Mossberg 940 Pro Turkey Review

[tmcguire]

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Interesting. I actually had nice even patterns at all ranges with the stock choke. I may play around with it next season, but so far was impressed (although I need to keep that bare carbon steel oiled. I screwed up and did not take any pictures while patterning. Was getting eaten alive by mosquitoes so was in a rush, but was happy with patterns out to 60 with the Hevi-18 #9’s.

[Gumby]

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Seems since TSS,  most guys that run 12GA that have 3.5  chambers only run 3in anyway?  Seems the 3in shells shoot better in a lot of cases. Not to mention the hell you go through in shooting 3.5in cannon loads....

In my opinion, the  3.5” 12ga was the greatest con the gun industry ever pulled off.

[the Ward]

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Seems since TSS,  most guys that run 12GA that have 3.5  chambers only run 3in anyway?  Seems the 3in shells shoot better in a lot of cases. Not to mention the hell you go through in shooting 3.5in cannon loads....

In my opinion, the  3.5” 12ga was the greatest con the gun industry ever pulled off.

What con was that?

[the Ward]

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Yep! I agree. They just barely missed the boat by not chambering the 12 gauges in 3.5" and not making a 20 gauge as well. Nonetheless they still came out with a very fine firearm that hopefully they continue to improve and expand this line of 940 shotguns.

The only flaw that I have found is that when you load two shells into the tube on an empty chamber, and then try to chamber a round by working the action to stick a third round into the tube, that does not work. It is a design flaw for a hunting shotgun that was made to be in place for competition shooting. With an empty chamber the feed ramps locks upward and allows the spring to not just feed one shell, but dump the entire tube. When trying to load from empty by working the action in a hunting application, you'll double feed the load ramp and jam the gun. This forces you to load a round into the chamber and then the two into the tube, it really isn't a huge issue at all, just the muscle memory I have of two in tube, work action, third in tube, I've had to break that habit when carrying this gun.

Well that seems like a strange operating system. So if I understand, if you load the mag tube with the bolt closed, then open the bolt to allow shell to move from mag tube to chamber it double feeds?

[Gumby]

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Seems since TSS,  most guys that run 12GA that have 3.5  chambers only run 3in anyway?  Seems the 3in shells shoot better in a lot of cases. Not to mention the hell you go through in shooting 3.5in cannon loads....

In my opinion, the  3.5” 12ga was the greatest con the gun industry ever pulled off.

What con was that?

I don’t want to hijack the thread but 3.5” 12ga loads were never a true improvement over 3” loads for lead, tss, etc.  The actual reason for introducing 3.5” shells in 12ga (by Mossberg no less) was due to the switch to steel shot for waterfowl. It was an attempt to make steel shot more lethal by allowing greater payloads at higher velocities. No argument that it improved the ability of a 12ga in that realm and allowed it to perform equivalent to 10ga but in a lighter gun. However, the 12ga bore typically always performs more efficiently and patterns better with 3” loads vs 3.5” loads when using anything but steel. Lots of hyperbole and clever marketing led to a lot of misinformation on the superiority of 3.5” vs 3” loads/guns. I find it interesting that Mossberg (the company that introduced the 3.5” 12ga) chose to release their new “turkey pro” in 3” only.

I feel that if someone wants to shoot 3.5” go for it! I think the marketing and idea of “bigger is better” is just simply not always true. In my years of patterning I have typically found that most guns pattern better/more efficiently with 3” loads vs 3.5”. If we were forced to shoot steel at turkeys, my opinion would likely change.

Back to the 940 Turkey Pro….it looks like a great gun and I appreciate the reviews and info.

[HookedonHooks]

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Yep! I agree. They just barely missed the boat by not chambering the 12 gauges in 3.5" and not making a 20 gauge as well. Nonetheless they still came out with a very fine firearm that hopefully they continue to improve and expand this line of 940 shotguns.

The only flaw that I have found is that when you load two shells into the tube on an empty chamber, and then try to chamber a round by working the action to stick a third round into the tube, that does not work. It is a design flaw for a hunting shotgun that was made to be in place for competition shooting. With an empty chamber the feed ramps locks upward and allows the spring to not just feed one shell, but dump the entire tube. When trying to load from empty by working the action in a hunting application, you'll double feed the load ramp and jam the gun. This forces you to load a round into the chamber and then the two into the tube, it really isn't a huge issue at all, just the muscle memory I have of two in tube, work action, third in tube, I've had to break that habit when carrying this gun.

Well that seems like a strange operating system. So if I understand, if you load the mag tube with the bolt closed, then open the bolt to allow shell to move from mag tube to chamber it double feeds?

That would be correct. I looked into this issue and it is not isolated to my gun, but is actually a design of the 940. The Pro Waterfowl and Pro Snow Goose guns that came out along with the turkey had shipped earlier and came with many complaints of this particularly small issue from others as well. It's not a deal breaker for me, especially in a turkey gun, but I could see how waterfowl hunters trying to reload on a flock of geese that touched down at their feet with opportunity to get extra shots off past their first 3 as they get out of the hole would be frustrated having to adjust the same muscle memory that many of us have regarding shotgun loading.

