Thanks in advance.

It doesn’t.

ETA: Look at the Beretta 1301 tactical as well.

Oh, roughly about half the price give or take.  I have a 930 SXP with a few upgraded parts from OR3gun that runs just fine.  Then again, my Panzer Arms M4 Turknelli has been working just fine too at a quarter the price.  I guess I don’t have a problem spending big money on rifles where accuracy is an issue but spending a lot of money on a modern answer to a blunderbuss just ain’t my thing.

Your loss.  Nothing is as effective or devastating against one, or multiple, assailants up close as a modern blunderbuss.

To your point though, a lot of people say the same thing about buying a $400 PSA AR15 vs a more expensive build.


To the OP.  QC can be VERY iffy on the new 940s.  Seen lots of youtube reviews, and read lots of reports over issues.  It's a nice design in concept, but Mossberg just sucks at execution.  Also, their customer service is complete dog shit.  I any many others have had major issues with it.

This guy attempted to do a 1,500 round burndown with a 940 (with birdshot no less) since Mossberg claims you can run 1,500 rounds through the 940 without having to clean it.  It didn't last half that before parts started to break and he started having major issues.  He sent it in to Mossberg on his own dime, and they may or may have no fixed it.  He ended up selling it to just get rid of the problem.  There is a reason you find so many 940s out there used for cheap...



If you want to get a cheap semi auto shotgun, look at a MAC 1014 or Panzer Arms M4 clones.  Stoeger 3000 are also pretty good.  For name brand stuff, Beretta A300 Ultima Patrol or Benelli M2 are your best bet at just around $1k.

2 posts in, and someone is already talking about a 930. It's really too bad Mossberg didn't call them a 1040 or something, because people will forever be confusing the two. The 930 and 940 are two completely different shotguns with few parts interchanging. The only similarities are they are semi-auto and made by Mossberg.

All I can really say is the obvious. The Benelli M4 is tried and true, you know what you are getting and they work well. The 940 is only a few years old brand new design. The really good thing about the 940 is the features it comes with depending on which version you get. All the tactical ones come cut for rmsc footprint red dots. The ergonomics of the 940 are phenomenal, superior to a benelli m4 especially for a left hander. The loading and ejection ports are quite large. You can enlarge the M4's but that's extra work or cost. One of the more notable difference is the capacity. The 940 holds 7 in the magazine, 1 in the chamber. The M4 as it comes only holds 5 in the magazine, one in the chamber. As far as I am aware, you can ghost load both the 940 and M4 for an extra shell. The thing is you can replace the magazine tube on the M4 which is limited for importation reasons. This brings the capacity up to 7+1 the same as the 940.

I do not have a 940, but I do have a 930 SPX.
While the 930 and 940 parts do not really interchange, the basic core operating system seems to be almost the same.

My 930 I changed the gas piston to the factory mossberg boron nitride coated piston just to make it easier to clean, and then also added the OR3Gun spacer tube.
I also had the barrel threaded for choke tubes.

Even with the upgrades to the 930, I am still at half the cost of my M4. The M4 I had to spend even more money on to change out the mag tube and then other parts to stay 922r compliant.

I have had no issues with my 930 and it feeds/shoots great. I will cycle pretty much everything. I have even shot win aa 1145fps target loads.
I also clean my gun after every range trip. I am not one of those people who are obsessed with never cleaning a gun or are allergic to it. I take care of my stuff.

My M4 will only cycle hot stuff. It will even choke on lower power buckshot.

So if you take care of your guns and routinely clean and lube them, I would go for the mossberg for way cheaper.

1301 Comp Pro over either

Ok so here are some data points:

Mossberg 930 and 940's do not like AA hulls.    I have 3 Mossberg's and even my 590 will occasionally hang up on AA hulls.  Neither one of my 930's can make it through a full tube without having some type of failure, usually a doublefeed where 2 shells come out of the tube instead of one, jamming up the works.  This failure is repeatable and seems to be caused by slightly different hull dimensions.  When I run Federals, I have never once had this problem in several thousand rounds.  I have not shot enough Remington's, to really evaluate them but I have had a couple of similar jams the couple times I tried the gold hulls.  The problem with that data point is most shooters view AA's as the gold standard and have the opinion that if a gun won't run with them then its the gun's fault.  It sorta is, but if you run the more generic shells, with STEEL case heads, suddenly the problems go away...

Almost nobody actually cleans these guns well enough or properly.  I'm sorry, hosing the action down with the aerosol lube of your choice is NOT proper cleaning...  Every single time I have helped a mossberg shooter at a 3 gun match (over a dozen times now), the shooter claimed to have "just cleaned it", yet when taken apart, the guns were filthy, and most shooters ended up admitting they did not know how to take it that far apart.  This is 100% shooter induced malfunctions and not mossbergs fault.

