I thought it would be fun to play with the new 590S model.

Two unique features on the 590S.

It comes with the bumper in the receiver to accommodate short shells.

It comes with the receiver pre-milled for a micro-size optic. This is the feature that convinced me to buy ANOTHER pump shotgun.

Efforts to remove the optic placeholder cover-plate did not go well.

I tried every trick to get the two Allen-head screws that secure the placeholder cover-plate to let go. Heat, impact, penetrating oil, double set of vise grips on an Allen wrench while simultaneously hammering.

Would. Not. Budge.

Only other option seems to be drilling the screws, or welding a larger head onto the screw. Either of those options goes to the YOU OWN IT NOW class. I decided to give Mossberg a chance to sort this.

I have a strong suspicion those screws were installed with a power-wrench at the factory, and the threads in the aluminum receiver are now ripped, rended, and wrapped around the threads on the steel screws. Virtually certain that receiver-metal will come with the screws at such time as they ever are extracted.

So, to the tune of $75 shipping, the brand new major disappointment is en route to Mossberg warranty office in Texas.

To carry my distrust and cynicism a notch further, what you wanna bet Harry Hamfist in the warranty shop pulls those screws out, with considerable damage to the aluminum receiver, and then reports that it was the customer’s fault? No, that would never happen.

The Mossberg website doesn’t do anything except collect owner information and issue a return-authorization number. Nowhere to recite any narrative of the actual issue. I enclosed a detailed letter with the gun. I guess I’ll call their customer service line when the tracking number shows it delivered there.

Anyone else got one of these?

Attached File


Here are the screws that are seized.

Attached File

I would use a screw extractor.
Must be a new feature as my 590s was not milled for the same mount. Receiver is not that thick. Hopefully enough material in the milled area.

Mine does not have that cutout.   I just put a section of rail on it.   I will also add if you change the safety out there is a certain way to remove it screws.

Is that for mounting a RDS like the 940's ?

I would have bitched till they paid the shipping both ways.

The 590S is an RMS/RMSC Footprint

Here is the sight I intend to mount:

https://a.co/d/2zi1i0n

Attached File

I considered calling customer service and raising hell about shipping.

Instead, I lodged a demand for reimbursement in the letter I enclosed with the gun.

They totally SHOULD pay shipping.

But I didn't feel like having a fight over it, or letting the tail wag the dog. I want the gun "fixed." Which means MOSSBERG can torch those fucking screws out of there, and MOSSBERG can destroy the receiver in the process. I'm not gonna OWN THAT.

If they reimburse me cost of postage to ship it out, that's great. If they don't, I'll still be able to pay my mortgage. Although I'll harbor a grudge. And note that their website says NOTHING about any method by which a customer can be compensated for warranty shipping one-way from the customer. Now, if they try to bill me for shipping BACK from MOSSBERG, we're gonna have stern words.

Here is the letter I enclosed with the gun.

********************************

December 3, 2023


MPSC
ATTN: Service Ticket ID: 159270
1001 Industrial Blvd.
Eagle Pass, TX 78852

Dear Mossberg:

Please find enclosed one DEFECTIVE Mossberg Model 590S shotgun, Serial number V1796451.

I am the original owner of this shotgun. I purchased it brand new at a local gun store in October 2023.

I have never fired this gun.

This gun is UNSERVICEABLE as the two screws that secure the optic-plate on the receiver are SEIZED beyond hope.
Because the very nature of this gun assumes that this plate will be removed by the owner, I cannot fathom why Mossberg would install the optic-plate in such manner that the owner would be subjected to this amount of difficulty to operate the single unique feature of the gun.

The impossibility of removing this plate prevents me from installing an optic sight. The ability of this gun to accept an optic sight is the only reason why I bought this gun.
I have been completely unable to ever free these screws. I have tried every reasonable method, including impact, heat, penetrating oil, and high torque.
Any greater force to attempt to loosen these screws is likely to cause permanent damage to the receiver.

I am extremely concerned that the screws are CROSS-THREADED from the factory.
I say again: I AM EXTREMELY CONCERNED THAT THESE SCREWS ARE CROSS-THREADED FROM THE FACTORY.

 
Here is a picture of the screws that are seized.

Attached File


If the screws are cross-threaded, the receiver is permanently damaged and must be replaced by Mossberg. I will not accept damaged threads on the receiver. Please replace the receiver if the threads for the optic are damaged. I expect the threads for the optic plate to be absolutely pristine and perfect. This is a brand new gun. Ruined threads are unacceptable.

Do not return this gun to me with damaged threads.

