Garage sale find - Mossberg 500 parts

[A J]

I saw an ad on Craigslist for some Mossberg 500 parts. I stopped by and found a slightly rusted 12 gauge ported, cantilevered, rifled slug barrel along with a brand new wooden stock and forearm and scope rings. He was asking $30 for everything. I brought it home and the barrel cleaned up nicely.

This is the first time I ever bought anything of Craigslist. Maybe I need to do this more often! I don't even own a Mossberg 500, but I figure if I watch craigslist long enough, maybe I will some day!

[Junk Yard Dog]

Buy a used 500, I must have bought nearly ten of them over the years, use the parts to spiff it up a bit. I have both bought and sold on Craigslist, nothing gun, all auto or equipment related. Craigslist can be a real pain in the ass, a lot of idiots who waste your time, and sellers who fail to respond to questions or remove ad's for things sold. Every now and then something good comes along that makes it worthwhile to put up with the crap. That small Chevy RV I picked up back in May was a Craigslist find, one of my better deals on there.


The issue's with the plug wires have been corrected since this pic was taken.

[A J]

Great score from craigslist! Congratulations. I need to use craigslist more often. I may even list my old Honda Accord on craigslist next month. (Currently my visiting in-laws are using it.)

I'll definitely get a used 500. Never owned one before - just 870s, but I think I'd like one.

I play drums in a local rock band and actually found both our singer and lead guitar player through a craigslist ad. The bass player and I literally spent about 2 years looking for the right guys. We gave craigslist a shot not expecting much. The first guy we found was a complete ass. He lasted 2 practices. After that, it was smooth sailing. We found an excellent guitar player a week later and then a great singer a month after that. Not only were they great guys, but they're nice guys as well. This band has lasted almost 2 years and there's zero drama. I love it.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Now you need a nice small RV as a tour bus for the band

[Longcolt44]

Are we getting the band back together?

[A J]

Are we getting the band back together?

Yes, at a matter of fact we are. Go ahead and quit your full-time job. We're gonna all pack into JYD's new motorhome and hit the road. We'll have to sober him up first so he can drive because the rest of us have all lost our licenses and have warrants.

Next Saturday the band is actually playing 2 gigs in one day: a new record for us! They're both private parties of people we know. It will require some quick set up and tear down in order to meet the schedule. There's actually very little money in the live band scene. Many of the gigs we play are free of charge. We simply do it for the fun of it. Besides, most private parties allow us to bring our friends and families, offer free food, etc. That's better than the pittance most bars pay nowadays. The only time we charge is if there's a long commute involved or if it's a bar venue. We're playing one gig in September that will involve a long commute to a private club. They're paying well. They heard us playing at a festival this Spring and loved us. (Guess we fooled them!)

[A J]

Now you need a nice small RV as a tour bus for the band

Well, I don't yet have a band bus. Maybe that's my next big purchase! Years ago I converted the top floor of my band to a band practice room. I live out in the country, so we can play as late as we want. My wife is very cool about my band hobby as well. You'll be pleased to know that I have a mosin nagant hanging on the wall of the practice room.

I'm glad I picked up these Mossberg parts. I don't NEED another shotgun as I've already got plenty but it will give me something to look out for and will be sort of fun to cobble together my next gun from stuff I find . My current two drum sets were pieced together over the course of literally decades of buying and selling individual parts and pieces until I had EXACTLY what I wanted. As a result, they're one-of-a-kind instruments. I love them. Yeah, I could've simply spent 3 grand for some shiny new kit but that would take all the fun out of it. Much better to piece it together. I'm going to enjoy putting together a Mossberg 500. I sort of did the same with my 870's by swapping out barrels, stocks and slings.

[entropy]

Now you need a nice small RV as a tour bus for the band

At least someone thought to replace the QuadraJunk with a Holley.....

That 500 barrel new is @$200.

[Junk Yard Dog]

If they hadn't then I would have, but I prefer the Edelbrock performer, the Holly needs fine tuning that can be a pain in the ass. I know how to do it, the original owner did not, one idle screw 100% closed, the other open 5 turns, and the choke stuck open because it's rod was binding against the carb body. He complained about hard starting, no shit? Really? Took twenty minutes to fix, and only because I couldn't find my vacuum gauge. That's an old style 350 in there, pre '86 style with two piece rear main, I never liked the later 80's small blocks.

[A J]

I hate to admit this, but I just learned how to replace spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor button about a month ago.

I'm pretty good at carpentry though - even built a small barn a few years ago!

[millman]

Now you need a nice small RV as a tour bus for the band

Well, I don't yet have a band bus. Maybe that's my next big purchase! Years ago I converted the top floor of my band to a band practice room. I live out in the country, so we can play as late as we want. My wife is very cool about my band hobby as well. You'll be pleased to know that I have a mosin nagant hanging on the wall of the practice room.

