[battleax]

I plan on buying a Mossberg 500 and yesterday had a chance to buy a used one from a friend. I almost got it but on inspection of the barrel I noticed bumps inside every place where the fins or whatever are that hold up the rib. Is this normal? I have never seen this before and thought it may wear there so said I would have to check into this. This gun supposedly has had 6 shots though it, was won at a raffle and he purchased it for his son. Appears to be walnut vs hardwood and also is engraved vs the new ones being plain. Any comments are welcome.
Kurt

 

[unclenick]

If the bumps are much more pronounced near the breech than the muzzle, it could conceivably be the result of an over-pressure load? Much more likely is that it was manufactured that way and is the result of stress relief of the heat from soldering the rib. Call Mossberg and ask how much of that is normal? You could measure it with a telescoping bore gauge. I would expect your eye to be able to see just a few thousandths, so this may not be a big error. When you consider that shotgun wads are very flexible and will likely upset to seal against that irregularity anyway and also how it compares to how much constriction a choke applies, it may not affect performance measurably at all.

 

[KYtreehawk]

Ive had a mossberg 500a for years and i just looked i couldnt see any bumps in my barrel

 

[Ralph McLaney]

Typical for the Maverick 88

"I noticed bumps inside every place where the fins or whatever are that hold up the rib." battleax.


"Bumps" as you describe are typical of Maverick 88 series barrels. If the barrel on your friends Mdl. 500 does not have the word Mossberg on it (it will have the Mossberg address regardless), it was probably from a Maverick 88.

 

[battleax]

"Bumps" as you describe are typical of Maverick 88 series barrels. If the barrel on your friends Mdl. 500 does not have the word Mossberg on it (it will have the Mossberg address regardless), it was probably from a Maverick 88.

I am not sure where I saw the word Mossberg. I think it was under the chamber but not on the barrel. The gun is now 200 miles north of me.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have a Mossberg 500, (ribbed) and notice no bumps inside my barrel.

I am not familiar with the above mentioned Maverick 88, so that may posssibly be the case. Also, if the PO was a handloader, the above mentioned high pressure load is also a possibility.

Anyway, if the price is right, you could have the "cone" lengthened, and then polish out the entire length with a Brownells flex hone, and see if these "bumps" may just be areas that were discolored from sweating the rib supports on.

Of course, those two operations would be around $100 bucks extra, so the initial price would need to be very attractive.

The other option would be to shop around for a replacement barrel.

But once again, if the price is really right, I would (first things first) shoot it on paper, and you may find it to be just fine as is. If you would be leary of shooting it from a safety standpoint, fasten 'er down and and "proof" it with a length of string.