Please remove the optic-plate cover on the receiver, and make necessary repairs. Once repaired, please return the gun to me with the optic-plate cover REMOVED. I want to be able to inspect the threads in that area when the gun is returned to me. I direct that under no circumstances shall the cover plate be re-installed on the gun for any reason whatsoever. Please return the optic-plate cover, and the two screws to me in a plastic bag in the same shipping container with the repaired gun.

I say again, DO NOT re-install the optic-plate cover on the receiver, and DO NOT re-install the screws for the cover.

I expect this repair to be covered under Mossberg warranty at no cost to me.
The substantial cost of postage to send this to Mossberg is printed on the postage label. I expect Mossberg to reimburse me the cost of me shipping this defective gun to Mossberg.

Please contact me to inform me of the status of this repair. Please notify me when you plan to ship the gun back to me. I want  to be sure that the gun isn’t just left by the delivery person on my front porch while I may be out of town. I do not want the returned gun to be stolen from my porch because I was absent, and not notified of its shipment.

Very disappointed with Mossberg,


G

Now maybe they can get busy un-screwing their screw-up

Attached File

A screw-extractor *might* get those screws out.

But if it fails, then the screws look like hell, and are STILL SEIZED.

And what I fear if I had done it, is the screws would have come out, and brought chunks of receiver metal (aluminum chunks seized to the cross-threaded steel screws) with them.

I refuse to own that disaster. MOSSBERG can eat those metal chunks.

https://a.co/d/h22stl9

Attached File

OP, I would be pissed as well.  I just transferred one of the new 590S models to a customer & I hope he doesn't have that issue w/ it.

Eagle Pass is the Maverick factory; it's across the street from the Rio Grande.  I stupidly did not schedule a tour during my time there.

I’ve got a feeling I may be the tip of the spear on this issue.

And it’s not a good feeling.

Maybe they staked em in the underside.  

Attached File

Inshallah they are faster than Glock.

Created an account just to reply to this post. Are you aware that your thread is the #1 google hit for the search terms "Mossberg 590S optic plate screws stuck" ? Well done! 👏

You may have been the first person to post about this issue but I might be the first one to back you up - you are very much not alone.

I can't imagine your frustration going online and not finding anyone else having this issue. Hope you don't mind if I sit back with some popcorn and watch how well Mossberg handles the warranty repair. The representative whom I spoke to on the phone today was the antithesis of customer service. He asked me "are you turning it hard enough?" and then suggested I use some oil. Yeah right, buddy. Good fucking luck with that cute idea. Then their last suggestion was to take it to a gunsmith... I literally bought the optics ready model specifically so I could easily throw on a red dot at home myself with an allen wrench. There was no indication I was going to need a firearms industry veteran with a full shop of expensive and highly specific tools to take care of a damn optics plate, which was designed to be the single most DIY-friendly modification on the firearm. Unbelievable. Well-done, Mossberg, well done.

Still unsure of what actions I should take to get my optics "ready" plate off. I work in product development/engineering, my opinion is that this issue and this is a clear cut example of an error in manufacturing worsened by an unfortunate lapse in customer service. That's been my experience so far; I'm not sure if you spoke on the phone with their customer service line and if they treated you similarly.

If Mossberg is unwilling to fix the problem at no cost to the consumer, then I imagine a gunsmith would be cheaper, faster, and easier. I wonder if that's sorta what they're banking on. Like you said, it won't stop me from harboring a serious grudge.

You say you just transferred a new Mossberg 590S this past Thursday to a customer. That's the same exact day I picked up my 590S. There's a possibility you were the guy who helped me? When I picked up the shotgun I mentioned that the purchase was the final piece of the holy trinity of gun ownership (pistol, rifle, shotgun) does that sound familiar?

I did not say I transferred a new 590S this past Thursday.  I transferred one recently to a Texas customer.

Welcome to ARFCOM.  Got any Legos?

Despite the annoyed oath about placing a telephone call I made in my video, I didn't call them.

I decided telephone communication would not be helpful, given my mood, and my probably better-ability to describe the problem in writing.
Which is the letter I posted.

I think its fair that I allow whoever receives these matters at Mossberg the opportunity to study and reflect on the actual problem before subjecting them to my radiant personality and superb telephone-voice intonation and demeanor.

Give them a fair chance to make it right without them being burdened by trying to un-bend me.
I'm feeling might caddywampus right now, and I don't see much utility in making folks do extra work that can be avoided.

I know how to remove a seized screw by destructive method (drill it out), and solvents and heat and impact.
But we can all agree, the customer shouldn't have to do that, and the customer shouldn't have to risk ancillary damage that may occur in the process.
This is 100% something that needs to be handled under warranty. Especially if the plate-screws are so buggered that the receiver itself ends up damaged in the process of removing the screws.

