What has happened to the Mossberg 930?

[JesseCJC]

I'll take that 930 off their hands for 350 as well

[cajunautoxer]

Or they could send back to mossberg and he them to work on them

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[CenTX]

I shot my first shotgun match today. On the first stage my 930 failed to cycle a couple of times using some 30 year old reloads from when I was shooting trap. No problems at all on the other stages.

After the first stage I thought about the problem. A soft grip on a 1911 can cause malfunctions so I figured may it could on an auto shotgun. So on the second stage I held the shotguns as I would shooting buckshot, firmly against my shoulder. No problems after I started using a more solid grip. Might not have anything to do with it, but it seems to have solved my problem. I have just under 100 rounds total through the gun.

[toothandnail]

I have one , so does my son, we BOTH switched from Benelli , NEITHER of us has had asmany malfunctions with the MB 930 SPX as the Benelli's.

We now both shoot MKA 1919's in open, they run good as well. Just need a break in.

BTW, I RO'd a stage at Ozark with alot of SG, that year the SLP choked about 3-1 over any other brand, haven't seen that before or since, but for some reason that year, on our stage, they were TERRIBLE.

Edited June 17, 2013 by toothandnail

[mark carr]

...I can't stand field stocks so I switched stock to a monti carlo style 1 1/2" drop at comb produced a 50/50 pattern for me that seemed pretty good for this game

I took a skeet class and the instructor told me the 930 stock didn't fit well. The instructor recommended http://www.meadowindustries.com/gunstocks.html which was only $25 and it has worked out well.

Since I shoot open, sticking a red dot on the 930 has made slug shooting accurate. I've been using a 50 yd zero.

Hey Tyler Yes those work in a pinch but its not just the height its the angle if you put a yard stick on the rib and put it over the comb of the stock on a skeet or trap gun it is parallel with the rib a field stock angles up so when you shoot it it hits you in the cheek and if you move forward or back your point of impact changes

[Maxximuss]

I have the Mossberg 930 JM Pro 24 inch. I have shot at least 2000 rounds through it and it still runs like a champ! I am on a limited budget and I have been nothing but happy with it.

[ben b.]

I have one , so does my son, we BOTH switched from Benelli , NEITHER of us has had asmany malfunctions with the MB 930 SPX as the Benelli's.

Now you've done it, committed heresy against Benellis, which are the shotguns that always run. Next you'll say you've had some problems with a Dillon, or that a Glock broke.

[usmc1094]

Just took my new 930JM to the range. 100 rounds of Wal-Mart bulk with no issues at all. The only thing I've done is clean, lube, and shoot. I think that is where ppl are getting into trouble, not cleaning or lubricating properly. Just my thoughts.

[HeyChris]

I've got a 930 JM Pro 24". Cleaned and lubed it as soon as I got it.. have had zero problems, it eat's anything and everything I throw at it.

I haven't shot more expensive shotguns, but can't see why I would give up something that works so well for me.

[rtp]

It is also not "wildly irresponsible" to advise caution regarding a product which gets mixed reviews in regards to reliablity. None of my 5 reference shooters are top tier competitors (although 2 of them are working hard to get there). Also to suggest that the consumers are some how at fault because they may or may not have sent them back to the manufacturer for warrantee work is nothing more than a distraction from the fact that the product doesn't work as intended. We have a very short 3 gun season in Colorado. If I shoot all of the matches available to me, I will only get in about 10 or so per year between April and Sept'ish. For us, reliability is paramount as a defective or broken shotgun can leave you warming the bench for most of the season. I don't need empirical data to know that caution is warranted with the 930. Until someone feels emotionally attached enough to the 930 to put in the time to figure out the problems and offer solutions, then the question will remain unanswered. Benny already gave it the college try and walked away.

For those of us jumping into this late, is there a single thread where Benny's conclusions can be found on this one?

I've read around half of the monster 930 thread, but that takes quite some doing at 62 pages or so.. ??

I've got a JM, but consider a lot of the "I have one and it works great!" vs "I saw a number break down," or "mine went back to Mossberg N times, never ran right!" to be somewhat anecdotal, and would certainly like to know what had Benny going from building them up into washing his hands.. ?

