Getting a new shotgun tomorrow.

Aryeh Jay

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Tomorrow, January 11th, I will be picking up a new Mossberg 930 semi-automatic shotgun. I was going to get an 8 shot Mossberg 500 pump with “ghost rings” to be a companion for my older 6 shot 500 with “ghost Rings”. What I really wanted was a Benelli M4 Semi-auto but I just didn’t have $2000 plus change lying around. My son suggested the 930 as a compromise and said that most of the 3 gun shooters use it. I shot one at my local range yesterday and was sold.

Pictures to follow…
 

ChavaK

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I've been thinking about the Mossberg JM Pro, but I have a friend who just bought a Stoeger (owned by Benelli) semi auto that he said he bought because it was more highly recommended than the Mossberg.
I've never shot either one, but am leaning towards the Mossberg because as you said a lot of people shoot them. Interested to see your photos and why you liked it.
 
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Aryeh Jay

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I ended up working late Thursday and got to the shop 20 minutes before they closed so there was not time to call in the paperwork for the background check. They called it in Friday morning and I picked it up at about 3:30 and had just enough time to get it home and put it away before my wife lit the Sabbath candles. I will be taking it out tomorrow morning in the 16 degree weather to the DNR range and run a few shells through it before I freeze. 100 rounds of #6 game loads and 25 rounds of 00 buckshot. My son will be helping with the Mossberg 500.
 
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Aryeh Jay

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Mossberg 930 review. I took my recently purchased Mossberg 930 out yesterday (during a blizzard of lake effect snow with 20 feet of visibility, I love West Michigan in winter) to an outdoor Michigan DNR shooting area because my closest indoor range does not allow shotguns and I did not want to drive 60 miles with almost no visibility.

Anyway, this is what was fired…

8 rounds of 3 inch Federal slugs (they were old and needed to be shot)

50 rounds of Winchester 2 ¾ inch 1 1/8 oz #8 shot 1200 FPS low brass heavy target loads (on sale in 2016 for $2.50, bought everything Wal-Mart had).

50 rounds of Remington 2 ¾ inch 1 ¼ oz #4 shot 1330 FPS high brass pheasant loads ($12.99 at gun store).

125 rounds of Remington 2 ¾ inch 9 pellet 00 buckshot 1325 FPS (also on sail at Wal-Mart in 2016 for $2.50 a box and bought everything they had).

100 rounds of Spanish manufactured Royal Buck by Rio, 2 ¾ inch 21 pellet #4 Buckshot 1345 FPS ($3.99 at gun store)


About the shotgun…

A Mossberg 930 gas operated 5+1 tube fed “tactical” shotgun. It has an 18 ½ inch cylinder bore barrel (no choke). There is a spike “breaching” attachment at the end of the barrel, six shot shell holder on the side, a picatiny rail on the top and a little one for a light near the end of the barrel. The sight is a standard little white centered ball. I will be having a new front sight put on by my gunsmith to accommodate a “ghost ring” rear sight.


The first noticeable thing was the much lower recoil compared to a similar sized pump shotgun. Even the heaviest loads (3 inch slugs) were manageable. The shotgun ate everything I fed it including snow without issue, except the #8 birdshot. There was just not enough oomph to completely cycle the action. They would eject but the slide did not go far enough to feed the next shell. However we (my son helped) did find a use for them by mixing them in to the loadings, we were able to do simulated clearing and malfunction drills so they were not a waste. Also, I was able to manually operate the bolt almost as fast as his pump, but that is not the reason to buy a gas operated shotgun. So, unfortunately, no cheap birdshot.

The patterns were to be expected for a short barrel combat shotgun with no choke. At 10 meters (33 feet) both buck shots grouped at 14-18 inches, the bird shot at 24-28 inches.

The 3 inch slug shells were thrown about 15 feet, the buck shot and premium birdshot shells were thrown 6-8 feet and the cheap bird shot dropped at my feet without chambering a new round.

Cleaning and reassembly was easy and you tube helps too. It was pretty dirty but should have no problem shooting 500-600 rounds before the gas system starts to let you know it needs cleaning.


It got snow, water, and ice in it, water would freeze when we were reloading and changing targets. No problems with that at all and after 30 or so rounds, it was a nice hand warmer.


My favorite round was the Spanish #4 buck shot. 21 .24 caliber pellets did a number on everything we shot. For home defense it has less over penetration than regular 00 buckshot but will still take the fight out of any threat. At ten feet, the 00 buck would penetrate a standard pine 2x4. The #4 buckshot went about 1 ¼ inch into it and splintered the back but did not penetrate (a modern 2x4 is only about 1 ½ inches thick). Frozen wood may have had an effect though.

Overall, I am really happy with it and the only things I am going to change is adding a better front sight and putting on a 2 shot extension tube.

Pictures were taken but they have my GPS location so I need to figure a way to remove that.
 
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ChavaK

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Thanks for the great review! I'll have to seriously start looking at purchasing something soon!

I went and watched a shot gun drag race New Year's day and it did look like a lot of fun. Hopefully they will repeat it next year-by then I should have a shot gun and some practice with it.

I was really impressed with the Cowboy shooters who were there-they were using lever action shotguns but keeping up with and with one man in specific beating everyone.
 
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