lug is used to secure the breech. The mag tube is closed at the muzzle end, with the barrel held in place by a bolt attached to its underside that screws into a hole machined into the end of the mag tube.

To remove the barrel from the receiver, all you have to do is unscrew the bolt. The downside is that because the bolt is attached to the barrel at a fixed point, a given barrel can only accommodate a specific magazine tube length. An extended action release makes any Mossberg shotgun with a pistol-grip stock both easier and safer to operate. One feature carried over from the series is the distinctive safety located on the tang.

On the it was a tab that flipped left to right, while on the M it was changed to a tab that moved forward and rearward. You operate it with your thumb, and that feature makes the shotgun inherently ambidextrous. The slide release lever is located on the left side of the gun in front of the trigger, but lefties can still activate it with their trigger finger when necessary. The only flaw of the original M design was its single action bar.

On the earliest models, the lone action bar could occasionally bind or even break under the stress of working the slide action. In , and gauge versions were added to the lineup and a.

Other than the addition of a second action bar, the design of the Model remained unchanged for 30 years. It was the first gun in the industry to offer a cantilever-mount rifled barrel; the first to have interchangeable comb inserts; there was even a.

In the mids, the company introduced a version of the Model that would expand its reach beyond the civilian and hunting market and into the lucrative police and military market: the M The original came with longer magazine tubes for a higher shell capacity, more robust stocks, and a different magazine tube design.

This allows a barrel to be attached to magazine tubes with extensions, something the cannot accommodate. In the s, the military-specific A1 was introduced. It has a trigger guard and safety made of aluminum, instead of a polymer like the and It also has a heavier barrel—a request from the U. A shotgun expert fired 1, rounds to test three slide-actions that cost less than a typical TV.

Mossberg claims the Model is the only shotgun to ever pass the U. The Model is available with five- and eight-shot magazines. The A1 allows the use of magazine extensions in place of the magazine cap for additional ammo capacity. Long-magazine versions of the A1 also include a bayonet lug though some versions of the do also and has a more corrosion-resistant coating.

It has been adopted by the U. It has also been issued by several hundred police departments in the U. Today, Mossberg makes the in two broad categories: field models for hunting purposes, and special-purpose models. Field models are available in a variety of barrel lengths and finishes including modern camouflage patterns , and with sights or optics.

Set-ups include combinations of features optimized for waterfowl, upland game, turkey, and deer hunting. Most smoothbore models come with interchangeable choke tubes and vent-rib barrels, and the receivers are drilled and tapped to accept a rail or scope mounts. Mossberg also offers a number of combination packages, such as a waterfowl set-up along with an additional rifled barrel for use with slugs, if you want to hunt larger game.

Special Purpose models are intended for self-defense, law enforcement, or military applications. Aftermarket magazine extension kits that convert a 6-shot to an 8-shot mag are available everywhere and can be easily installed. In some states, a few Mossberg s might have a restricting plug a. To gain maximum capacity, that plug must be removed. Then load three shells or five shells, in the case of 8-shot mags to push out the plug.

After reassembly, the user can load the maximum allowable number of shells in the mag tube. If for some reason, you find that 8 shells in the mag are not enough, a company called Adaptive Tactical manufactures conversion kits for any Mossberg Maverick 88 , or to accept 5-shot box mags and shot drum mags.

The kit is called Sidewinder Venom. All Mossberg s come with a standard threaded tube nut which holds a standard shotgun fore-end. To change the fore-end to any type of aftermarket fore-end the user may want, the barrel, trigger group and bolt carrier have to be removed. A step-by-step guide can be viewed on this video. The only configuration that comes with a fore-end that has a pistol grip is the Tactical HS Home Security model Item Mossberg also offers a Tactical Tri-Rail Fore-end configuration which, as the name suggests, already has a fore-end with rails on three sides for a number of attachment options, e.

All Mossberg have the same anodized aluminum receiver. The bolt carrier is made of steel, which locks into the steel extension of the barrel. The trigger group housing is made of polymer. The safety tab is located on top of the receiver instead of on the trigger guard, which makes it intuitive, ergonomic, easily accessible and ambidextrous — left-hand shooters will appreciate the position of the safety.

It can be operated by the thumb — pulling it rearward will put it in the safe position, and pushing it forward puts the gun in ready mode a red dot under the safety tab shows which means the shotgun can be fired with the pull of the trigger.

The slide release a. This makes it easy to operate, but the problem is it can be difficult for users to access it if a pistol-style grip is installed instead of the traditional shotgun stock. The only fix for this is to either bolt on a traditional shotgun stock, or install an extended slide release lever from Shoten Arms.

In addition, all Mossberg Tactical receivers are drilled and tapped from the factory, which allows for easy installation of aftermarket rails for mounting several different types of optics, scopes or reflex sights. Some of the Hunting receivers already have a rail installed on top of the receiver. There are literally a ton of stock options for all Mossberg s. Mossberg Tactical configurations all have synthetic black stock. Some have an optional Pistol Grip option: Items , , , , and However, there are five Tactical configurations that come with a more advanced 6-position adjustable synthetic black stock with pistol grip, Items , , , and , the last three of which have a side saddle with room for five spare shells.

These adjustable black stocks work pretty much like an M4 stock, so for users who are accustomed to shooting M4s, these might work better than other types of shotgun stocks. Some wood stocks have a dual-comb, i. Length of trigger pull for all types of stocks varies in all models.

For the Tactical series, the only two configurations with adjustable length of pull are those that come with the 6-position adjustable synthetic stock.

Typical length of pull for all other Tactical stock configurations are For the Hunting series, the majority of stock configurations have a