ZombieHunterD's Mossberg 500 Build(Compstock, Fatbead, Sightmark, ETC) 56k WARNING

[ZombieHunterD]

So ive been building up a shotgun i got for a good price. Ive been posting it up on another site and remembered this place. Ill be spending a good amount of time reading up on stuff so figured i put it here incase it helps anyone interested in certain product used or anythings. Sorry about the length and amount of pics in advance
thanks


Hey guys. So I had a budget of $350-$375 for a gun plus recoil pad. This guns primary function was for shooting dove, secondary function would be Home Defense and range gun. I was looking to possibly get a Turkey Thug 500. Deciding to take my time and not rush into a purchase, i waited. During that time I came across a never used M500 JIC for $150!!! Needless to say I bought it, and for less than half my budget. Technically I bought it for $135 because i sold the pistol grip for $15.
So now im going to make a log of everything i install or buy for this gun. Once ive used the upgrades ill review if they work and how they hold up. And since im on a budget im trying to find the cheapest prices i can without buying junk.


Heres the shotgun when i first got it home. Thing was covered in packing grease, and that stuff smells funky, the jic tube is a big stink bomb since it has that smell in it. lol




ITEM: UTG Picatinny Rail
PRICE: $6.99
PURCHASED FROM: Amazon
TOOLS USED Hex wrench, Blue thread lock, 1/8" slot screwdriver

This was a pretty straightforward install, no issues. 1/8 screw driver to remove thread screws from reciever. Provided hex wrench to attach mount. Added some thread lock to keep screws from coming loose. I think it looks good for $7.






ITEM: Knoxx Compstock
PRICE: $82.99
PURCHASED FROM: OpticsPlanet
TOOLS USED
Forend- Butter knife, End of a broom
Stock- 1/4" hex, skinny long screwdriver, extra tools due to bolt issue 1/2"socket/extension/rachet




Forend-
Luckily my m500 had the new forearm design, so i didnt have to order anything extra. I had my gun completely broke down since i had cleaned it. Using the butter knife i removed the nut from the forearm. I looked around everywhere in my house and found that the broom stick handle was a perfect fit to put inside the forearm tube to pull the original off. The new Houge forearm slipped right on without issue. I really like the feel of this forearm, its got a nice rubber texture. Really easy to grip.





Stock-
WARNING, PISTOL GRIP OWNERS WILL NEED STANDARD LENGTH STOCK BOLT
First problem i came across is the fact they dont provide a bolt in the kit, so you have to use factory stock bolt. Well for pistol grip owners its a problem, not a big one though. If you contact Mossberg they will send out the bolt for free. So just make sure you call Mossberg when you order your stock and your good. Since i wanted to get it together i went and bought a bolt to use until i get mine in the mail. Besides that, easy install, no issues, the instructions included are step by step. You will need a long skinny screwdriver to secure one of the screws. Also I added alittle tetra gun grease to the rail that the stock rides on.

 

[ZombieHunterD]

Im very happy by the finished product. This basically is the Houge stock with Knoxx recoil system fit into the back. I think I read the LOP is 13.5", I could be wrong. But it shoulders me perfectly. Feels really comfortable, and when i pull the gun towards my shoulder the stock does move. Its going to be interesting to see how it feels when shooting. I wont be able to get this bad boy out until about 3 weeks when my Winchester ranger 00 buckshot and Federal LE truball Slugs come in the mail. Ill be sure to post my findings after my trip to the range.


I was just about done with the post when my wife walked in with the mail and this came in, i barely paid for it on wed!

ITEM: SightMark Mini Shot Green Dot
PRICE: $56.80
PURCHASED FROM: Ebay
TOOLS USEDHex wrench to install battery

I got this for a great price off ebay. Never used. I was looking for a decent red dot and LazyEyedSniper has one and said he hasnt had any issues. So i went ahead and looked for one. This thing is tiny, but it doesnt feel cheap at all. Opened the box, installed the provided battery. Just have to remove two small bolts to take the mounting plate off, pop that battery in, install plate and your done. I had no problem fitting this to my cheap rail. The dot is very bright. Cant wait to use this with some slugs.










I had alot of fun installing these things last night. It was fun trying to figure out ways to make the installs work. Especially taking the forearm off with a broomstick, lol.
I cant take all the credit, i had acouple friends helping me out that night.


Next things i plan to do for sure are,
-Possibly do a light polishing of the internals, ill have to look up info on that, plus its a cheap mod
-Install a heatshield, love how they look
-Find a used 26"/28" barrel for cheap along with some highviz sights
After these then we'll see.

Thanks for reading, I will do updates on all the products after light and heavy use.

 

[ZombieHunterD]

So I ordered a fatbead sight to replace the standard gold bead. Main reason was i was having trouble picking the bead up with the utg rail i have on it. This sight did everything i needed it to. It was easy install. Original bead came off very easily with needle nose vise grips. Then i mounted the new sight, and kept removing it and filing off the end of the thread until it was flush with the barrel ID. I can pick this sight up very quickly, even with the rail. I went and ahead and got the green because its my favorite color. But mainly, because i heard the green was best in the general conditions i was going to be using it for than red. But the red, does look pretty sexy. Bought this on amazon for $13 shipped.






