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Mossberg 930 Pro-Series Sporting

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cflanon

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Discussion starter · #1 · (Edited)
I posted this elsewhere, but figured I'd put it here, too.
Because of my first two shotguns, a 183 bolt action .410 at age 8 and a 500 12ga at age 10, I've been pretty much a Mossberg shotgun loyalist for most of my life. I had always shot clays games with a 500 and a 5500. I had better success and more fun shooting with borrowed and rented guns. A job I had for a number of years provided me access to fine O/U guns for unlimited use, so there was not much need for me to pursue my own. Plus, it was painfully apparent, even as a weak shooter, that Mossberg didn't really make a serious sporting gun.

Found another really expensive and time consuming hobby, so I got away from shooting sports for a while. Decided to come back after about a 10 year absence and pulled out one of my Mossberg 500's and joined the local club. I knew I wanted an O/U, so went out and got myself a Mossberg Silver Reserve II Super Sport. Shot it for about a year. One of the most ill handling, uncomfortable guns I've ever shot. Completely disgusted, I decided to sell it and get something else. Tried a couple of the earlier 930's and wasn't thrilled with them. Ended up with a Franchi Renaissance Sporting. Absolutely wonderful gun and it's my primary target gun.

I still want a semi-auto for a back up and loaner gun, so have looked at many offerings. Was just about to choose between a couple of Berettas and a Browning Maxus online, when I saw that Mossberg was releasing the new 930 Sporting. The hype is that they have corrected the issues of fit, feel, and internals that have plagued this model for high volume shooting. Hopefully, that will be so, because now that I waited for it finally actually be available, I ordered one. Should be here next week. If Gil Ash is putting his name on it, that hopefully means something. Miculek put his name on the prior models and... well... lets just say that there aren't many satisfied owners, without a lot of time, money and heartache to upgrade them to be acceptable. I'm wondering if this thing is truly going to be as it is advertised... to shoot well "out of the box."... or is it going to take a box fill of OR3GUN accessories just to get it to run half-assed?

Any Mossberg trap, skeet, 5-stand, and clays shooters out there? Or is Mossberg still the laughing stock of serious clays games and relegated to being the fodder of the tactical and 3-gun crowd?
 
#2 ·
I wouldn't say that Mossberg is the laughing stock of clays shooters, but Mossberg has no interest in pursuing market share in this segment because their manufacturing facilities and corporate culture revolves around the low cost hunting market.
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
bossbasl said:
I wouldn't say that Mossberg is the laughing stock of clays shooters, but Mossberg has no interest in pursuing market share in this segment because their manufacturing facilities and corporate culture revolves around the low cost hunting market.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but they've sure been trying. All the JM competition guns for the 3-gun folks and the Silver Reserve bombs.
Maybe this new model will finally be a 'breakthrough' for them. Then, maybe they can made an O/U that is worth a darn.
My Mossbergs have been great for hunting... not so great for target games.
 
#4 ·
cflanon said:
I posted this elsewhere, but figured I'd put it here, too.
Because of my first two shotguns, a 183 bolt action .410 at age 8 and a 500 12ga at age 10, I've been pretty much a Mossberg shotgun loyalist for most of my life. I had always shot clays games with a 500 and a 5500. I had better success and more fun shooting with borrowed and rented guns. A job I had for a number of years provided me access to fine O/U guns for unlimited use, so there was not much need for me to pursue my own. Plus, it was painfully apparent, even as a weak shooter, that Mossberg didn't really make a serious sporting gun.

Found another really expensive and time consuming hobby, so I got away from shooting sports for a while. Decided to come back after about a 10 year absence and pulled out one of my Mossberg 500's and joined the local club. I knew I wanted an O/U, so went out and got myself a Mossberg Silver Reserve II Super Sport. Shot it for about a year. One of the most ill handling, uncomfortable guns I've ever shot. Completely disgusted, I decided to sell it and get something else. Tried a couple of the earlier 930's and wasn't thrilled with them. Ended up with a Franchi Renaissance Sporting. Absolutely wonderful gun.

I still want a semi-auto for a back up and loaner gun, so have looked at many offerings. Was just about to choose between a couple of Berettas and a Browning Maxus online, when I saw that Mossberg was releasing the new 930 Sporting. The hype is that they have corrected the issues of fit, feel, and internals that have plagued this model for high volume shooting. Hopefully, that will be so, because now that I waited for it finally actually be available, I ordered one. Should be here next week. If Gil Ash is putting his name on it, that hopefully means something. Miculek put his name on the prior models and... well... lets just say that there aren't many satisfied owners, without a lot of time, money and heartache to upgrade them to be acceptable. I'm wondering if this thing is truly going to be as it is advertised... to shoot well "out of the box."... or is it going to take a box fill of OR3GUN accessories just to get it to run half-assed?