That 1500 round between cleaning threshold is wildly optimistic and relies upon perfect maintenance and lube, and CLEAN PREMIUM AMMO that is not AA's, not whatever junk was cheapest at wally world.  Realistically I do a full field strip and clean around the 5-600 round mark when I am shooting wally world crap, to make sure I don't have any issues during a match.  In a pinch I am confident to 750-800 rounds with the junk ammo that I shoot, but not much more than that.  

Last, if you are going to put a barrel clamp on these guns, make 1000% sure that you BUY THE RIGHT PART and it actually fits.  I have seen 2 fellow shooters that have put on clamps that were clearly designed for different guns, with different spacing between the barrel and tube, applying a torque or bend to the tube and inciting malfunctions.

This is what it looks like when you go too far without cleaning...

Yes, it never fails to amaze me how lazy some people can be. I mean really, how fast do you go through 1500 rounds? Of course you could blow through that fast if you were just screwing around, but if you were shooting, even clay pigeons, you would have to be very busy to shoot that much in a month. That's almost 400 rounds per week, that's not a normal amount of shooting unless you are actually competing in something, and even then you only do that for a part of the year. If you are taking things that seriously, is it really that damn hard to clean your shotgun twice a month? I can't even imagine going 1500 rounds between cleanings. Would you ever go 1500 rounds between cleanings on your CCW pistol? Would you ever choose one pistol over the other because one fails to function after 1000 rounds, but the other makes it to 2000?

If you just shoot a little say 50-100 rounds then sure, put it away. I see no valid reason someone would shoot a class or a competition or something over a weekend and put say 400-500 rounds through any firearm, and not clean it. Maybe not a 100% strip, but at the very least a quick clean and oil of the barrel and wipe off the gas system parts. 1500 rounds is where you should be doing the full action cleaning.

Another thing that causes lots of problems is the lack of lubrication. I see people show up to classes with guns that are bone dry. I’m not sure when this trend started but a lot of younger people seem to do this and it just causes problems. Even pump actions need lubrication. Mossbergs are not know for good quality control. The 930 had a very dismal launch and it never really bounced back from it. The 940 has that over shadowing it. They really should have picked a different name. A lot of the Mossberg guys like to point that that Jerry Miculek uses a Mossberg and that is true, but I highly, highly, doubt his is an off the rack gun. Reviews for the 940 so far have been mixed. I wouldn’t put the 940 in the same zip code as a Benelli M4 or a 1301. I’m not sure it’s even at the level of the Beretta A300 either.

My 930 has zero issues with win AA. It will even cycle the 1145fps version of it.
Never once had a jam on mine, but you know what, I clean and lube mine after every range trip.
I am OCD about my guns and they stay spotless and well lubed.
My M4 can only dream about cycling birdshot. Forget about low recoil buckshot too.

For the end of the world, the mossberg would be better as it is not as ammo picky and most likely will cycle anything you find.
The M4 is hot loads only.

Am I selling my M4? Hell no!

You serious, Clark?  The Mossberg 930 has to routinely be cleaned often to cycle reliable.  940 has more problems than you can shake a stick at, and QC is terrible.  Tons of reported problems with them.  When you do have a problem, Mossberg customer service is horrible (I know first hand).  

The Benelli M4 is bullet proof and literally combat proven.  Battlefield Vegas has literally shot hundreds of thousands of shells through theirs and have NOT broken a single part.  It's laughable to even put the two guns in the same category.  I'd much rather have a Beretta A300 Ultima Patrol or a Benelli M2 than the Mossberg at around the same price.

Also, about being "ammo picky" my M4 cycled the lightest birdshot around right out of the box, so not sure why you're having issues.  Firing light birdshot is not a major requirement for a combat shotgun though.  

Oof, yeah.  Guy says for an end of the world SHTF scenario that a 930 is better than a freaking M4?  Like MK318 said a 930/940 shouldn't even be in the same zip code in terms of quality/reliability as guns like the M4 or Beretta 1301.  Reminds me of when my friend who didn't know much about guns tried to tell me his Remington Versa Max was a better shotgun than my Beretta A400 because it was made in America

You can give me funny looks and try and defend yourself all you want. It does not change the facts.
My M4 will only cycle hot buckshot and slugs. Forget about low recoil buckshot and pretty much all birdshot.
My 930 has cycled everything I have put through it, done it reliably, and does so at a much lower price.
It is funny how butt hurt some people get when they hear their coveted guns are not all that or hear a opposing opinion.
It is plain and simple data. My 930 has been more reliable than my M4 when you factor in all the different ammo I have tried. Not much else I can say about that.