I'm glad I picked up these Mossberg parts. I don't NEED another shotgun as I've already got plenty but it will give me something to look out for and will be sort of fun to cobble together my next gun from stuff I find . My current two drum sets were pieced together over the course of literally decades of buying and selling individual parts and pieces until I had EXACTLY what I wanted. As a result, they're one-of-a-kind instruments. I love them. Yeah, I could've simply spent 3 grand for some shiny new kit but that would take all the fun out of it. Much better to piece it together. I'm going to enjoy putting together a Mossberg 500. I sort of did the same with my 870's by swapping out barrels, stocks and slings.

Loud music and Mosins seem to go together. At least that is what the sheriff tells me, when he shows up.

[Junk Yard Dog]

I hate to admit this, but I just learned how to replace spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor button about a month ago.

I'm pretty good at carpentry though - even built a small barn a few years ago!

How about breaker points? Carburetor rebuild, and setting the timing, replacing the fuel filter, and changing the oil ? Valve adjustment? All of these things were SOP for a tune up once upon a time. Except the carb rebuild, before ethanol fuel carbs would last several years of regular use before we had to clean them out. Unless you had a Model T, or A Ford, no fuel filters, carb cleaning was both easy, and frequent. Then we have the transmission band adjustment, this was a Model T task, it went away for a bit, then came back with the automatic transmission. Tire rotation and adjusting the drum brakes, bearing repacking, and grease job. Every couple of years the auto transmission fluid and filter change. The cooling system had to be flushed every 30,000, or couple of years ( this still has to be done today) Before we had Prestone we had Zerone, this was an alcohol based "antifreeze" it would boil off, and needed to be drained out in the spring to be replaced by water, cooling systems were robust and rusty back then.

See that pale green shit in the glass bottle? That's real Zerone, probably the last around this area, it was in a steel can but 30 years ago it started leaking so we put it in the jar. Zerone will eat iron and steel if left in contact with it long enough.

[A J]

You're making my head spin with all the "gear head" speak. You're an impressive guy. Any clown can have all the latest stuff, but a true "gear head guy" builds and fixes stuff on his own. I like the fact you're saving old fluids and stuff. My great grandfather was a carpenter and I have all his old tools displayed high on the wall in my wood shop. Every once in a while I make it a point to use and old wrench or something instead of my nice Craftsman stuff. Every nick, scrape and ding on those old tools has a story behind it and it's kind of cool to think that my hand and his were using the same tool. Same goes with his old .22 rifle. It's the first gun I ever shot as a kid. It was like magic as we fired at sticks floating in a pond.

I restored my great grandfather's old tool box a few years ago, replacing rotted wood and literally saving every stray splinter that I could to re-construct some of the pull-out shelves. The hardest part was stripping about 100 layers of paint off of it and then stained the wood. His original color was a horrible lime green. Makes perfect sense. It would be readily identifiable at a work site and the hardest to steal. I keep it in my band practice room and use it for drum hardware. It's a work of art. I love it.

[A J]

Hey guys,

I have an update and a question. My "Frankenstien" Mossberg 500 is my favorite shotgun. It's now equipped with Hogue furniture, an 18" barrel and a sling. By chance, I discovered the previous owner had replaced the plastic safety with a nice aluminum one. I'm now considering replacing the polymer trigger group with a metal one at a cost of $100. I could probably sell the polymer one for $50. This would essentially give me a 590A1 minus the heavy barrel (which I really don't want anyhow). So what do you think? Is it worth it for the metal trigger group or should I stick with the polymer?

[Junk Yard Dog]

nearly 40 years of using Mossberg 500's in every gauge except 28 and never had a single problem with any part of the trigger group.

[A J]

Thanks JYD. I know you're a long-time "Mossberg guy" and was interested in your feedback.

[entropy]

nearly 40 years of using Mossberg 500's in every gauge except 28 and never had a single problem with any part of the trigger group.

I'll back that up; as a matter of fact, the only repair work I've ever had to do on Mossbergs is replace the plastic safety with a metal one. The smart owners don't wait until it breaks.

You'll hear some 870 owners squwack about 'only one action bar' on the Mossbergs, but I've only seen one that had to be replaced, and that was from the owner trying to 'modify' it for a 'custom' forearm he came up with.....

Never had retack the shell stops back into a Mossberg, either. ( a common repair to Remingtons, not just 870s, either.)

[rayjd2]

My 590SP has dual bars, Remington patent expired on those a while ago.

[Junk Yard Dog]

nearly 40 years of using Mossberg 500's in every gauge except 28 and never had a single problem with any part of the trigger group.

I'll back that up; as a matter of fact, the only repair work I've ever had to do on Mossbergs is replace the plastic safety with a metal one. The smart owners don't wait until it breaks.

You'll hear some 870 owners squwack about 'only one action bar' on the Mossbergs, but I've only seen one that had to be replaced, and that was from the owner trying to 'modify' it for a 'custom' forearm he came up with.....

Never had retack the shell stops back into a Mossberg, either. ( a common repair to Remingtons, not just 870s, either.)

The later 500's all have two bars, only the early ones had one, unless they have changed it back to the older style. I haven't bought a new Mossberg 500 since 1984 so I am not sure what the current offerings are. All the other Mossbergs I bought used.

[entropy]

That one must have been an earlier one;
Brain fart!
Yep, the current ones are two-bar.