Mossberg 500A Magazine Problem

[kirock7]

On the way home last week I stopped and bought a new Mossberg 500A 12 gauge shotgun from the Academy on Kirby in Houston, TX.
I've been looking for one at a good price for a while and their she was. Just waiting for me.
I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet, but I have field stripped it (according to the manual's instructions) and lightly lubed it.

I was very proud of it... until I went to load some shells yesterday... when I discovered I could only get two shells (and just barely that) into the magazine.
Thinking something was stuck inside the magazine I striped the gun down again and using a flashlight was able to see that the magazine limiting rod was stuck halfway down the tube and the magazine spring is doubled up on itself (smooshed) near the screw end. This was pretty much right out of the box since I had never stuck a shell it it (just poked at it with my finger).

Well, I got online and found a few others that had had this problem, so I proceeded to try and unscrew the magazine tube to get to the spring and straighten it out.... well, guess what? No go.
No matter what I tried (hair dryer, torch, padded vice grips) I can't get the magazine to unscrew. I even ended up slightly marring and scratching the blueing on the screw cap end. Grrr!

I'm very unhappy. I'm sure everyone's aware that you can't return guns to Academy (they make you sign a document acknowledging that you can't). I was really looking forward to trying out our new gun (I just bought 450 clays, dang it!)
I am an avid handgun shooter, but this is my first 12 gauge. I know how to take care of my weapons. Unfortunately I'm not a gunsmith and that's what's needed.

I've emailed Mossberg customer service and am waiting for a reply... should I go ahead and try to find a local gunsmith to take that puppy off? Or should I send it back to Mossberg (how long will that take? Groan!)

What do you guys suggest?
Input is appreciated.

[FlynJay]

There is a wooden dowl in the magazine tube that limits the capacity to two shells (Required by law, not sure which one though). Remove the barrel, point the magazine tube down and shake, the dowl should come out the barrel screw hole.

To my knowledge, the dowl is for hunting purposes where it is illegal to load more than two shells. (I don't hunt, so sombody correct me if I am wrong)

[CainA]

You're correct, at one point in time it (the dowel or whatever was limiting the capacity) was called a "dove plug". Whether you only have to limit your capacity when dove hunting is beyond me as I don't hunt either, but I did dove hunt a few times years ago.

-Cain

[kirock7]

There is a wooden dowl in the magazine tube that limits the capacity to two shells (Required by law, not sure which one though). Remove the barrel, point the magazine tube down and shake, the dowl should come out the barrel screw hole.

To my knowledge, the dowl is for hunting purposes where it is illegal to load more than two shells. (I don't hunt, so sombody correct me if I am wrong)

Thanks for the response, FlynJay. This particular shotgun supposedly has a five round magazine. From what I've read in the manual the magazine limiting rod (the dowel) is supposed to be near the top or the end of the magazine. It's supposed to limit the magazine to five rounds (huh?)... problem is the spring is all scrunched up and turned inside itself (like a twisted up slinky toy). With the spring being like it is, you can't shake the limiting rod out... not that that would help since it's apparently the spring that is the problem.
I guess I'll be taking it to a local gunsmith to remove it from the receiver. Anyone know a good gunsmith in the Sugar Land area?

[bpet]

There is a wooden dowl in the magazine tube that limits the capacity to two shells (Required by law, not sure which one though). Remove the barrel, point the magazine tube down and shake, the dowl should come out the barrel screw hole.

To my knowledge, the dowl is for hunting purposes where it is illegal to load more than two shells. (I don't hunt, so sombody correct me if I am wrong)

Thanks for the response, FlynJay. This particular shotgun has a five round magazine. The magazine limiting rod (the dowel) is supposed to be near the top or the end of the magazine. It's supposed to limit the magazine to five rounds... problem is the spring is all scrunched up and turned inside itself (like a twisted up slinky toy). With the spring being like it is, you can't shake the limiting rod out... not that that would help since it's apparently the spring that is the problem.
I guess I'll be taking it to a local gunsmith to remove it from the receiver. Anyone know a good gunsmith in the Sugar Land area?

