Beefing up my 500, where do I start??

[HeliPilot]

After watching that Magpul trailer of the Dynamic Shotgun it got me thinking. I have owned my Mossy 500 longer than almost all of my other guns and it has been left at the ready in my closet since I've owned it with very little attention to it. I'd like to beef it up and do some "preventive maintenance" to it. With the AR's everyone talks about gas key staking, extractor upgrades, and h-buffers, etc... But where do I start with my 500? Its pretty plain jane as of now. I added the ATI collapsing stock and shell carrier, heatshield w/ ghost ring sights, and a rail to the receiver (pic below).

I'm open to any and all suggestions. So far what I'd like to do is get the upgraded safety kit from Brownells, ditch the stock shell carrier for a 6-shot receiver mounted one, and find some kind of single point sling attachment plate. I'd also like to get the heatshield w/o the sights and run a more substantial sight system, anyone know of a better one for the 500? I am also interested in the tri-rail forend from surefire that Ergo Grips sells. What size would I need and what is involved in installing it?
Thanks for the help.

[DMR]

I have factory heavy wall 18" 500 barrels with the GRS blades and IC accu-chokes on the shelf. Add the factory GRS and you have a nice set up. Depending on how you have the sight installed it can be cheaper to just buy a new barrel.


Replace the ATI stock with a short LOP Speedfeed, Houge or even a factory bantum stock.

The Ergo railed fore ends are Ergo products, not Surefire. Unscrew the nut which retains the hand guard and replace. You MIGHT have one of the models that use a differant attachment method in which case you have to replace the whole assembly.

Several vendors offer single points, we have a few that were made for us. They are all "about" the same.

Not sure if I undrestand the sidesaddle comment. I prefer the 3 Gun Gear ones, but you can also go Mesa tactical.

Mods feel free to delete if

[dennisuello]

After watching that Magpul trailer of the Dynamic Shotgun it got me thinking. I have owned my Mossy 500 longer than almost all of my other guns and it has been left at the ready in my closet since I've owned it with very little attention to it. I'd like to beef it up and do some "preventive maintenance" to it. With the AR's everyone talks about gas key staking, extractor upgrades, and h-buffers, etc... But where do I start with my 500? Its pretty plain jane as of now. I added the ATI collapsing stock and shell carrier, heatshield w/ ghost ring sights, and a rail to the receiver (pic below).

I'm open to any and all suggestions. So far what I'd like to do is get the upgraded safety kit from Brownells, ditch the stock shell carrier for a 6-shot receiver mounted one, and find some kind of single point sling attachment plate. I'd also like to get the heatshield w/o the sights and run a more substantial sight system, anyone know of a better one for the 500? I am also interested in the tri-rail forend from surefire that Ergo Grips sells. What size would I need and what is involved in installing it?
Thanks for the help.

if you decide to sell any parts, let me know. My Mossy500 ATP is completely stock.

[Crow Hunter]

#1 Take it out and shoot it and see if you feel there is something missing/needs to be removed. Looking at the reflection on the action bars it hasn't been used much, you still have really good finish on them.


However, that isn't the question you asked so, just looking at the picture and if it were my gun I would:

-Add a light. (Must have)
-Ditch the heat shield, I had one on a 590, it looked cool until it got wet and rusted the barrel underneath.
-Ditch the bandolier sling, if you put any shells in it, it will swing around and pull you off target.
-Ditch the pistol grip stock and go standard, Mossy safety/action trip are not well designed for using a pistol grip.
-Upgrade the safety to a metal type (as you already said)
-Upgrade the trigger guard to metal from the polymer. I have never broken one but I have chipped one pretty bad. I have heard they can crack in very cold weather.
-Side Saddle type ammo holders are better than stock holders but both add alot of weight and can get unweildy after a while. I personally don't like them.

Again, you will be better served shooting a couple 100 rounds out of it and see what sticks out as a problem to you. (or bangs you in the nuts while doing transitions )

[01tundra]

I had my factory mag follower get hung up in mine once. All I had to do was unscrew the end cap and ran my dewey cleaning rod down in the mag tube and it freed it right up, but that one instance made me leary since the gun is practically new.

So I ordered a Vang Comp S.S. follower and Wolff XP spring and haven't had any more problems to date, $30 is fairly cheap insurance IMO.

https://vangcomp.com/gun_accessories.html

http://www.gunsprings.com/index.cfm?...&cID=2&mID=103

I put a TacStar side saddle on mine and it's solid. Also threw a Meprolight tritium front sight post and Brownell's enhanced metal safety on it.

I had a Knox SpecOps reduced recoil stock on mine, but didn't like the feel. Ended up cutting my factory synthetic thumbhole stock down to 12" and throwing it back on, fits me much better now.

Had a heat shield on mine also.....until the barrel started getting surface rust on it.

For me, a flashlight was mandatory. I went with a Lite Mount Technologies mount, but I did have to do a little filing to get it to fit properly, that said, it's a very solid mount -

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/sid=5...1__LIGHT_MOUNT

Finished it off with a Surefire 6P LED flashlight with the McClicky end cap conversion.

[Eric Cartman]

Here are some pics of my 500a, just to give you an idea.

Specs:

Mossberg 500a with Ghost ring sights
18.5 inch barrel, ported, choked and backbored by Vang Comp
XS Sights Standard dot Tritium front sight
Mossberg heatshield
Vang Comp oversized safety
Hogue Overmolded 12" LOP Shortstock
Tac-Star side saddle
Surefire forend
Eagle Industries Gunstock ammo carrier
Wolff gunspring magazine spring
Hi-viz orange follower

[calicojack]

pictured above is my 500. I >had< a 10" LOP custom stock on it, gg&g front and rear sling adapters, CAA tri-rail forearm, TLR-1, and tac-star 6 shell side saddle.

I ran this configuration until TR's Alumni weekend. The short LOP stock almost caused me to break my nose on the rear sling adapter. It has since been replaced with my old SpeedFeed III 12 lop stock. With the Speedfeed stock, I have an additional 10 rounds of shot ON the weapon system.

The only thing i desire is to mount a set of ghost rigs (ala 590) on it, but have trained enough with it to be proficient with just the bead front site.

[HeliPilot]

01tundra do you mind posting a pic of your shotty? I'd like to see how you got that light mount to fit. Thanks

[travistheone]

When you open the action you will see a small flathead screw [ejector screw] on the receiver. Take this out and LOC TITE it, in time it will fall out and seriously jam things up.

[Moose-Knuckle]

Apply the KISS principle.