Any Mossberg trap, skeet, 5-stand, and clays shooters out there? Or is Mossberg still the laughing stock of serious clays games and relegated to being the fodder of the tactical and 3-gun crowd?
Click to expand...
bossbasl said:
I wouldn't say that Mossberg is the laughing stock of clays shooters, but Mossberg has no interest in pursuing market share in this segment because their manufacturing facilities and corporate culture revolves around the low cost hunting market.
Click to expand...
cflanon said:
I posted this elsewhere, but figured I'd put it here, too.
Because of my first two shotguns, a 183 bolt action .410 at age 8 and a 500 12ga at age 10, I've been pretty much a Mossberg shotgun loyalist for most of my life. I had always shot clays games with a 500 and a 5500. I had better success and more fun shooting with borrowed and rented guns. A job I had for a number of years provided me access to fine O/U guns for unlimited use, so there was not much need for me to pursue my own. Plus, it was painfully apparent, even as a weak shooter, that Mossberg didn't really make a serious sporting gun.

Found another really expensive and time consuming hobby, so I got away from shooting sports for a while. Decided to come back after about a 10 year absence and pulled out one of my Mossberg 500's and joined the local club. I knew I wanted an O/U, so went out and got myself a Mossberg Silver Reserve II Super Sport. Shot it for about a year. One of the most ill handling, uncomfortable guns I've ever shot. Completely disgusted, I decided to sell it and get something else. Tried a couple of the earlier 930's and wasn't thrilled with them. Ended up with a Franchi Renaissance Sporting. Absolutely wonderful gun.

I still want a semi-auto for a back up and loaner gun, so have looked at many offerings. Was just about to choose between a couple of Berettas and a Browning Maxus online, when I saw that Mossberg was releasing the new 930 Sporting. The hype is that they have corrected the issues of fit, feel, and internals that have plagued this model for high volume shooting. Hopefully, that will be so, because now that I waited for it finally actually be available, I ordered one. Should be here next week. If Gil Ash is putting his name on it, that hopefully means something. Miculek put his name on the prior models and... well... lets just say that there aren't many satisfied owners, without a lot of time, money and heartache to upgrade them to be acceptable. I'm wondering if this thing is truly going to be as it is advertised... to shoot well "out of the box."... or is it going to take a box fill of OR3GUN accessories just to get it to run half-assed?

Any Mossberg trap, skeet, 5-stand, and clays shooters out there? Or is Mossberg still the laughing stock of serious clays games and relegated to being the fodder of the tactical and 3-gun crowd?
Click to expand...
cflanon said:
I posted this elsewhere, but figured I'd put it here, too.
Because of my first two shotguns, a 183 bolt action .410 at age 8 and a 500 12ga at age 10, I've been pretty much a Mossberg shotgun loyalist for most of my life. I had always shot clays games with a 500 and a 5500. I had better success and more fun shooting with borrowed and rented guns. A job I had for a number of years provided me access to fine O/U guns for unlimited use, so there was not much need for me to pursue my own. Plus, it was painfully apparent, even as a weak shooter, that Mossberg didn't really make a serious sporting gun.

Found another really expensive and time consuming hobby, so I got away from shooting sports for a while. Decided to come back after about a 10 year absence and pulled out one of my Mossberg 500's and joined the local club. I knew I wanted an O/U, so went out and got myself a Mossberg Silver Reserve II Super Sport. Shot it for about a year. One of the most ill handling, uncomfortable guns I've ever shot. Completely disgusted, I decided to sell it and get something else. Tried a couple of the earlier 930's and wasn't thrilled with them. Ended up with a Franchi Renaissance Sporting. Absolutely wonderful gun.

I still want a semi-auto for a back up and loaner gun, so have looked at many offerings. Was just about to choose between a couple of Berettas and a Browning Maxus online, when I saw that Mossberg was releasing the new 930 Sporting. The hype is that they have corrected the issues of fit, feel, and internals that have plagued this model for high volume shooting. Hopefully, that will be so, because now that I waited for it finally actually be available, I ordered one. Should be here next week. If Gil Ash is putting his name on it, that hopefully means something. Miculek put his name on the prior models and... well... lets just say that there aren't many satisfied owners, without a lot of time, money and heartache to upgrade them to be acceptable. I'm wondering if this thing is truly going to be as it is advertised... to shoot well "out of the box."... or is it going to take a box fill of OR3GUN accessories just to get it to run half-assed?

Any Mossberg trap, skeet, 5-stand, and clays shooters out there? Or is Mossberg still the laughing stock of serious clays games and relegated to being the fodder of the tactical and 3-gun crowd?
Click to expand...
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
I'll tell you, I still shoot my 1978 Mossberg 500 with 26" C-Lect choke barrel pretty well.
It's fun to show up to the clubs with it, hear the snickers of some of the folks there (the whole laughing stock thing I mentioned before), and shoot three or four rounds in the 20's.

What's not so fun is being kicked by a pissed mule. Definitely only want to shot a round every once in a while with that one.
 