"Take it to a gunsmith."

Yeah, that sounds like a SPLENDID IDEA.

How about I "send it to a gunsmith?"
Like maybe send it to the ORIGINAL GUNSMITH who built the damn thing, and who should be the one to account for any gross defect or errors in his original "gunsmithing" effort.

I like that "send it to a gunsmith" suggestion.
I'm already the price of purchase of the gun, and an extra $75 shipping expense into my commitment to follow that advice.

Not a peep from Mossberg since the acknowledgment of receipt.

Watched your video, feel your pain!

About all I could think to do, in addition to your methods, would've been to disassemble the shotgun, then heat the hell out of the inside of the receiver under the plate, on the ends of the screws, with a heat gun, and/or a soldering iron directly on the ends of the screws.

If Mossberg is using Loctite Red, or something similar on the screw threads, you would need to get the screws really hot to break the bond of the thread locker.

I suspect they just over-torqued it.

Severely.

In the condition of the gun right out of the factory box, it was easily observable that the socket-hole of each steel screw was deformed from application of clockwise force.

How much force does it take to deform a STEEL screw-head when the female-threaded object to which you are attaching is a softer metal?

The concept of “torque-to-yield” comes to mind.

And if the metal that “YIELDS” is the aluminum receiver, they done fucked up.

*sound of music from
“JEOPARDY!”
plays in background

I really hope Santa brought them a magical Allen wrench and dissimilar-metals de-bonding potion for Christmas.

I got the one that had the ghost ring sights and the M-lok hand guard.  No optic mount.

Another week passed.

Other than the single "we got your box" email,... Crickets.

Were you expecting something different sending in your firearm over the Christmas/New Year's holiday?

From: O.F. Mossberg & Sons [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2024 9:18 AM
To: W.E.G.
Subject: Mossberg Returning Your Firearm - Service Ticket ID: 159270


Your Mossberg firearm/component is being returned to you.
Your Fedex tracking number: *************
Visit http://Fedex.com for tracking updates.
Please allow 24-48 hours for your tracking information to be available on the carrier's website.
If you have questions about this service, please reply to this email.
Thank you for the opportunity to service your Mossberg firearm.
Mossberg Product Service Team

Attached File

It's like you've never dealt w/ a US gun company's customer service before.  Your experience is much faster than typical, and this whole thread puts Mossberg in a very good light.

OP that sucks you had to deal with something stupid like a over torqued screw. Not sure if that was a good idea to torch them.  Might have made the metal soft.  Least its over with now And you should have your shotty back soon.  The shotgun looks nice i really like the forend.

With a little luck, the threads in the receiver aren’t buggered.

The shotgun has ZERO utility to me if the threads are chewed up.

My instructions were as deliberate and exact as I could muster.

I’m going to assume they just straight up ignored my request for shipping reimbursement.

At least they didn’t demand that I reimburse THEM for return shipping costs.

We shall see.

Lets hope they make things right and everything works out and you can mount that red dot on.

Real customer service is hard to come by in the US these days.

Attached File

That was a good turn-around time considering you sent it during the holidays.

I had one warranty experience with mossberg. It went well, but quality control needs to be done.

Basically my forend assembly looked like somebody dropped it on the threads, and some minimum wage worker just hossed/cross threaded the "castle nut" onto it. They made it right, but it looked like it was dented before parkerizing lmao.

Attached File


This was on a 590A1 with 20" barrel, bayonet lug, etc.

Your not far from me.  I'm on the other side of the border.   I also had warranty work done with my 590a1 spx a long time ago.  It was the bayonet lug was out of spec.  While firing with the bayonet on it would just fly off.  Sent it back and they fixed it in a timely manner.  I forget if I had to pay shipping.  I think I did.

I would have tried a screw extractor, but I'm impatient.  I've had to do it a few times before with optics screws.  I wish they used bigger screws, but I get they don't have a lot of room to work with.

I appreciate the awareness, I plan on getting a 590S soon.

The shotty arrived.

New screws and cover plate thrown loose in the box and rattling around.
I guess they're short on plastic bags at the Mossberg warranty office. Or they cannot read simple instructions. Or they deliberately choose to not follow them.

Definitely new screws.

Looks like there's one set of Mossberg holes for the screws that were seized.

Then a second set of holes for anchoring whatever dot-sight you want to install.

Looks like the Mossberg holes are not fucked - which is the main thing I was concerned about. Although it hadn't yet dawned on me that there would be a SECOND SET of holes hidden under the plate.

