I had one for years and while certainly not the best it's a pretty good gun for the money.I now have an 835 and it's a step up.My father has an 870 and I see little if any advantage in it over the 500.If the condition is good I think it's a pretty good deal.

My hunting buddy bought a Mossberg 500 quite a few years back because it was fully camoed and all. It has jammed up on him many times and I kept telling him to get rid of it. Last year a beautiful ten pointer jumped right out in front of him and the gun jammed again!! Needless to say he finally got rid of that gun. Now I am not saying that all Mossbergs are junk because I have not had much experience with them other than this one incident. I have owned several Remington 870 Express's and never had a single problem with any of them. Just something to add to the general discussion. Best of luck to you.......

My first 12ga was a Moss 500. It is now over 20 years old and a few years back I put a rifled barrel and scope on it. I can DRIVE NAILS with it at 75 yards and under.

As far as clunky and trigger not being great, go change your freaking tampoon!!! Don't over analyze it. If you pull the trigger and it hits the mark, then it works.

When I am hunting the swamps I use it because if I drop it in the mud I can wash it off in the river and it works just fine, and I didn't mess up a nice gun. The damn thing is indestructible!! I have even used it as a paddle before while duck hunting.

I too have a mossberg 500. Used it for 14 years in the worst of conditions. Never failed me. I think they are very good guns for the price.

Go for it! I have a 500 and a remington 870. Both are great shotguns, my mossy shoots slugs a little better, but I also have a mossy bolt action slug gun, so thats what I use now.
-Jake

I own, and agree with all the posting here i am happy with my mossys but i take good care of them, have had them to the smith to take the horendoes 6-8 lb trigger down to a crisp 3lb. the rifle barrel i lapped with coumpound and use lightfield slugs with, uh its what you make out of it. some just dont like the looks of them... its a tool for a purpose. its just a different kind of hammer but its still a hammer.:fighting0007:

I'm a Remington guy and think the 870 is a far superior pump gun compared to the 500. That being said if you are looking for a decent all around shotgun the 500 should suit you just fine. One thing I would check out before I bought it is the scope. Slugs are absolutely brutal to scopes. If the package comes with a quality scope (nikon, leupold) I'd say its a real good deal. If the scope is a cheapo Tasco or BSA I'd offer him $150 at the most.

Ive got a Mossberg 500 12 and love it. I put a brand new rifled barell on it a couple years ago and paid 180.00 for the barell alone. Tru-Glo Rifled sights and its also ported. This gun is very very accurate. I use it as my brush gun on drives or when sitting in some thick brush. Ive got mine sighted in at 100 yards and grouping just fine. Youll be getting a great deal!

i've had a 500 for years... i've had it wet, muddy, frozen... it still works as good as the day i got it. its not a really pretty gun, but it does its job, and does it well. 200 bucks is a pretty good deal.