Mossberg 500 Upgrade Suggestions

[Phred]

Here's my Moss-500. I also went with a metal safety. All other mods were stuff I already had. I do shoot slugs so I put on a Burris Fast Fire, mounted on a cheap UTG Pic-rail. I added the the two sighting dots on the rail when I don't use the dot. The light is a used Nitecore that only worked on high, perfect. I mounted it with an inexpensive Beamshot RF9. The stock is an ATI talon, with a Hogue forend. I modified a TRU-Point front fiber optic sight to fit the top rail. All in all, a fairly reasonably priced home defense tool.

 

[dojiijii]

Here's my Moss-500. I also went with a metal safety. All other mods were stuff I already had. I do shoot slugs so I put on a Burris Fast Fire, mounted on a cheap UTG Pic-rail. I added the the two sighting dots on the rail when I don't use the dot. The light is a used Nitecore that only worked on high, perfect. I mounted it with an inexpensive Beamshot RF9. The stock is an ATI talon, with a Hogue forend. I modified a TRU-Point front fiber optic sight to fit the top rail. All in all, a fairly reasonably priced home defense tool.

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Nice simple build! I like what you did with the fiber optic sight.

 

[Tony617]

I use a Specter Gear 6 round buttstock side saddle. It is held on by Velcro and works very well.

https://www.spectergear.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=062

 

[TNThomas]

Ammo.

Practice.

Ammo.

Rinse.

Repeat.

Yea, you probably don't want to hear this, but Reno is right. I have a 590 Mossy, and I put all the tactical stuff on it, sling, side saddle, ghost ring sights adjustable stock, pistol grips rear and forward etc. Was really fun for goofing off at the range. But I also took hunting for jack rabits and upland game in the high desert with buddies (I put a dowel in it to get the capacity within the legal range). My buddies just used hunting shotguns, and were always faster on target than me. I then realised the beauty of a shotgun lies in its simplicity, light weight, and quick sight aquisition. A bead is the best sight you need for a shotgun. Shoot clays often enough and you will realise this, or shoot at un enexpected running animals. I personally dont like fiber optic as they are they dont work grest unless you are in full daylight. And even then a simple bead is often higher contrast (dark on light vs light on light). You dont have time to pick up a rear sight and front post either. Night time in a house? Maybe, but if you can't intuitively hit a human sized target with a long gun at that range, you are not practicing enough, even in the dark.
Also the sleek profile just makes getting it up and going way faster, mark against side saddles. Definitely consider a stock that fights you though, but dont get a collapseable. You can get better leverage leverage the gun faster to get on target faster, with a standard profile stock. Stay away from pistol grips, especially up front. I broke an action bar because its super easy to twist the bars laterally when cycling with this setup. Pistol grips in the rear also are not as fast, a standard stock gives you more leverage, and naturally points your arm in a straighter line to get on target faster. Sling? Nope, light guns dont need slings, just more junk to get caught on stuff. And if you are packin a 12 guage around fot self defense, best have that babby in your hands ready to go. Simple is king here.

And keep shooting regularly. Accuracy fades with time off.

The snap caps are also a good idea though.

 

[Stomper]

Here's my Moss-500. I also went with a metal safety. All other mods were stuff I already had. I do shoot slugs so I put on a Burris Fast Fire, mounted on a cheap UTG Pic-rail. I added the the two sighting dots on the rail when I don't use the dot. The light is a used Nitecore that only worked on high, perfect. I mounted it with an inexpensive Beamshot RF9. The stock is an ATI talon, with a Hogue forend. I modified a TRU-Point front fiber optic sight to fit the top rail. All in all, a fairly reasonably priced home defense tool.

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Love the vent rib!

Is that a factory barrel or a custom cut?

