Dropping another video review today; we have the Mossberg 930 SPX tactical on the range. I really enjoy shooting this gun; like most shotguns it provides a very rewarding sense of accomplishment. There’s something delightfully tactile about the “chunk-chunk-chunk” of sending 12 gauge downrange and feeling the gun drive back into your shoulder in recoil. It’s a primal feeling, right up there with the emotional reaction I have to hearing a V8 turn over.
Mossberg 930 SPX Tactical Review
I went down this exact same road about a year ago. Bought a 930 spx for use in 3-gun matches, it hasn’t turned out well.
Yes the gun was cheap, and yes it ran… at first but the shotgun has some serious longevity problems.
Here is what I’ve encountered with the 930 that I don’t like.
1. I ended up selling the HD barrel and picking up a 24 inch turkey barrel. Ordering a non-ported barrel from mossberg was like trying to find the holey grail. They shipped me the wrong barrel twice before finally getting me something non-ported.
2. I’ve never got it shoot slugs for me worth crap. When i finally found some slugs that would shoot okay, they were grouping about 2 feet left at 100 yards… ouch.
3. You have to clean the piss out of the gas piston system about every 300 rounds. I don’t mean take it apart and wipe it down… I mean SEPARATE the piston rings from the piston and hit it with a wire brush, If you don’t do this your gun will start to have cycling issues… read up on it, it’s a very common problem with the 930. Also AVOID any sort of oil/lubricant in the piston area.. this will only make it build up faster.
4. Get an extra power hammer spring for the gun, most folks are swapping in a 10/22 spring. This solved my light strike issues I was having with the gun.
5. 2 other 3-gunners I shoot with have had, have had their ejectors break loose on their guns. ; (. Mine never did, but it made me loose some confidence in the platform.
6. After wrestling through issues with it for a year, I finally decided to sell it and by a versa max… couldn’t be happier.
50 slug session, so far so good. A little more felt recoil than the Benelli m2.
I bought one three of four years ago… maybe a year or two after their introduction.
Didn’t notice it while fondling, but at the range it shot BADLY to the left. Like couldn’t hit a B-27 at 25 yards with the rear sight cranked. Problem? The front sight blade was glue/welded on at an angle!
Called Mossy. They promised a new barrel in two weeks.
Three calls and four (or was it six?) months later, I had a new barrel.
And then there were the malfs. I couldn’t run a full mag without a malfunction along the way. Rules the gun out for home defense, which was the primary reason I bought it. I toyed with keeping it to loan to someone I didn’t like when the zombies rose, but sold it to someone instead. And I felt badly selling it, even at a bargain, as it wasn’t reliable.
John
If you read through the Brian Enos forums, there is rarely a good word said about the 930’s by people who have used them in 3Gun. Apparently the 930 is like owning a boat, that happiest days are the day you buy it, and the day you sell it.
Mine eats everything I feed it, groups slugs like a champ, and looks great doing it.