FWIW, I agree about reliability, but individual accounts based on symptoms just make it tough to decipher. Name a product and someone will be griping online about it. I always thought the FN 5.7s were super reliable, but one went down in a 3 gun training class - it happens. I have no idea what if anything has changed across the various 930 generations, and while it seems that beyond somewhat questionable customer service, there are some real and valid things to look for (and perhaps replace, e.g. Choate extension tubes on non-JMs, varying length of springs coming from MB, etc.), we're still at "guessing" if there's a design issue (or more than one?), just sporadic/poor QC that results in some guns being nearly or actually problem free while others simply will never run, or ???

Edited June 18, 2013 by rtp

[toothandnail]

I have one , so does my son, we BOTH switched from Benelli , NEITHER of us has had asmany malfunctions with the MB 930 SPX as the Benelli's.

Now you've done it, committed heresy against Benellis, which are the shotguns that always run. Next you'll say you've had some problems with a Dillon, or that a Glock broke.

Ha Ha , no , but my son has worn out the recoil spring on his Glock , started getting some faliures, changed the spring , now 100%

[Alaskapopo]

I have one , so does my son, we BOTH switched from Benelli , NEITHER of us has had asmany malfunctions with the MB 930 SPX as the Benelli's.

We now both shoot MKA 1919's in open, they run good as well. Just need a break in.

BTW, I RO'd a stage at Ozark with alot of SG, that year the SLP choked about 3-1 over any other brand, haven't seen that before or since, but for some reason that year, on our stage, they were TERRIBLE.

Benelli's have a reputation for running forever for a reason. What ammo where you running and what problems did you have? They have been the most reliable shotguns I have owned period.

Pat

[gunfighteruk]

Ok so here's a 100,000 round down the barrel 930 :

This gun has seen some heavy use over the last three years !

Assorted things have failed or broken off & the other week at the British Summer open i was left shooting the whole match load one shoot one not my or the gun's finest hour .............. a broken trigger spring was found to be the cause.

Like many have said you have to clean these, the Euro cartridges seem very dirty compared to one's i have shot in the States,so every 150 rounds i scrub the magtube & piston this seems to work.

Over here the 930 is under half the price of an M2 & although the fit & finish may not be as good this gun shoots great.

Edited June 19, 2013 by gunfighteruk

[mpom]

Would expect springs to wear out or fail with that many cycles, but what other parts have failed or broken off? Curious so I can be prepared and avoid some of your misfortunes.

Thanks for the hard gained insights, particularly keeping the piston and mag tube clean.

[MarkCO]

Ok so here's a 100,000 round down the barrel 930 :

Shells or pellets? That is a very pristine looking specimen for 3 years and 100K rounds! If I saw that in a rack, I'd be surprised if it had even 5K on it.

[gunfighteruk]

My 930 was supplied just over 3 years ago as part of a Mossberg factory sponsorship deal.

Here in the UK we cannot just go out & a buy a new gun (restricted by Police issued licence) so we are very adapt at keeping guns running

A shoot record has to be kept by law & i know just how many rounds have been fired

The receiver has been reblued twice & has some interesting bolt wear marks , 2 bolt handles have snapped ,the sight rail was lost as were the screws & i have "shot off" a barrel clamp leaving a nice chunk out of the nordic tube. Not much metal is left on the factory magtube due to extensive scrubbing to keep clean , oh & i broke the safety catch !

I was lucky to get one of the first JM models (think it was the first one pictured on here) but that lives in Kentucky - as plans to export it have not gone well .

So for the price i think its a cracking gun .

[Bullittmcqueen]

Either I am lucky or I have just kept the gun running right, but I've shot my 930 Turkey in several matches now and ran hundreds down the pipe at clays and have never had a single issue at all. Many years of shooting gas-operated Brownings has taught me that you need to keep the piston clean in these guns. I can't help but believe that guns getting dirty and fouled up has to attribute to a lot of the stories you hear or read about.

I think for the price the Mossberg 930 is a steal. Mine shoots soft and has reliably fed and fired over 10+ different brands and loads of shells, even light target loads.

[MarkCO]

Well, that makes sense then since it has been reblued. Cheers!

[Thecelt]

that's freaking IMPRESSIVE! thanks for that info.