 

[Phred]

Hi Stomper,
A a machinist it was easy for me to part off the stock barrel and chuck up the 18 1/4" that was left and cut a radius for the crown. I removed about 7 3/4" and cold blued the area I machined. I relieved and reshaped the front of the rib just to tidy it up a bit

 

[dojiijii]

Yea, you probably don't want to hear this, but Reno is right. I have a 590 Mossy, and I put all the tactical stuff on it, sling, side saddle, ghost ring sights adjustable stock, pistol grips rear and forward etc. Was really fun for goofing off at the range. But I also took hunting for jack rabits and upland game in the high desert with buddies (I put a dowel in it to get the capacity within the legal range). My buddies just used hunting shotguns, and were always faster on target than me. I then realised the beauty of a shotgun lies in its simplicity, light weight, and quick sight aquisition. A bead is the best sight you need for a shotgun. Shoot clays often enough and you will realise this, or shoot at un enexpected running animals. I personally dont like fiber optic as they are they dont work grest unless you are in full daylight. And even then a simple bead is often higher contrast (dark on light vs light on light). You dont have time to pick up a rear sight and front post either. Night time in a house? Maybe, but if you can't intuitively hit a human sized target with a long gun at that range, you are not practicing enough, even in the dark.
Also the sleek profile just makes getting it up and going way faster, mark against side saddles. Definitely consider a stock that fights you though, but dont get a collapseable. You can get better leverage leverage the gun faster to get on target faster, with a standard profile stock. Stay away from pistol grips, especially up front. I broke an action bar because its super easy to twist the bars laterally when cycling with this setup. Pistol grips in the rear also are not as fast, a standard stock gives you more leverage, and naturally points your arm in a straighter line to get on target faster. Sling? Nope, light guns dont need slings, just more junk to get caught on stuff. And if you are packin a 12 guage around fot self defense, best have that babby in your hands ready to go. Simple is king here.

And keep shooting regularly. Accuracy fades with time off.

The snap caps are also a good idea though.

I'm familiar with the advantages of speed; I learned shotgunning before anything else, by hunting varmints with buckshot (I know, I know, but hey, it makes it a challenge to get those skittish squirrels).

This 500 came with a pistol grip, which gives a lot more maneuverability than the full stock, but other than that it's not great; the Magpul stock looks like it would grant a similar degree of maneuverability to a pistol grip, but still have the advantages of a full stock, and leave the (to be upgraded) Mossberg safety accessible.

This 500 doesn't have a rib, and the tiny bead sight is barely visible (the shotgun I learned on had a rib and a larger bead), so I'm looking for a larger front sight for quick acquisition. I've heard good things about ghost ring sights, but as I've never used them I'm leaning toward an XS Big Dot for the time being, since I want something simple, and I like the night-sight functionality. This 500 doesn't have a tapped receiver anyway.

I still have the capacity-limiting dowel that the 500 came with, so I can just use that if I want to take it hunting.

I have a decent sling and Uncle Mike's quick release sling mounts (the only money I've put into it up to this point); it's easy to store with the sling off and put it on when I take it out shooting. The mounting location on the bottom of the stock stock is terrible though; the bottom of the grip digs into my back when using the sling. I don't know if I'll be able to use those mounts with a Magpul stock though, but that's a problem for later.

I'm not too concerned about having more than 5 rounds (if that's not enough, things will have gone very, very badly, and this wouldn't be a primary defense weapon anyhow), so I'm not considering a side saddle for version 1. I will probably spring for a cheap one later, to see how it feels.

The biggest question I have now is what light and mount to go with. I've seen some nice setups on Magpul fore-grips, but I don't want to spend big bucks on a dedicated light just yet, so I'll wait on that for the moment as well, unless someone can suggest a reliable, economic, dedicated gun light.

I already have snap caps; dry-fire and other mechanical practice and muscle memory development is something I do with each of my firearms (especially in these times of ammo scarcity).

 

[dojiijii]

Stay away from pistol grips, especially up front. I broke an action bar because its super easy to twist the bars laterally when cycling with this setup.

I've never cared for vertical fore grips and wasn't planning to get one, but this is a great piece of information I'd have never considered.

 

[ob1]

For extra shells, keep them inside the buttstock, out of the

Speedfeed also made these in a pistol grip style. You might be able to still find one (oop) if you look around.
It takes a little practice to get used to loading these but I prefer them over side saddles, less likely to snag them on something.

