Mossberg 930

[R1pper]

Went to the local Dick's Sporting goods today, and my buddy who works there showed me the newly in stock 930. They are selling them for $550. Any one have experience with these or know anything about em, IE durability/reliability?

[Jay Cunningham]

John Farnam posted a pretty scathing review of it:


19 Nov 07

Mossberg M930, Autoloading Shotgun:

During an Urban Rifle/Shotgun Course in OH last weekend, a student brought a brand-new copy of Mossberg's M930 Shotgun. It is the first one I've had a chance to actually use and observe on a range.

Bottom line: The 930 is unusable for our purposes.

Problems became apparent immediately as the student attempted to manipulate the gun. Once loaded, the entire magazine tube must be completely voided and then subsequently recharged all over again, in order to return the shotgun to Transport Mode (magazine tube charged, hammer down on an empty chamber, manual safety "off," Transport Mode is often referred to as "Cruiser-Ready" ). In addition, when attempting the load the gun, it continually double-stacked, causing two rounds to be released from the magazine tube into the receiver, simultaneously.

After ten, frustrating minutes of attempting to come up with a viable handling procedure, we gave up and issued the student a Remington 870, which, of course, ran fine for the duration.

Some years ago, Mossberg produced another autoloading shotgun, dubbed the " Jungle Gun." Now long-since out of production, we had nothing but trouble with it too.

Mossberg is surely capable of producing functional shotguns, but this new 930 is utterly unsuitable for our purposes. Again, when making ostensible " police" shotguns, they need to talk with someone other than trap shooters!

/John

[Buck]

We do not use them at work, and I am not sure that I have ever seen one in person... I believe they are a using the reasonabley successful 935 bird / trap gun action and making it into a "tactical" type of gun...

For an auto loader, it will never be in the Benelli or Remington class, but with a MSRP of $399 it may find its nitch...

I would buy a plane jane Remington 870 Police Magnum with a 20 inch barrel and rifle sights with my $399, but our needs / wants, may not be the same...

[R1pper]

I apparently missed the rather intensive write up by m25shooter!

[m24shooter]

John Farnam posted a pretty scathing review of it:
With all due respect to Mr Farnam, he makes a few errors.
1. Somehow he can't make the 930 cruiser ready. How hard did he try for those admitted 10 minutes? Christ, all you have to do is operate it the same way you do an 870 or 1187: push support thumb into mag tube against ready shell and hold it in the stops, pull bolt to rear ejecting chambered round, allow bolt to return forward ensuring clear chamber, remove thumb from mag tube, drop hammer. Farnam wasn't able to do that? Come on now.
2. You certainly don't have to completely empty the mag tube.
3. If the user can't push the shells in all the way past the shell stops, that's a user problem, not the design. Admittedly, I think Mossberg goofed on keeping the sporting forearm on the SPX, as I think the overhang makes loading a little more problematical. But another SPX user has made the mod I suggested on his foreend, and it seems to be working fine.
4. He declares the shotgun "unusable for our purposes" without even letting the shotgun run the course according to his version. He also says that Mossberg should listen to somebody other than trap shooters when building a tactical shotgun. But again, Farnam couldn't get the shotgun into cruiser ready and uses that as a large part of his position on the shotgun.
I wouldn't call it a scathing review, since he didn't review it at all apparently due to that highly technical and involved procedure I described being beyond his 10 minutes of effort.
Now if he had tried to let it run the course and it bombed, that would be one thing. But according to his own version he didn't bother doing that.
And I am still at a loss for how he could manipulate the shotgun for "ten, frustrating minutes" with the result being "...we gave up..." and gave the student an 870. Not because the SPX failed, but because he couldn't do what is in effect the exact same procedure on the SPX that is done with the replacement shotgun.
Dick Manley:
A more current review of the SPX is the one I update on WEVO. It will have the most up-to-date info on the shotgun and mods. I'll be updating it again soon (still no problems in mine) in the next few days.
http://www.weaponevolution.com/forum/showthread.php?t=167

[Jay Cunningham]

