In preparation for a Shotgun 260 course at Gunsite it was time to take stock on what equipment I will be using for the class.
I've had two Mossberg 500 shotguns sitting in the safe for several years. One is a plain Mossberg 500 that came with a 28" and 18.5" barrel and a 5-round magazine. It is a post-1997 model and features a drilled and tapped receiver to accept a top rail. I use it for trap, skeet and hunting with the 28" barrel. The other is a pre-1997 500A model with a 7-round magazine, 20" barrel, but a plain receiver with no holes on top. I bought it off of a friend for a deal that was too good to pass up as he was moving out of town and could not take it with him.
For the price, it was the perfect extra shotgun to have around in the back of the truck, back of the safe or back of the closet. However, it needed a lot of help. It came to me after being "zombified"! Complete with a pistol grip, folding stock, side saddle and top saddle shell carriers, a pistol grip for the foregrip, and a cheap heat shield over the barrel. It was terribly uncomfortable to shoot, and worse to look at. I never took a picture of it but, here is something pretty close to it:
The purchase included a set of Hougue furniture but the stock was youth size and so short that my face was up near the back edge of the receiver rather than on the stock. So, with two Mossberg 500s I disassembled both down to a pile of parts and with the help of some choice furniture and accessories from MAGPUL and Amazon Prime, I've assembled two very comfortable and reliable shotguns.
I wanted to build a gun with the following features:
- Ergonomic and adjustable stock
- Comfortable foregrip that accepts a mounted light
- A front sight
- Rear ghost ring sight
- Top rail
- A red dot reflex sight
- Sling points and a sling
A bit of browsing on the MAGPUL website and voila!
After stripping down both guns I began to assemble the best parts and repurpose others.
I really wanted to combine the newer receiver, with holes for a top rail, with the larger magazine and 20" barrel but neither the 20" or the 18.5" barrels have front sights on them other than the small brass beads. The solution was either a gunsmith to solder on a front blade sites, or a clamp on front site and a rail mounted ghost ring like these I found on Amazon:
In the past I've stayed away from the UTG brand as although it is inexpensive is is usually unimpressive quality. However, aftermarket iron sights for shotguns are surprisingly expensive and often require the additional cost of some professional gunsmithing. After some searching it appeared that all of the sites available are similar in design and materials, and the web reviews say that UTG is improving quality so I figured I would give them a try.
Ultimately I had to use the shorter 18.5" barrel and the 5-round magazine in order to accommodate the clamp on front sight. It will be two less rounds at hand but it will be a shorter and slightly more maneuverable barrel complimented by a proper set of iron sights. While researching and selecting iron sights I noticed that the traditional scatter-gun mindset about shotguns is that you don't need sights, just point and shoot. However, with modern ammunition the accuracy is much better, less scattered, and if you're going to shoot a lot of slugs then proper sights are essential. I look forward to learning more about this in the Gunsite glass.
I've had two Mossberg 500 shotguns sitting in the safe for several years. One is a plain Mossberg 500 that came with a 28" and 18.5" barrel and a 5-round magazine. It is a post-1997 model and features a drilled and tapped receiver to accept a top rail. I use it for trap, skeet and hunting with the 28" barrel. The other is a pre-1997 500A model with a 7-round magazine, 20" barrel, but a plain receiver with no holes on top. I bought it off of a friend for a deal that was too good to pass up as he was moving out of town and could not take it with him.
For the price, it was the perfect extra shotgun to have around in the back of the truck, back of the safe or back of the closet. However, it needed a lot of help. It came to me after being "zombified"! Complete with a pistol grip, folding stock, side saddle and top saddle shell carriers, a pistol grip for the foregrip, and a cheap heat shield over the barrel. It was terribly uncomfortable to shoot, and worse to look at. I never took a picture of it but, here is something pretty close to it:
The purchase included a set of Hougue furniture but the stock was youth size and so short that my face was up near the back edge of the receiver rather than on the stock. So, with two Mossberg 500s I disassembled both down to a pile of parts and with the help of some choice furniture and accessories from MAGPUL and Amazon Prime, I've assembled two very comfortable and reliable shotguns.
I wanted to build a gun with the following features:
- Ergonomic and adjustable stock
- Comfortable foregrip that accepts a mounted light
- A front sight
- Rear ghost ring sight
- Top rail
- A red dot reflex sight
- Sling points and a sling
A bit of browsing on the MAGPUL website and voila!
After stripping down both guns I began to assemble the best parts and repurpose others.
I really wanted to combine the newer receiver, with holes for a top rail, with the larger magazine and 20" barrel but neither the 20" or the 18.5" barrels have front sights on them other than the small brass beads. The solution was either a gunsmith to solder on a front blade sites, or a clamp on front site and a rail mounted ghost ring like these I found on Amazon:
In the past I've stayed away from the UTG brand as although it is inexpensive is is usually unimpressive quality. However, aftermarket iron sights for shotguns are surprisingly expensive and often require the additional cost of some professional gunsmithing. After some searching it appeared that all of the sites available are similar in design and materials, and the web reviews say that UTG is improving quality so I figured I would give them a try.
Ultimately I had to use the shorter 18.5" barrel and the 5-round magazine in order to accommodate the clamp on front sight. It will be two less rounds at hand but it will be a shorter and slightly more maneuverable barrel complimented by a proper set of iron sights. While researching and selecting iron sights I noticed that the traditional scatter-gun mindset about shotguns is that you don't need sights, just point and shoot. However, with modern ammunition the accuracy is much better, less scattered, and if you're going to shoot a lot of slugs then proper sights are essential. I look forward to learning more about this in the Gunsite glass.
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