The second set of holes appears to be THREADED STEEL INSERTS in the aluminum receiver.

The dot sight I reckon will get steel screws installed in the inserts.

No commentary on any paperwork or mention of any reimbursement to me of the $75 I had to spend to ship the gun to Texas.



Attached File

The steel inserts are not flush to the surface. They might need to be filed down.  I wonder if this would cause a small gap when mounting some red dot sights.

That's interesting that you mention that.

Someone else pointed that out too.

I'll have to dig through the piles around here and find the dot-sight I was gonna install.

There should also be posts sticking up to mate with the bottom of the optic. As I understand it, the posts are what take the brunt of the recoil force and the screws just hold the optic down. Without the posts I can’t imagine the optic staying tight on a pump shotgun unless the pocket is a tight fit/the optic rests against the front and rear vertical surfaces.

Nameless Armament does slide cuts and discusses this.
Nameless

Is there an optics plate to install for a particular optic?

Haven’t bolted it down yet.

But the two threaded inserts line up with the holes in the sight

Attached File


Attached File


Attached File

Looks like some sort of kydex shim

Attached File

Well, if the insert fit in the optic holes then maybe they take the lateral forces instead of posts in the other locations. Must be Mossbergs plan.

Maybe it's mossbergs version of a ZEV cut?

Attached File


Basically 2 threaded posts

Just wondering how mounting the optic is working out?

Its going fabulous.

I found room for the gun in the safe (had been storing it on the floor in "the cave")

The CYLEE sight is in plastic bags in a box under my feet below the Walmart folding card table that constitutes my "desk."

In preparation for God Knows What, I bought another Mossberg 500 (an old one - pre-choke-tube model) at the LGS today. Because I thought the wood forend on the gun was pretty. Which is honestly the ONLY reason I can think of why I would buy another Mossberg. Well, that and the fact that I was left unspervised today.

Attached File


Great progress!

Seriously, I had planned to get that sight mounted in early December, and get to the range that allows "plinking" (aka blasting tin cans on the ground, and other ad hoc targets). Except those damn screws were seized, and I wasn't going to destroy the one feature of the gun that supposedly justified me buying it in the first place. So the "warranty thing" got in the way.

Then I got sick. For the whole fucking month of December. Took a bunch of meds from "the box" (which is on the floor next to the shotguns in "the cave"). Didn't get well. Wife made me go to a paid doctor. He prescribed more of the same meds I'd been taking from "the box." Except he ordered me to take higher dose, and for a lot longer. Which I did. I seem mostly well now - but off-schedule for sure.

All I need to do is swab-out the two screw-holes with some acetone, throw on a dab of Loctite 222, and snug it down. Then go shooting. Which means driving to the "plinking range" 2.5 hours one way. Gonna be cold as fuck. Maybe I can time it for a day when weather won't be 100% frozen. Got some other shotguns and various things I had no business buying that I need to "bust the cherry" on. I think I might have gotten in too deep on "projects." That thing I bought today being ANOTHER one.

I really should just put the green-dot sight on the 590-S and quit screwing around making excuses and blowing gaskets. I've got another range (one that doesn't allow "plinking") I can drive to in 40 minutes. I could at least run some slugs and maybe a little buckshot/birdshot through it. The nearby range is funny about shooting anything other than slugs, and not from the bench - unless its clay birds. My interest in clay-bird shooting came and went in the 80s's. After that I evolved into a curmudgeon who likes to disassemble guns and shitpost on the internet. And I shoot some.

And I reload ammo. Which I should be doing right now instead of writing walla-text on the internet. Say!... There's an excuse for not mounting that sight yet. Should serve for tonight at least.

Thanks for asking!

Well, at least you got over the crud.
A Mossberg 500/20ga/MOD Choke was my first shotgun when I was 12. That was in 72 and it's in the safe now. It’s had an easy life so far, rabbits and squirrels mostly when I was a teen and two deer about 15 years ago with slugs.
I’ve bought my share of “oh shinny shinny, I need that” then after a short while I say WTH was I thinking!
Projects = One of my life mottos is “nothing is easy”.
Hope you get to get out and put some rounds through some of those guns.

I promise I will.

I got range memberships and a shit-ton of ammo.

I got a pizza and a couple glasses of cheap wine tonight.

Time to drop some powder and stuff some bullets!

Winter is here.

Ordered some ammo at least.

I already have a 50 cal can or so of slugs - various brands.
Won't last long because those are BIG SHELLS.

This looked like a fair deal. I've done biz with these guys before.

https://www.velocityammosales.com/products/12-gauge-federal-hydra-shok-slug-le127-rs-250rd-case

Attached File