mossberg 835 10ga bore ?

[lhoward]

Why did they bore the mossberg 835 to a 10ga bore? What does it do? And why does it help?

[dirt road ninja]

To my knowledge Mossberg built the first 3.5 inch shotguns in the late 80's to make up for the pending lead ban on waterfowl. I'm not sure why, but my guess is they went with the 10 gauge bore to accommodate payloads close to what 10 gauge's used. Why do they perform well on the pattern board is a question for someone better educated than me. All of my Mossy's shoot.

[Happy]

Sure that Clark can answer this better than I but here is my understanding of it. When steel shot became a requirement for waterfowl hunting ammo companies  (I believe Federal) developed the 3 1/2" shell to try and make up for the light weight of steel with a heavier payload. Mossberg then jumped on board and developed the " backbored" barrels which are essentially 10 gauge barrels. Of course it was a matter of time before turkey hunters found them and the rest is history.

[allaboutshooting]

Sure that Clark can answer this better than I but here is my understanding of it. When steel shot became a requirement for waterfowl hunting ammo companies  (I believe Federal) developed the 3 1/2" shell to try and make up for the light weight of steel with a heavier payload. Mossberg then jumped on board and developed the " backbored" barrels which are essentially 10 gauge barrels. Of course it was a matter of time before turkey hunters found them and the rest is history.

I could not have said it any better. You're right on the money.

Thanks,
Clark

[turkeywhisperer935]

And turkey's have ever since rued the day.

[lhoward]

Hey thanks guys for the info!

[BandedSpur]

And turkey's have ever since rued the day.

As have shoulders everywhere.

[Bowguy]

And turkey's have ever since rued the day.

As have shoulders everywhere.

Very true!

[turkeywhisperer935]

Any gun shooting 3.5 in shells is going to have recoil. They my kick but what they do on the other end is well worth it. How many holes you putting in a turkey's noggin?

[stewart]

It seems like the older 835s are a bit heavier; I think it was the synthetic stocks they were using then. The old black recoil pad was pretty good too. The light Benelli autos are even more punishing than the 835 with 3.5" in my opinion.

[Happy]

I filled the stock of my 835 with sand and added a limbsaver. Seemed to help. I never thought it was horrible tho. Heck my wife has shot it and didn't think it was bad.

[allaboutshooting]

I've shot the 835, off and on, since its introduction but the best thing done to it was the addition of the Matthews Harmonic Damper. Here's an article that I wrote a couple of years ago about my experience with it. http://allaboutshooting.com/blogs/blog/98753735-mossberg-835-with-matthews-harmonic-damper

That system really works.

Thanks,
Clark

[stewart]

Thanks Clark; you're a library of good info.
Happy; I did something like that for a Stoeger M2000. I made a kind of fitted sandbag filled with aquarium gravel. That and a limbsaver helped a lot.