[tmcguire]

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Huh… this explains the issues I had sometimes. I normally load the chamber first (since it locks open) then put two in the tube. But… I did have a scenario where it double fed when I really wasn’t paying attention. Thought I did something wrong. But now I’ll have to recreate it. That is a weird operation. What’s the benefit for 3 gun to have it operate like that?

[HookedonHooks]

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Huh… this explains the issues I had sometimes. I normally load the chamber first (since it locks open) then put two in the tube. But… I did have a scenario where it double fed when I really wasn’t paying attention. Thought I did something wrong. But now I’ll have to recreate it. That is a weird operation. What’s the benefit for 3 gun to have it operate like that?

I'm not entirely sure of the benefit, because I don't speed or comp shoot in general. It was just consensus for the design on some waterfowl forums regarding the issue as well. It's my understanding they're typically only loading the exact amount shells they need, but also need to have cleared firearm before the timer is stopped so maybe something to do with that. It's a very small complaint, and it's the only one I can come up with about this gun.

[tmcguire]

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I'm not entirely sure of the benefit, because I don't speed or comp shoot in general. It was just consensus for the design on some waterfowl forums regarding the issue as well. It's my understanding they're typically only loading the exact amount shells they need, but also need to have cleared firearm before the timer is stopped so maybe something to do with that. It's a very small complaint, and it's the only one I can come up with about this gun.

Your mention of this made me think I should actually read the owners manual. And I’ll be darned, just when I thought I new everything about autos. Out of town for Easter, but will have to give this a try when I got home. Didn’t realize this function existed and is probably why it double feeds like you mention…

[tmcguire]

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Ok, finally got back in town and had time to play around with the gun today. This feature (excerpt above from the manual) does in fact work and I actually like it allot. Prevents you from needing to cycle all three rounds through the chamber to unload the gun.

@HookedonHooks, my gun actually does not behave like yours and I would probably call Mossberg. I can belly load two rounds with an empty chamber then cycle a round to the camber just fine -- my feed ramp does not lock up with an empty chamber. Did it several times to confirm in multiple different scenarios.

What I did find is if you press the bolt release when the chamber is closed whether loaded or unloaded it ejects a round from the tube. If you don't depress the feed ramp/ elevator it releases a round in between the elevator and closed chamber which does cause some minor issues when you try to unload.

But when you do depress the elevator it ejects one round from the tube every time you push the bolt release. I would like to add a small modification to this procedure than what Mossberg writes in the manual. You need to depress the elevator and keep your thumb firmly against the brass of the round you intend to eject when you depress the bolt release. That will allow it to gently push against your thumb when released. That spring force in the tube is intense! I did this twice just depressing the elevator with my thumb and then releasing the round -- it flies out of the tube at 100mph and strikes your thumb an inch away something fierce! I now have a large bruise on the tip of my thumb and underneath my nail bed! OWWW! It even hurts to type this out lol

[mountainhunter1]

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Hey guys,

Really not much out there yet on this gun besides convention videos. So I made a quick review. Overall this is a great gun and will be my primary turkey slayer going forward. The machined receiver for            an optic is awesome and I hope other manufacturers follow suit.

https://youtu.be/QHLBF6WLd28

I really like how that is set up where you can still use your front bead if necessary. That is a big perk and I wish all guns could do that. Thanks for the review.

[runngun]

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During shotgun qualifications , we were taught "assembly loading, which is the way most people load a shotgun.  Put 2 in the magazine tube, cycle one by pulling back the bolt and then put the 3rd in the tube.
"Combat Load", start with the bolt open or back,  roll one shell into the chamber, close chamber and then put 2 in the magazine tube, ready to rock and roll!!! This way is fastest if you are in a hurry.
I  have always used "Combat loading" with all of my shotguns due to training. It is the fastest, especially if you need it NOW!!!

Have a good one
           Bo

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

[tmcguire]

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Alright, so post season update (at least for me).

Just spent 5 days backpacking with this gun- spent about 10 miles on my shoulder each day through some pretty harsh terrain.

I am going to remove the oversized bolt release. It is too easy to depress the bolt release as is, when it’s on your back flopping around when ducking branches or scrambling over rocks. Most of the time the gun did not have a round in the chamber (for safety) during these scenarios , but still ejected a round from the tube  into the space between the closed bolt and elevator unintentionally when bumped.

I am totally sold on the ability to co-witness the front site with your red dot. My gun took a nasty tumble when I slid down a goat trail on day one of my trip. Knocked the red dot off. I knew it immediately when I shouldered my gun and my red dot no longer co-witnessed with my front bead. Turned my red dot off and never used it again the rest of the trip — just relied on the front site.

[Twitch]

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I have been looking at the Pro Turkey but haven't had one in hand yet. When you say remove the oversized bolt release, will you need to purchase a smaller version or is it still useable?

[tmcguire]

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I have been looking at the Pro Turkey but haven't had one in hand yet. When you say remove the oversized bolt release, will you need to purchase a smaller version or is it still useable?

It’s still useable. Now it’s just a normal bolt release with a small threaded hole in the top (that the oversized button screwed into). I’ll likely either fill the hole or cover it with something to prevent dirt and grime from accumulating in there. I have actually heard that all current Pro Turkeys no longer have the oversized bolt release and come standard with the normal release — wonder if it was from feedback like this.