There was a scope mount base on the Mossberg that served its purpose when the gun was new (bottom), but fell out as a fashion statement a number of years ago. Mesa Tactical makes a nice receiver mount Picatinny rail that provides a lot more latitude in fore and aft mounting and is low enough to clear line of sight to the barrel mounted fiber optic sights. And, yes, it does look pretty nifty. Thank you for noticing. Brownells #100-000-019 $39.99.
The Remington magazine extension is supplied with a sling swivel clamp, the extension for the Mossberg, because of Mossberg’s magazine support one is not required. Personally, I wanted additional support for the extension magazine and I wanted a place to clip a sling so I wouldn’t have to resort to a piece of clothesline tied around the stock… even if that is an upscale look. To that end, I purchased a Brownells # 159-104-100 Parkerized Sling Swivel Clamp for $10.
The clamp kits accomplishes a few things, besides clamping the barrel and magazine tube together and matching the rest of the gun. Hardware is provided to mount the clamp with or without a sling swivel and a swivel stud is included for the buttstock. The only problem I had was that the swivels were 1″ and I wanted 1.25″, and they were fixed in the stud rather than quick disconnect. My brain is not wired to threading slings so putting one on, or taking one off takes two to three weeks so all of my slings are on quick disconnect swivels.
Left, fixed versus quick disconnect. My #2 swivel removal tool clipping the original off. The quick disconnect installed and the clamp in place in the Mossberg. Neato. The only problem was that the stud swivel hole was not a through hole, so I had to drill it out with a No.26 drill before it would accept the quick disconnect swivel post. The installed set of swivels carry Brownells # 100-003-029, $10 for a set of two, fore and aft mount. I was all set until….
Where are you Stevie Ray Vaughan?
A funny thing about a pump action shotgun, it takes a really long sling. When I attempted to install a “Blue Force Gear Simple Sling” it could not reach swivel to swivel and it sure wasn’t going to stretch. So I jumped ship and went with the $20 “CrossFire Extreme Sling” Brownells # 773-000-036. The sling had some pro’s and con’s. The pro’s – the sling is a shooting and carry sling, it is made out of durable nylon with rust proof polymer buckles, and it is 43″ long. It can be configured for twenty positions. Cons – It can be configured for any one of twenty positions and I had to remove the quick disconnect swivels I just installed because swivels are integral to the sling. I was a little intimidated by a sling that is supplied with an instructional DVD but I figured, if I could master the Latigo… While it may look unwieldy as installed, but it is not. At this length of adjustment, the left elbow can be placed between the sling and gun while cycling the gun, and the sling can be pulled outward to place it under tension and used as a steady rest. The easy to remove swivels offer good utility..
From CrossFire to FastFire II
I’m not sure when the transition becomes complete but, after the age of forty, we all begin a transformation into Mr. Magoo; pants pulled up to the chest and eyesight that has us patting the mop we think is the dog. I’m not there yet, but let’s just say that I look appreciatively upon optically enhanced sights. The Mossberg once wore a low magnification scope, but the FOV was too narrow and its physical presence got in the way. This time I went with Brownells #118-000-019 FastFire II Sight with a Picatinny/Weaver mount. The retail cost of all was $249.
| Manufacturer |
Burris |
| Product |
FastFire II |
| Magnification |
1.07x |
| Elevation Adj@100 Yards |
190″ |
| Windage Adl@100 Yards |
190″ |
| Increment of Adjustment |
1 MOA |
| Dot Size |
4 MOA |
| Recoil Resistance |
1000 Gs |
| Operating Temp. Range |
-10°F to 135°F |
| Power |
3v Battery |
| Weight |
0.9 Oz. |
| No Parallax Range |
10 Yds – 150 Yds |
| MSRP |
$249 |
|
Models Available for virtually all firearms
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The FastFire II kit is complete. Burris provides everything necessary to mount and adjust the FastFire II, including tools, adjustment indexer, hardware and a water proofing gasket.
The bottom of the FastFire II is open for service access, however, a gasket resides between the sight and whatever base option is selected. In this case the base mount is Picatinny. Torqued to 12 in/lbs, the assembly is listed as submersible, so water and other elements are not a problem.
Red dot sights have really evolved. The LED image is sharp and uniform in shape. The battery draw is low, lasting up to four years and there is an on/off switch. A protective cover is provided, however, Burris also offers a wing guard for the sight for those who use their firearms to chop firewood. The FastFire II is… fast with both eyes open. There is no eye relief constraint and the parallax correction range is ideal for the application.
So where did we wander off to this time?
All and all it was a pretty smooth transition from duck gun to slug gun. The big Mossberg 835 shrunk about half a foot in length, net weight stayed about the same, ergonomics improved and it is now a relatively fast handling, quick sighting brush gun. With 3″ BuckHammer® Lead Slugs and AccuTip Bonded Sabot Slugs, accuracy is good… maybe 1″ – 1½” at 50 yards. The AccuTip at 1,900 fps is even pretty flat shooting for a 58 caliber projectile. The BuckHammer is a not more like a flying barn door, but inside 100 yards it really doesn’t matter and it is a heavy 1 3/8 oz slug. The recoil is softened by the new pad, but it remains… attention getting.
None of the changed are permanent. With an investment of 20 minutes the gun can be restored to scatter gun configuration and all of the accessories removed. If for some reason I want to change to the fiber optic sights, they remained on the gun and only one clamping fastener needs to be loosened to remove the FastFire. Fun project, good shooting gun.
The Shotgun Chronicles Part I
The Shotgun Chronicles Part II
The Shotgun Chronicles Part III
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