Actually, I believe the rod is to limit the capacity of the 5 round magazine to two rounds (not 5). This is to comply with federal regulations for hunting migratory game. If you take the dowel (wooden stick with a rubber gromet) out, you should be able to load 5 rounds in the tube. The spring "scrunches" a lot in the tube and sometimes limits the movement of the dowel so it is difficult to remove. I don't think you can remove the spring on a Mossberg without really digging into the gun since the magazine tube cap is dimpled to the tube. The barrel nut is the only access to the mag-tube so you have to sometimes shake the gun to get the rod to center on the bolt hole (and subsequently come out of the tube).

Give it a try before you go to a "smith" and be patient. It should come out unless something is really screwed up.

[UpTheIrons]

Try some penetrating oil on the magazine tube threads and let it sit for a couple of hours, then warm up the receiver again with a hair dryer. The first time I stripped mine down (after it sat unused and uncased for several years when I was in grad school), it was quite a chore to get it apart, too. The dowel may be attached to the spring with a rubber O-ring, too. At least mine was, but I've got a mid-80's non-A model, so that may have changed.

[FlynJay]

There is a wooden dowl in the magazine tube that limits the capacity to two shells (Required by law, not sure which one though). Remove the barrel, point the magazine tube down and shake, the dowl should come out the barrel screw hole.

To my knowledge, the dowl is for hunting purposes where it is illegal to load more than two shells. (I don't hunt, so sombody correct me if I am wrong)

Thanks for the response, FlynJay. This particular shotgun has a five round magazine. The magazine limiting rod (the dowel) is supposed to be near the top or the end of the magazine. It's supposed to limit the magazine to five rounds... problem is the spring is all scrunched up and turned inside itself (like a twisted up slinky toy). With the spring being like it is, you can't shake the limiting rod out... not that that would help since it's apparently the spring that is the problem.
I guess I'll be taking it to a local gunsmith to remove it from the receiver. Anyone know a good gunsmith in the Sugar Land area?

Keep trying to get the wooden dowl out. You may have to really shake it to get it free from whatever is hanging it up.
You could also try actuating the spring a little to see if that loosens it up any.
BTW, I have the maverick 88 witch is basically the same gun, works great and couldn't be happier with my $160 pump gun.

[Locksmith]

No longer valid

[AEA]

There is a wooden dowl in the magazine tube that limits the capacity to two shells (Required by law, not sure which one though). Remove the barrel, point the magazine tube down and shake, the dowl should come out the barrel screw hole.

To my knowledge, the dowl is for hunting purposes where it is illegal to load more than two shells. (I don't hunt, so sombody correct me if I am wrong)

Close, it's 3 shells. It turns a normal 5 shot magazine into a 3 shot for dove hunting.

[kirock7]

Update:
First off, thanks to everyone for their input... there was some enlightening info put up in this thread.
As it turns out; I called the local Gander Mountain and talked to their gunsmith, Jonathen Barnes.
He seemed a little puzzled as to why I wanted to remove the magazine exactly, but said sure come on down.
I really like the fact I could watch him working on my gun (I brought just the receiver and attached magazine).
He finally had to use fine sandpaper (amazingly!) in combo with a pad, a strap wrench and some good torque to get the magazine off.
The magazine spring was mushed up and bent around like I'd seen from the screw end. It was a worthy effort to have it removed.
Barnes straightened out the spring for me, describing his vision of what happened at the factory when the rod was apparently inserted incorrectly.
He then proceeded to put the magazine back on the receiver with the strap wrench. On good and tight, but not so tight as to force me to visit him again if I needed to remove it for some other reason.
Then he turned around and only charged me ten bucks.
In all an unforseen learning experience about my new shotgun and I just may have found the elusive talented (and local) gunsmith I've been looking for.

[FlynJay]

I'm glad it worked out for you. If you are ever going to be coming over to the south east side of town, you could come down to PSC and shoot a couple rounds of clays.