doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com model 31

As usual, you folks are a wealth of knowledge. Thank you for that Researcher! It seems that the later guns had more-yellow tinged wood and the ribbed forends (which I haven't found to be very attractive to this point). It may just be the lighting in the photography, but the type of finish on the metal seems to be different as well. The blue seems blacker somehow?

The lightweight guns have a lightweight alloy receiver that isn't blued, but rather has some other sort of finish.
The lightweight guns may have an issue with the receiver cracking in front of the bottom of the receiver leading towards the magazine tube. (My 20 gauge LW has that crack)

I've seen in print that the M31 was basically the M17 bottom ejector but with side ejection instead. And heaven help us, the current M500 Mossberg is a reincarnate of the M31. Something had to be lost in translation and manufacture.
(I do have a couple of Mossies, however, and they do the job reliably.)

Having owned two I would say it is vastly over-rated gun. Although not called Model 31 it's still made by Mossberg and company in Philippines. Although early ones had one the 500 is more advanced design with two action bars and the bolt locks into barrel extension. The Wingmaster with Light Contour barrel is far superior firearm.

An earlier copy of the M31 was made by High Standard before their demise. It was a higher quality gun than the Mossberg. I have several M31's and have owned others. They are a good shooting gun, but have their problems, headspacing being one of them. If I had to choose, I would opt for a M12.

Exactly why would you say that? The comparison would be more relevant if you compared the Express to the 500, since, you can almost buy two 500s for the price of the Wingmaster. The 500 usually works, right out of the box, something that is getting hard to be said about the Express.
The US military disagrees with your opinion, by the way, and did extensive testing to get to that decision.

Best,
Ted

Pick up and hold new Wingmaster with Light Contour barrel (usually standard receiver with barrel chambered for 2&3/4, 3" and 3.5" cartriges) . You can't shoot 3.5" shells out of that setup nor would anyone want to but that is besides the point. The handling is superior to new Ithaca 37 and leaves PBS in the dust. The US military doesn't really know anything about shotguns. They picked 590A1 because that is probably the only one submitted for testing. The people at Remington weren't stupid enough to compete with Mossberg by trying to submit lower priced product.

I picked up Model 12 16ga and took it over next to Wingmaster to compare both. Remarkably the 12ga Wingmaster Light Contour came very, very close to the Winchester in handling department. All that and one gets 3" capability, vr plus choke tubes.

In the last year, I have acquired something like six different pump guns to use and learn about. The list ranges from a Stevens 520 16, to several Model 12s, to now this Model 31. I try to stay in the the pre-WW2 years and my focus is in the lighter versions (16s & 20s) for all the usual reasons (build quality and lighter weight). Each design seems to have strengths and weaknesses and some work better for me than others (I am left handed). None seem to work better for me than a well-fitting double gun, but many come close, and at a fraction of the cost of my doubles. It has been a real pleasure to learn about this period of history in this Country, and see the quality we could produce then.

Lloyd if you're a leftie, you should make a point to pick up a Remington Model 17. You might have to reverse the safety but the bottom ejector should be more useable for you than any of the others you've bought this last year...Geo

George: Of all of the corn-shuckers that have followed me home this year, a 1929 Model 17 might have been one of the best. It's in Minnesota with my father-in-law and serves as a backup for the day when TSA makes it too-hard for me to fly with a fine double.