With all due respect to Mr Farnam, he makes a few errors.
1. Somehow he can't make the 930 cruiser ready. How hard did he try for those admitted 10 minutes? Christ, all you have to do is operate it the same way you do an 870 or 1187: push support thumb into mag tube against ready shell and hold it in the stops, pull bolt to rear ejecting chambered round, allow bolt to return forward ensuring clear chamber, remove thumb from mag tube, drop hammer. Farnam wasn't able to do that? Come on now.
2. You certainly don't have to completely empty the mag tube.
3. If the user can't push the shells in all the way past the shell stops, that's a user problem, not the design. Admittedly, I think Mossberg goofed on keeping the sporting forearm on the SPX, as I think the overhang makes loading a little more problematical. But another SPX user has made the mod I suggested on his foreend, and it seems to be working fine.
4. He declares the shotgun "unusable for our purposes" without even letting the shotgun run the course according to his version. He also says that Mossberg should listen to somebody other than trap shooters when building a tactical shotgun. But again, Farnam couldn't get the shotgun into cruiser ready and uses that as a large part of his position on the shotgun.
I wouldn't call it a scathing review, since he didn't review it at all apparently due to that highly technical and involved procedure I described being beyond his 10 minutes of effort.
Now if he had tried to let it run the course and it bombed, that would be one thing. But according to his own version he didn't bother doing that.
And I am still at a loss for how he could manipulate the shotgun for "ten, frustrating minutes" with the result being "...we gave up..." and gave the student an 870. Not because the SPX failed, but because he couldn't do what is in effect the exact same procedure on the SPX that is done with the replacement shotgun.
Dick Manley:
A more current review of the SPX is the one I update on WEVO. It will have the most up-to-date info on the shotgun and mods. I'll be updating it again soon (still no problems in mine) in the next few days.
http://www.weaponevolution.com/forum/showthread.php?t=167

Don't shoot the messenger.

[m24shooter]

Don't shoot the messenger.
Didn't mean to come across that way. I saw that "review" shortly after it was posted, and I haven't gotten any closer to understanding how he could put his name to it in the weeks since.
My response wasn't really directed at you, but at the original author.
If I did, my apologies.

[mike240]

I would have to agree that the gun was not really given a chance. I have about 800 rounds through mine really like it. I have had 1100s and prefer this 930.I have used Benellis at work too.

[R1pper]

M24 where did you actually buy your 930. I cant even find any info on the gun on the mossberg website.

[m24shooter]

I bought it from a local dealer, but we had to call around to EVERYBODY to find one at a distributor. I can't remember the name, but I know it was in Fort Worth. They had 8 (???!!!) when nobody had any.
There is a guy on www.shotgunworld.com with the screenname of MAX100. I think he has a line on them if you bust out everywhere else.
They are tough to find, which tells me that they are not hanging around on shelves for long.
If you go to the Mossberg site under the Firearms tab and go to 930 Autoloader on the pull down menu. It will pull up the 930 page, and you will see the 930 Tactical with the breaching barrel. To the lower right of the muzzle you will see a More Models arrow, click on the right arrow and it will show the 930 SPX. You can select the Specifications tab farther down on the right for a spreadsheet table with tech info.
Even with this, you won't find a whole lot of info from Mossberg on this shotgun. There isn't even much in their product catalog or annual rag that they put out.
I put that review together from frustration from NOT being able to find out more than just curb weight and other dry info. I wanted to give people a chance to see some of the details to help them decide if they wanted one. There were all kinds of things I was trying to figure out when I was deciding on whether to buy it or not (will this light mount or sling attachment work, can I put this mod on it, will it work with such-and-such). If I had had access to the kinds of pics that I posted of it it would have made my decision much easier and a whole lot quicker.

[R1pper]

They have one at the local Dick's Sporting goods for 550 with 40 off.

[m24shooter]

It would be tough to beat that price. If you found it for dealer cost and had it transferred I don't know if you could beat your price of 510 once you added shipping and transfer fees.

[m24shooter]

Updated pics and info at WEVO now.

http://www.weaponevolution.com/forum/showthread.php?t=167

[Frank Castle]

I've got the money and my FFL in hand, but can't find anyone with them in stock. If anyone has a source, I would appreciate a link.

[Buck]

I've got the money and my FFL in hand, but can't find anyone with them in stock. If anyone has a source, I would appreciate a link.

Here ya go...

http://www.gunsamerica.com/976966310/Guns/Shotguns/Mossberg-Shotguns/Tactical/MOSSBERG_930_SPX_NEW_TACTICAL_AUTOLOADER.htm

[Frank Castle]

Thanx Buck. I actually hit the "offer to buy" button on one of the 3 guns he had listed, but never got a reply from the guy before I left work today. I will check my Inbox tomorrow A.M. I'm looking everywhere and everyone seems out of stock. If it wasn't for Bad Luck, I'd have no luck at all :)