[solar]

I recently bought a Mossberg 500 Combo, and *thought* I was told it could only handle up to 3" shells. However, a friend of mine has a 'non-combo' Mossberg 500 and has had no problem shooting 3.5" shells - was I misled - can mine handle 3.5" shells, or is there a difference between the two Mossberg 500's?

Thanks

 

[OneInchGroup]

I recently bought a Mossberg 500 Combo, and *thought* I was told it could only handle up to 3" shells. However, a friend of mine has a 'non-combo' Mossberg 500 and has had no problem shooting 3.5" shells - was I misled - can mine handle 3.5" shells, or is there a difference between the two Mossberg 500's?

Thanks

To quote the Aussie Crocodile Hunter: "DANGER DANGER DANGER!" Your pal must have a Mossy model 535 if he's loading 3 1/2" Magnum shells. It looks exactly the same, BUT the chambering is such that you can safely load 2 3/4, 3" and 3 1/2" shells in that weapon. Your 500 Combo cannot do the same thing safely, as you will have the front 1/2" of the shell in the barrel , past the chamber. To verify this, look at the roll mark stamping on the barrel just above the forearm, where Mossberg cleverly tells you what chambering is in each barrel they sell. Yours should say "Chambered for 2 3/4" and 3" shells ONLY", while the 535 says 2 3/4, 3" and 3 1/2". Even if the big boys happen to be loadable in a 500, its going to have a nice beer belly effect before long if you actually fire the mags - pressure is beyond proof pressure for the 500 barrels.

 

[BattleRifleG3]

Absolutely right. The Mossbergs that can take 3.5" shells are the 535 and the 835 for pumps, and the 935 in autoloading.

That's less complicated than the Rem 870 that has a super mag model for the 3.5" shells, which will still take all barrels for 3". Convenient, but still complicated.