Is there a Mossberg doctor in the house? Feed problems with an 835.

[PNW_Steve]

Hello Everyone,

I just picked up an VERY used Mossberg 835 that has problems.

The first one looks like a cartridge stop or interrupter problem. If load 4-5 shells then handle the gun roughly 1-3 of the shells will depart the gun dropping out of the bottom.

If I load three and cycle the action, the first one chambers and the other two pop out of the bottom.

I am also having to press the slide release to rack the action even with shells in the magazine.

My attempts to resolve it so far have been limited to hosing out the action with gun scrubber. That removed a bunch of oily powder residue but did nothing to affect the problem.

Thoughts?

[NoZombies]

I'd start by disassembling the action to at least it's major components, clean thoroughly and look for broken parts, and then go from there.

Shells in the magazine shouldn't disable the slide lock, firing the gun unlocks it.

[Mk42gunner]

I never had an 835 apart, but I have taken multiple Model 500's apart while doing routine maintenance on them.

I agree with No Zombies, a thorough cleaning may just fix your problem. If not look closely at the shell retaining latches (or whatever Mossberg calls them) at the rear of the magazine.

Also it is a very good idea to do your inspections with some action proving dummy rounds, there is a lot less chance of sudden unexpected loud noises that way.

Robert

[toallmy]

It sounds like something is put together - Not quite right or it’s just crude in the trigger group . I’d suggest looking up some YouTube videos before pulling it down completely to see what’s going on . A shell shouldn’t come out of the tube without the carrier in the load cycle .
I have a younger family member that loves to duck hunt - the only thing he does to a shotgun is spray a can of wd40 in it at the end of the year so don’t be surprised if it’s just nasty with crude .

[PNW_Steve]

I'd start by disassembling the action to at least it's major components, clean thoroughly and look for broken parts, and then go from there.

Shells in the magazine shouldn't disable the slide lock, firing the gun unlocks it.

I have never been much of a shotgunner. This is the first pump shotgun I have tinkered with since the '80s. My memory is a little fuzzy but I thought that I was able to chamber the first round without pressing the release. The memory just isn't what it used to be

I ran into a gent yesterday that had a lot of experience with the 835 and after a few questions he suggested replacing both the stop and the interupter. He told me that this is common on well used 835s.

This one looks like it was shot a bunch, never cleaned and left out in the rain before it was run over by a truck....

The parts are only $23 . I am going to order them up as well as some cold bluing to make the internals pretty again. Once it is shooting right, I am going to clean up the exterior and Ceracote the whole thing.

[William Yanda]

Thx for the update. I was curious.

[toallmy]

Good save ..

[megasupermagnum]

The shell interrupter only stops a shell when cycling the gun. The problem you have is with the shell stop. Replacing both parts is a fine idea, but you can also likely get yours to work. The shell stop is a stamped steel part, and easy to bend. In operation, it more or less acts as a leaf spring that gets pushed aside to let a shell out. If it was bent, it will allow shells by as you have. The fix is to bend it slightly back out.

All the Mossberg pump's share the design for receiver. The 835 is simply lengthened slightly for the 3 1/2" 12 gauge, otherwise the design is the same as the 500 series. They are very easy to take apart.