 

[Tony617]

I still have my Maverick 88 and put a clip on fiber optic sight. I have taken it the range a few times and it stays put.

https://www.truglo.com/fiber-optic-universal-shotgun-front-sight/

 

[dojiijii]

Stage 1 upgrades nearly done, will post pics soon.

 

[salmon creek gary]

Good stuff. I've bookmarked more links from this thread than any that I've followed over the past decade. That slick Buttstock Speedfeed really tickled my fancy even though it's 10X the cost of the elastic butt sleeve I now have on my Maverick 88. Sadly, though, that ad doesn't list the 88 as "compatible". Oversight maybe? I have seen other aftermarket buttstocks for the 500 that list the 88 as compatible. If it really is incompatible, can anyone help me understand the difference?

 

[dojiijii]

Good stuff. I've bookmarked more links from this thread than any that I've followed over the past decade. That slick Buttstock Speedfeed really tickled my fancy even though it's 10X the cost of the elastic butt sleeve I now have on my Maverick 88. Sadly, though, that ad doesn't list the 88 as "compatible". Oversight maybe? I have seen other aftermarket buttstocks for the 500 that list the 88 as compatible. If it really is incompatible, can anyone help me understand the difference?

Buttstocks are interchangeable between the 500 and the 88. The only real differences are in the receiver and trigger groups; the 500 has a receiver milled for a top-mounted safety, and the 88 has a cross-bolt safety built into the trigger group.

 

[Tony617]

Good stuff. I've bookmarked more links from this thread than any that I've followed over the past decade. That slick Buttstock Speedfeed really tickled my fancy even though it's 10X the cost of the elastic butt sleeve I now have on my Maverick 88. Sadly, though, that ad doesn't list the 88 as "compatible". Oversight maybe? I have seen other aftermarket buttstocks for the 500 that list the 88 as compatible. If it really is incompatible, can anyone help me understand the difference?

I have a Maverick 88 and I do not have a buttstock side saddle on that shotgun. I was experimenting and bough a TacStar 6 round receiver mounted instead. But my 590A1 I use the buttstock side saddle.

https://www.amazon.com/TacStar-6-Shot-Sidesaddle-Black/dp/B001AMZXQI

I had to use blue loctite so be sure you write the serial number or take a picture and save it.

 

[Unka-Boo]

I still have my Maverick 88 and put a clip on fiber optic sight. I have taken it the range a few times and it stays put.

https://www.truglo.com/fiber-optic-universal-shotgun-front-sight/

I put one of those and a +2 on my 870, trying to keep it simple. The sight has been on there for years and hundreds of rounds, no issues.

 

[dojiijii]

So far I'm happy with the upgrades, though I've already spent more money than I planned (Magpul hardware is nice, but damn expensive). I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet, but I really like the way it feels and handles, and the sights are a huge upgrade.

Next stage: work out a modular sling solution, and find a weapon light and mount I like. I think I'll also go with a velcro ammo card so I can just leave it off unless I'm out at the range.

Stage 1 Upgrade Pics

Buttstock and foregrip: Magpul SGA/Magpul MOE M-Lok (gray):


Sights: XS Big Dot Tritium (yellow):




Safety: NDZ Enhanced Tactical Slide Safety (black):



Before and After:

 

[Phred]

dojiijii

Looks good. What kind of sling mount did you use on the front? Thanks.

 

[titsonritz]

dojiijii

Looks good. What kind of sling mount did you use on the front? Thanks.

Looks like one of these...
https://unclemikes.com/qd-super-swivel-non-tri-lock/

 

[dojiijii]

dojiijii

Looks good. What kind of sling mount did you use on the front? Thanks.

That's my 27 year old Uncle Mike's quick release sling swivel. They're nice, it only takes about 15 seconds to remove or attach the swivel from the mount. However, they only support a one inch wide sling. I imagine you can get bigger ones though.

The swivels:


My old sling:


(Yes, I was able to find my original packaging for these, I used to save everything.)

 

[titsonritz]

Sights: XS Big Dot Tritium (yellow):
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I have the same front sight on my 870. I used JB Weld to attach it. What did you use?