#6 ·
cflanon said:
Yeah, but they've sure been trying. All the JM competition guns for the 3-gun folks and the Silver Reserve bombs.
Maybe this new model will finally be a 'breakthrough' for them. Then, maybe they can made an O/U that is worth a darn.
My Mossbergs have been great for hunting... not so great for target games.
Click to expand...
I have a Miculek 930 and it run's flawlessly. I would expect the sporting
gun to do as well. The Silver Reserve, I believe is made in Turkey so it's no
wonder you dumped it.
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
Sky Buster said:
I have a Miculek 930 and it run's flawlessly. I would expect the sporting
gun to do as well. The Silver Reserve, I believe is made in Turkey so it's no
wonder you dumped it.
Click to expand...
Well, the 930 runs well when shot in low volumes, as a hunting gun, or guys that shoot clays maybe once every month or two.

Start shooting 75-200 rounds per week, every week, in 3-gun and/or clays games and things change. This is how companies like OR3GUN are able to flourish.

The 5500 and 9200 were reasonable decent guns, but were still not well known for serious target games. Mossberg has yet to build a serious high volume shooter, semi-auto, or O/U. Maybe this will be a new beginning for them. Maybe it will be more of the same and only turn out to be marketing hype. I'll begin finding out next week.
 
#8 ·
Hunting shotguns are carried a lot and shot a little. Clay target shotguns are shot a lot and carried little. I recommend buying an auto if you want to shoot clay targets but don't want to spend a fortune. Rem. 1100, 1187, Beretta 390,391,A400, win super X.
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
MDshotgunner said:
Hunting shotguns are carried a lot and shot a little. Clay target shotguns are shot a lot and carried little. I recommend buying an auto if you want to shoot clay targets but don't want to spend a fortune. Rem. 1100, 1187, Beretta 390,391,A400, win super X.
Click to expand...
I understand very well the difference between hunting and clays guns.

I had been considering all the semi-autos you mentioned. Even bought an 11-87, but just can't adapt to the carrier mounted bolt closure button. Just seems too awkward to me, so that is for sale, too. The Berettas are all great, but I'll have the Mossberg here for right at $800. New Berettas are twice that. Hell, you can hardly find a ratty one for less than $1k.

I'll take my chances with another Mossberg. If it doesn't work out, it'll be the same as being an Oakland Raiders fan... I'm accustomed to disappointment. However, I can remain hopeful.
 
#10 ·
An A300 Beretta is sub $800

If you read all of your posts, it's hard to tell if you are trying to talk yourself in or out of the 930

I have a couple of 930's and haven't had an issue with either of them and the issues with the JM Pro can all be tied to the owner and modification of the shell lifter
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
Well, since you've read that I've ordered it, I've obviously talked myself into it.

Time will tell if I begin to talk myself out of it.
Hopefully, I can offer others some decent information on a new, inexpensive sporting option.

You are correct. The Beretta A300 can be had for $800+. However, it is a hunting gun and not a designated sporting gun, which is the gist of this thread. I'm posting under the assumption that this is a forum primarily for trap shooters, not hunters.
 
#12 ·
If you're serious about a semi-auto for sporting, skeet and trap, do yourself a favor a buy a Beretta 390 or 391 Sporting model. I've owned and shot both over the years, but shoot the 391 better for some reason.
Either one is a proven work horse and can be found in the 800.00 - 1000.00 dollar range used in good condition if you do little looking around.

In my opinion, if you would rather have a new semi-auto, buy the A400, not the A300...they are totally different guns internally (would still rather have my 391 Gold Sporting than the A400).

Good Luck and Good Shooting!
 
Discussion starter · #13 · (Edited)
Well, I'm more serious about my O/U. As I said in my original post, this is meant to be a backup gun for me and a loaner for friends and family when they visit.

Saying that, I was three mouse clicks away from buying a Beretta A400 Xcel (the Browning Maxus sold before I got to it), when I got the "Available" notice on the Mossberg.
Only time will tell if this was a mistake, or not. My 'brand loyalty' may cost me in the end.

I've said all along that Mossberg isn't know for serious clays games and that's not what I'm expecting... but wouldn't it be great if it did turn out to be a really great gun?
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
pbansen said:
So, it's been a couple of years, how has the 930 done for you? I'm thinking about one and would appreciate your insight as an owner/shooter!
Click to expand...
Pete, once I got comfortable with the fact that the 930 was indeed in proper working order after my fix... I couldn’t sell it fast enough.
Just was soured by that experience and became disgruntled with a matter of maintenance of the gun, as well. The way the gas system is set up, even though all of those parts are coated to prevent corrosion and poor cycling... that’s exactly what happens, if you don’t clean that gun religiously. It’s not a Remington 1100 and it certainly is not a Beretta semi auto, which can go for thousands of rounds without cleaning. If I didn’t clean that Mossberg right away after every outing of 150 to 200 shells, it would start corroding the magazine tube underneath the gas system slide and would have cycling problems the following week when I took it out.
For me, this simply just wasn’t even good enough for a back up and a loaner gun. My primary choices for shooting are my Beretta a400 parallel target, Beretta 682 gold, and Caesar Guerini Summit Limited. I just wanted an inexpensive back up/loaner gun. I sold the Mossberg, and picked up a Beretta a391 sport. Much better choice, all around, and is what I should have done to begin with.
 
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