Ok so here's a 100,000 round down the barrel 930 : This gun has seen some heavy use over the last three years ! Assorted things have failed or broken off & the other week at the British Summer open i was left shooting the whole match load one shoot one not my or the gun's finest hour .............. a broken trigger spring was found to be the cause.Like many have said you have to clean these, the Euro cartridges seem very dirty compared to one's i have shot in the States,so every 150 rounds i scrub the magtube & piston this seems to work. Over here the 930 is under half the price of an M2 & although the fit & finish may not be as good this gun shoots great.

[Thecelt]

also, with a 100,000 round gun do you run it wet or dry, and if wet what do you use? and who makes that forend shotshell holder?

Edited June 21, 2013 by Thecelt

[LikesToShoot]

The label on the stock was the first thing to be gone when I got my JM Pro.

After 14 months I've run over 4K thru mine. Two local 3 -gun matchs, a few practice 3G matchs and a whole lot of trap to just give the gun some trigger time. (highest was a 24, avg. 20) After reading this forum and seeing that Benny has backed off his support (IIRC, he's not doing any new work on them), plus my own dealings with the Mossberg support system for spare parts, it's hard for me to suggest that someone buy a JM.

Recently, I was asked that question and I recommended a VM and told them what I just posted above. I'm no 3 gunner, just a guy that likes shoot and tinker with guns.

I was happy to read that BJ also uses a JM for his 3g shotgun.

http://bjnorris.com/my-equipment/3-gun/

The real test for me and my JM will be the G3G Practical Shotgun Challenge hosted by the World Shooting Recreation Complex in Sparta, IL July 6-7 2013. I just plan to have two days of fun and hope the weather isn't too bad. Ooops, It's Sparta in the Summer time. Yup. It'll be HOT!

For a ittle over $600 it's been real good for me but it really hasn't been tested like many of the other guns out there.

[LikesToShoot]

Sounds like problems occur through out manufacture years, which may have started in 2011. Would assume its due to poor quality control in parts meeting specs rather than crap design, as crap design would affect all jm930s. still clinging to my 1 year old jm930, which other than a couple of failure to set off primers, has run well with light and heavy loads. A stronger firing pin spring, found at a local Ace and trimmed to length solved the problem, which is not uncommon as i saw it happen to another jm930 last month.

mark

Doesn't the firing pin spring return the pin to it's normal position and the hammer spring dertermine force on the firing pin against the primer?

[mpom]

Brain fart! Meant to say hammer spring!

[kurtm]

When Mossberg cast about of what to do for their "tactical" shotgun, they sent one to Benny and they sent one to me to do all the stuff to make one perfect for 3-gun.. Benny did his thing and I did mine. The gun Benny got was a prime example of what a 930 could be. The one I got was a prime example of what lack of quality control could be. When I sent them " my example" of what they should do to the gun to make a great 3-gun red shotgun, it had over a page and a half single spaced notes on just the things wrong with the gun to make it just work let alone the changes to make it competitive. Until this basic quality controlles is taken care of it will remain a perfect/ absolute worse shotgun for the game we play. There was so much wrong with the one they sent me that it took two weeks of work just to get it to the point of modification. If I had received a gun like the one sent me, I would happily take the 350.00 cause no amount of " factory rework" would have made it better.

[LikesToShoot]

When Mossberg cast about of what to do for their "tactical" shotgun, they sent one to Benny and they sent one to me to do all the stuff to make one perfect for 3-gun.. Benny did his thing and I did mine. The gun Benny got was a prime example of what a 930 could be. The one I got was a prime example of what lack of quality control could be. When I sent them " my example" of what they should do to the gun to make a great 3-gun red shotgun, it had over a page and a half single spaced notes on just the things wrong with the gun to make it just work let alone the changes to make it competitive. Until this basic quality controlles is taken care of it will remain a perfect/ absolute worse shotgun for the game we play. There was so much wrong with the one they sent me that it took two weeks of work just to get it to the point of modification. If I had received a gun like the one sent me, I would happily take the 350.00 cause no amount of " factory rework" would have made it better.

I'm so glag mine hasn't been quite as bad as the example that you received.

But I'm not a real three gunner, just a wanta' be, so it' works well for me on a low budget.

Maybe their next version will be better out of the box than this model.

I heard VM is going to try for a 3G model on their next release.