If you were to do a burndown of both side by side and fire full power buck non stop until one fails. Sure, the M4 will probably prevail. That it what it was built for.
It has 1 job, and it does that 1 job good. But when you make something to do only 1 job, it does not do other jobs well.
That is where the 930 is more versatile, as it is not ammo picky.

I always laugh at the people who bring cleaning guns into a argument. I'm sorry you are one of those people who have a fettish about not cleaning their guns.
I actually take care of my stuff, do not abuse it, keep them cleaned and lubed.
ALL guns need to be cleaned and lubed to properly function. Even the M4.
Cleaning is part of routine maintenance. If you do not clean your guns, you are just lazy.

I don't know what to tell you except that your experience with the M4 is vastly different from mine.  My M4 ate even the lightest birdshot I fed it right out of the box without even needing a break in period!  It did kick more than I expected it to though (not that it kicked hard, but for some reason I thought it would be tamer).  I never fired an M4 before, so I don't know what their recoil is "supposed" to feel like.  Mine is a 2023 production LE model.  When you say it "won't function" with low recoil buck and slugs, what brand and specs are we talking exactly?  8 pellet or 9 pellet 00?  8 pellet 00 is under an ounce of payload, and most semi shotguns will have difficulty cycling lower than 1 ounce loads at lower velocity.  

I know Benelli has tweaked the gas ports on the M4 over the years, so I am not sure if that has anything to do with it.  I've even heard of some M4s having 3 gas ports vs 2.  It wouldn't surprise me if Benelli adjusted the gas port from the original mil specs so that it would cycle a wider variety of "weaker" citizen ammo.  I have no idea what the mil spec gas port specs are on the M4 vs current production guns though, so who knows.  Do you know what year your M4 is or how long you've owned it?  How many rounds have you had through it?  I assume it's broken in with at least 200-300 rounds (which can be another issue with semi shotguns not cycling light rounds).  Having an M4 that is gassed to take hotter loads isn't necessarily a bad thing, it means it has less recoil, less wear and tear on parts, and less fouling so will stay clean longer.  

I guess it depends on what you're looking for in your shotgun, for many people being able to function reliably with light birdshot is not a requirement they care about for a combat shotgun.  However, those who want a gun that can cycle any ammo they come across for SHTF, etc will care about that.  I do.  Luckily, my M4 cycles everything.  And about "laughing at people" for not cleaning their gun, it's not about "being lazy", people like their shotguns to be able to run dirty for the same reason that they like them to be able to run light loads. It has to do with versatility, reliability, and confidence.  During SHTF, you may not even have access to any cleaning supplies, or may not be able to clean your gun when you need to.  Will it still function reliably without fail? That is much more important to me than if it will cycle light birdshot in a SHTF role.  I mean I could easily say that I "laugh" at people who complain about their combat shotgun not being able to cycle light birdshot...

Luckily, with my M4 I don't have to worry about either but if I had to choose one or the other, I'd choose the reliability even when dirty vs a gun that would cycle anything but had to be cleaned every few hundred rounds or it wouldn't cycle reliably.  I am glad you like your Mossberg 930, however, you'd be hard pressed to find many shotgun lovers who think it is even in the same class as the M4.  Design, materials, build quality, QC, and reliability under adverse conditions are all leagues better on the Benelli.  The great thing about America though is you have the freedom to use what you like, so if you favor the 930 then rock on with it!

Date code is 2021. As far as round count, I have no idea as I bought it used as a trade in at a local gun store.
I have put probably a couple hundred rounds through it.

All I can say is if you do not believe anything I am saying, then drive down here to Alabama and I can show you in person.

Benelli M2 variants I have owned have been very reliable; wish I had not sold the last pistol gripped version I had but I needed a clays gun and wasn't using it much.  I've had 3 and all 3 were solid and reliable.  Their stocks help with recoil as well.

Sorry to hear about that experience.  Why only 20-30 shotguns though?  Them there are rookie numbers!

I have non gun owning family in Naples that I visit, is that store worth going to or is it vastly overpriced since it's in Naples?

Are they Accokeek, Maryland made or Urbino made? The US guns are suffering some QC issues, not just Benelli but Berettas as well. Their move from Accokeek, MD to Gallatin, TN has not been a smooth transition. Lots of long time employees left and moved south to TN leaving lots of new people back in Accokeek and Gallatin has a lot of new people as well. So the skilled labor pool is pretty shallow right now. I’d look over anything coming out of Accokeek or Gallatin really close before leaving the shop be it Beretta or Benelli. As for the Nova, I’ve never had a smooth one. Either gritty or heavy triggers or rough actions. The only one I have left is a 12ga model and I only kept it because it is the no longer available DCU camo version that they offered in the mid 00s.