Tried to get acouple pics looking down the barrel, didnt come out too great

 

[ZombieHunterD]

Ive been wanting a heatshield, and decided to try a cheap metal shield i found on amazon for $19.95 shipped. Its made by Ultimate Arms Gear, figured id try this cheap one just to see if its any good. If not ill just get a blued mossy shield. It went on easy enough, Just had the bend the tabs to fit tighter, and shave a hair of the inside of the forearm since it was rubbing. Im not to sure how i feel about it. Its new so it may or may not grow on me. The real deciding factor will be this weekend and how it stands up to recoil.
The pistol grip m500 is my brothers, shooting his is what made up my mind i wanted a mossberg. But i went compstock over the tactical stock due to the fact im right handed and i cant hit the pump release. Hes a lefty so its good for him. Both are knoxx stocks. And yeah, he has alittle rust on his lol.

 

[ZombieHunterD]

I was going to wait until after my trip to the range on sunday to paint the heatshield i recently bought. But staring at it all week, it got to me and i had to do it. It has a glossy finish with a weird tint of purple under light. Just not my cup of tea. So i went to walmart and found rustoleum high heat for bbq pits. I was actually looking between that one and the rustoleum high temp engine bay paint. Chose this one due to it being $3 opposed to $7, still can withstand way more heat than my barrel will ever dish out. Plus it says it has a protective enamel which i didnt see on the automotive version. First thing i did was use pliers and slightly bend the HS to better form to the barrel. Since i was going to repaint it i didnt care about scratching it. Once that was done I sandblasted it so the paint would adhere better than sanding, plus alot easier. Then i hung it and sparayed it with a few coats. Very easy, and i REALLY prefer the flat look over glossy. The best thing is i did all this during work so i was on the clock while working on something for my gun. LOL















I always thought about doing this, and did a quick search about it, alot of people consider this the "poormans parkerized"

 

[ZombieHunterD]

So i finally went to the range today, but it wasnt the best day over here. It was super windy and both of my close range shotgun targets flew away after taking acouple shots of 00 buck. I was hoping to do a pattern test with the various buck shot i had, but that was a no go. THe guy next to me didnt even shoot his target once before it flew away! Sucks. The rifle range was way too crowded for me to do some slug testing after the buck shot. But i did get to shoot a box of winchester super x before close, it was too dark though, i didnt do to well with the slugs, but ill have to try them when its not windy, busy and theres more light. I did however get to have some fun on the pistol range with my px4 40 cal. Shot various ammo. Winchester white box being the best in 165 and 180 grain. Much to my surprise I was pretty impressed with the 3 boxes of tulammo i shot. I will admit that between the 3 boxes the loads varied. Some were stronger than others. I also shot american eagle which is good. But the worst ammo is acadamys monarach ammo. That stuff is so underpowered it was a joke. Even though it was underpowered, the px4 which uses some of the recoil to operate still functioned without fail.
Even though i didnt get to zero in my green dot here is opinion of some of my mods

Compstock- Even though my targets flew away, the range officer said i could still shoot in the direction of the target. So i went ahead and shot a box of full power winchester military 00, remington 00/0, and winchester ranger 00. Ive shot my brothers 500w/recoil reducing spec ops stock before, so I kind of had an idea of how the recoil was going to feel. Much to my surprise, the felt recoil on the compstock felt alot better than my brothers. Not sure if his is gen 1 or 2. The recoil on the buckshot was VERY manageable. With this stock i could run full power 00 buck for a shotgun course and not have any discomfort issues. That being said, the winchester ranger ammo is a LE reduced recoil 9 pellet round. Shooting this felt slightly stronger than a heavy bird load from a standard stock. Even though i didnt get to pattern test, my 500 will be ready to serve the Ranger ammo to any hungry badguys that may come into my house.lol The grip and stock are very comfortable to me, im not a big guy, 5'9, 170 lbs, i dont have really long arms. Im very happy with this stock. Birdshot isnt an issue for me at all, but with this, dove shooting is going to be a cake walk. And I had no problems with the cheek slap that some people report on these and the spec op stocks.

Heatshield- The heat shield did move a inch forward from the recoil. Not sure if it happened during the buck shot or slugs. But it didnt cause me any malfunctions due to snagging the pump action/forend. I figure ill try to contact mossberg and see if they sell the plastic spacer separately that comes with the oem HS. If not, or they take too long to respond, which will most likely be the cause im going to try and just make my own out of some sort of plastic or stiff/hardened rubber. Since my brothers 500 has the oem HS ill be able to use his as a template for my diy one. I just have the figure out what i can use, and cheap at that.

I really cant comment on the fatbead or green dot since i didnt get to use them much.


I went to the range this past Sunday, so im all caught up on my build.
As of now, im trying to source a used 26"/28" barrel to shoot some dove with. While im looking for that ill be saving up birdshot, 00 buck and slugs since ill be taking acouple of shotgun courses in afew months. Ill need alot of ammo, so have to start early. Ill probably be adding a side saddle further down the roadmainly for the class, but it doesnt hurt to have spare ammo either.

 

[bhhacker]

Nice job man. It looks good.


I gotta wonder how many people still have a 56k for that warning though

 

[ZombieHunterD]

Thanks, yeah, i figured its polite way of saying theres alot of pics, and a much shorter way too. lol

 

[Girodin]

Please let us know how the sight mark holds up on the shotgun, particularly if you are shooting slugs and buckshot.

 

[ZombieHunterD]

Will do, afew guys at a Mossberg site are running the minshots without issue. That's why I chose it. Once I throw some more buck and slush down range ill post up how it went

 

[khegglie]

Nice job man, send us the range review.