I was recently in the market for my first auto loading shotgun. This year I was able to go duck hunting on Lake Monroe, down here in Bloomington. Using my Remington 870 Super Magnum, I was able to get a feel for how to duck hunt and decided to go all in and purchase an auto loader for next season. I was on a budget so anything above $600 was out of the question. I had narrowed my choice between the Mossberg 935 Magnum and the Stoeger M3500. I love shooting the 3 1/2" shells, I'm not sure if its the punishment or the extra loud bang and satisfaction of shooting the biggest shell available. The deciding factor for me, and probably the most important, it needed to be made in USA. This is a big deal to me and I find myself trying to purchase things made in the USA before I resort to inferior china made products. That's a whole other story...On to the review:
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| Mossberg 935 |
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| Stoeger M3500 |
I purchased the weapon new from Buds Gun Shop (
www.budsgunshop.com) for $590 with insurance, I opted for the Advantage Max 4 camo pattern. The whole experience was painless and Buds Gun Shop worked directly with my preferred FFL to ship and transfer the firearm to me. If you are in the Bloomington area and need an FFL service, I highly recommend Four Seasons Gun Shop (
www.fourseasonsgunshop.com). Just make sure you aren't in a hurry to get the firearm, between payment processing and shipping Buds Gun Shop took two weeks before I had the firearm in my possession.
Cleaning
Whenever I get a new gun I break it all down and give it a good cleaning. Factory guns usually come with a thick coat of grease to help protect the gun while it's in storage. Works great for storing the firearm, not so much for shooting, the grease will quickly gum up the action and cause problems with firing and miss-feeds. It has always been a recommendation to me to first clean the firearm and get to know how to assemble and disassemble the gun. Once all the parts are clean I give it a super thin layer of Rem Oil while I am fitting all the parts back to get.
Overall the gun breaks down easily and cleaning is a breeze. The manual recommends a cleaning after every 200 rounds, During the breaking in stage I find thoroughly cleaning it after a day in the duck blind keeps it running like a champ. Once I get it broken in I'll probably resort to simply bore snaking the barrel after hunts and do thorough cleanings at the beginning and end of the seasons.
Adjustment to fit
The gun comes with a matching set of stock spacers and stock retention plates. The spacers allow you to raise or lower the vertical position of the stock from 1/4" drop up to 3/8" rise. Each spacer and retention plate is marked clearly for what it does. I shouldered the gun straight out of the box and it was perfect for me, so I didn't use the kit.
Factory chokes
The gun comes with three factory choke tubes (IC, Mod, Full) all of them are flush mount choke tubes. They pattern great and I find for my duck shooting conditions the modified choke works great out to around 40yards. The factory choke tubes are rated for steel and lead, so you don't have to worry about removing them before you switch ammunition types.
Reliability in the field
So far I have put the following shot shells through mine and they all worked great.
- 3.5" Remington Hypersonic #2
- 3.5" Winchester BBB
- 3" blind side #2
- 3" Federal BB
- 3" Hevi Metal #2
The hypersonics still kick like a mule, but they aren't near as bad as in my Remington 870 Super Magnum. When shooting the 3" I can barely feel them through my jacket, this gun is truly a soft kicking auto loader. All of the shells proved to have incredible patterns when I shot them from 30 yards at paper.
I haven't tested this but there have been reports not to use Black Cloud shotshells with this weapon. Due to the over bored barrel, the Black Cloud shot cup can deploy its breaking petals early and get stuck inside the barrel. People have reported it getting stuck and then firing a second shot which causes damage to the firearm. Like I said, I haven't tested this and I don't plan to take the chance, but while doing research on the weapon I read several reports about it happening.
2 3/4 cycling
Mossberg doesn't advertise the gun as a 2 3/4" cycling gun. It specifically states for 3" and 3 1/2" loads. However once the gun has shot a handful of heavy hunting shells, I used 3 1/2" duck and turkey shells, it will start to cycle some of the 1 1/8oz 3dram target loads. It is hit or miss on which loads will work, so far I've found that as long as the load is 1 1/8oz and the fps is greater than 1200 it will cycle reliably.
A trick I've read is to add an o-ring to a part where the gas ports are, I've included the post about how and where to do it. "Just add the O-Ring from a Remington 11-87 on the magazine tube, between the barrel lug and the seal ring (Part 27 in the owners manual, eBay has them cheap, as does http://www.theoringstore.com where I got mine), and it will cycle just fine. Make sure to take it out for the 3 or 3.5 inch rounds though, not sure what will happen but I'm guessing it won't be pretty."
Read more: http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=96148&start=20#ixzz1iatkPOOU
Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for damage caused to your firearm, I am simply passing information on how to help cycle 2 3/4" loads.
Overall impression
Overall I'm extremely satisfied with the Mossberg 935 and would recommend it for anyone not wanting to spend a lot for an auto loader. It handles amazingly, it shoulders perfectly, and I've noticed an increase in my confidence for longer shots on birds. Next test will be using it for Spring turkey season, which I'm sure it will make quick work of the first gobbler to get in front of it.
Own a Mossberg 935? Have a question? Want to share your thoughts on the weapon? Leave a comment in the section below.
