News

Mossberg 535 pump-action shotgun review

Mossberg 535 pump-action shotgun review: The Mossberg 535 pump-action shotgun is a strikingly camouflaged pump-action shotgun that would make the ideal tool for vermin and wildfowl.

Would you like to speak to our readers? We offer sponsored articles and advertising to put you in front of our audience. Find out more.

Mossberg 535 pump-action shotgun review.
My first and only experience of using the pump-action shotgun for real was in the early 1970s on a local farm. I am no longer sure of the make, but I remember that it seemed ancient, even then, for a gun of its type.

The operation was ?chackley? (a local word that described the loose and noisy sounds when cycling the action – it could be heard the best part of a field away).

It was not mine, but lived unloved in the corner of a barn. Its primary purpose was crop protection and it never let us down.

It did, though, introduce me to a type of shotgun not commonly used in the UK, and also to that American concept that a shotgun is simply a tool to do a job.

It was little more than a hand-operated machine to ?shuck shells?, as someone from the US might put it.

LONG, LIGHT AND SLICK
Recently, I had a Mossberg to test and wondered how different the experience might be this time.

However, when you can find the detail along the camouflaged barrel, it comes as a surprise to find the legend chambered for 2.3/4in and 3.1/2in shells.

The latter, in a gun weighing no more than 6.1/2inlb unloaded, promised to provide more than a little excitement.

Drop across the stock is fairly standard at 1.1/2in to 2.1/2in and the butt stock is virtually straight with only a hint of toe-out.

The length of pull measures a little more than 14in, but, due to the shape and position of the pistol grip, feels longer.

There is a moulded-in sling eye a couple of inches from the toe and provision for a similar attachment on the barrel retaining screw.

Four blanking screws along the top of the receiver are a clue to the multi-purpose uses of a Mossberg pump action.

Here, an open, adjustable rearsight or medium eye relief shotgun scope might be fitted – these are popular in the US for deer hunting.

BIRMINGHAM PROOFING
The US does not have a proof system like us, so the test gun had Birmingham proof marks of 18.6mm superior proofed for use with steel shot.

On my gauge, it measured only a couple of thousandths of an inch more than the nominal proof size and was parallel for the barrel?s full length. Three of the ever popular screw-in chokes are provided, measuring, as a comparison to the bore, tight quarter-, half- and full-choke.

Usefully, the handbook lists the full range of available choke tubes.

However, while each choke is identified on its outside diameter, unusually there is no notch marking.

So, flush-fitting chokes have to be partly removed for precise identification.

A raised rib, black plastic centre bead and red foresight are all practical fitments that blend in with the overall styling.

ACTION STATION
The 535 is available as either a three-shot or five-shot. To use maximum capacity, load one cartridge into the breech, close the action, put the safety on and load the other cartridges into the tubular magazine.

data-lazy-src=

Depress the action lock lever located at the rear of the trigger-guard to open the breech and extract an unfired cartridge.

LOCK WORK AND MAGAZINE
Trigger-pull proved to be fairly typical of its type, safe but a little long, followed by a clean break at around 5Σ⁄¬lb.

For maintenance, the compact lock work can be dropped out of the receiver by driving out a single dowel pin.

A couple of pieces of the adjacent cartridge-feed mechanism – the cartridge interrupter and cartridge stop – often try to fall out at the same time.

Maintenance is no great problem though, as it is fairly obvious where the parts refit without reference to the handbook.

The 535 is available as either a three-shot (two in the magazine, one in the chamber) or five-shot for the vermin shooter with a shotgun on a firearms certificate.

To use the maximum capacity, it is a case of loading one cartridge into the breech, closing the action, putting the safety on and loading the other cartridges into the tubular magazine.

Depressing the action lock lever at the rear of the trigger-guard enables you to open the breech and extract an unfired cartridge.

SAFETY AND HANDLING
Handling is biased forward but this helps with the swing, and having a safety button mounted as a tang safety is a great advantage over the more common side push button located in the trigger-guard.

With the almost straight stock, I shot a bit to the left to start with, but found it easy to correct my aim.

data-lazy-src=

Also, holding the fore-end fairly far forwards in anticipation of operating the action negated any tendency for the stock to feel short.

With game cartridges, it was nice to handle and easy on the shoulder ? even 3∞⁄Πin steel shot cartridges didn?t turn it into the Jekyll and Hyde monster I?d expected.

If I was crouching in a muddy gully, the recoil would be more noticeable, but standing up it was not at all unpleasant.

The Mossberg 535 is a no-compromise gun that you will either like or loathe. Yet it is a good, functional tool and that will be enough for some shooters.

data-lazy-src=

CONCLUSION
The Mossberg 535 is a practical tool to do the job required with super camouflage and a reliable operation.

It is the sort of shotgun that is most likely to appeal to the practical wildfowler or vermin shooter.

Mossberg 535 pump-action shotgun

PRICE:

£550

York Guns
01904 487180
www.yorkguns.com

More

Join us at Sparsholt College and inspire the next generation

By Time Well Spent

Join us at Sparsholt College and inspire the next generation

By Time Well Spent

Applications open for 50% deer chiller trailer grants

By Time Well Spent

Mossberg 535 pump-action shotgun review

Mossberg 535 pump-action shotgun

PRICE:

Read more gun reviews!

Related articles

More

Join us at Sparsholt College and inspire the next generation

By Time Well Spent

Join us at Sparsholt College and inspire the next generation

By Time Well Spent

Applications open for 50% deer chiller trailer grants

By Time Well Spent

Mossberg 535 pump-action shotgun review

Mossberg 535 pump-action shotgun

PRICE:

Read more gun reviews!

Related articles

Applications open for 50% deer chiller trailer grants

By Time Well Spent

Calls for hare close season grow as Bill stalls in Lords

By Time Well Spent