My Shockwave brace thread

[Sixbennetts]

In this thread I'll be documenting my 12g Mossberg Shockwave build, where I add a stock adapter, brace, walnut furniture, a heat shield, a sling and sling mount, and a homemade light I made from a mountain bike light!

First, a Tacstar Universal Heat Shield.

TacStar Universal Shotgun Barrel Shroud 12 ga

And a CDM Gear MTRS light mount/sling strap loop.

CDM Gear MTRS Mossberg 590 Shockwave 12 Gauge - Light Mount

The 'universal' barrel shroud/heat shield, well, wasn't! Took a good bit of clamping, pounding, grinding, prying, and Vice Gripping to get it where I want it. It ain't coming off. Luckily I had given both the inside of it, and the barrel itself a good coat of grease, so hopefully it won't rust.

The CDM mount is really nice! They had a cosmetically blemished unit they sold me cheap. Very nice people there.

More later...

 

[Modean]

In this thread I'll be documenting my 12g Mossberg Shockwave build, where I add a stock adapter, brace, walnut furniture, a heat shield, a sling and sling mount, and a homemade light I made from a mountain bike light!

First, a Tacstar Universal Heat Shield.

TacStar Universal Shotgun Barrel Shroud 12 ga

And a CDM Gear MTRS light mount/sling strap loop.

CDM Gear MTRS Mossberg 590 Shockwave 12 Gauge - Light Mount

The 'universal' barrel shroud/heat shield, well, wasn't! Took a good bit of clamping, pounding, grinding, prying, and Vice Gripping to get it where I want it. It ain't coming off. Luckily I had given both the inside of it, and the barrel itself a good coat of grease, so hopefully it won't rust.

The CDM mount is really nice! They had a cosmetically blemished unit they sold me cheap. Very nice people there.

More later...

View attachment 44570

The Shockwave has the same heavy wall barrel as the 590A1, and as you found, heat shields for a standard 500/590 don’t fit well. There is a specific one made my Mossberg for the A1 barrel. Good luck with the rest of the build.

 

[Edwardteach72]

Here to follow the journey

 

[Edwardteach72]

Side note.. it looks like the heat shield covers the front bead sight. If so are you just going to leave it with no sights or do you plan on running maybe a red dot or other sights?

 

[Sixbennetts]

Bought a new bead sight from Numrich. It's from an Ithaca, but I was able to screw it in after the shield was installed and properly aligned.

Front Sight Bead, Standard, Brass | Gun Parts Corp.

 

[Sixbennetts]

 

[Edwardteach72]

Ok cool i can now see it poking out of the bottom first set of pictures. Nice

 

[BDinPutnam]

If memory serves, @GUNSICK had a similar fitment project for the heat shield on his.

Of course I'm old and into my 2nd whiskey of the day. I may be misremembering.

 

[GUNSICK]

I did and it was a bitch.

 

[Sixbennetts]

What I did was shape the rear ears first by using a big pair of Robogrip pliers with the protective covers on. Then, shaping the front ears with a C clamp. Add the front bolt only, and tap it into place, THEN tightening the bolt after. It was impossible to install the shield 1st, and then get the bolt in place. Then I peened the back of the front tabs under the barrel.

In my case, it was needed for clearence for the front light, as you'll see in a bit....

 

[Sixbennetts]

Ok, company all left, ham's put away, and dishes are done. On to the light.

Having used various scatterguns in my past, one thing that drove me up a effin WALL was getting it hung up on shit. Door frames, bushes and trees, car mirrors, hell even my own damned clothes!

See, I'm clumsy. Ya know in the movies where some tall, wirey, skinny guy dances through a room like a ballet dancer, pew-pew-pewing bad guys like a hot knife through butter? That's not me.

I'm a bull in a china factory. With the lights off. I'm 6'2", 350lbs, and I don't dance. (OK, maybe the chicken dance at a wedding if it's open bar and all the girls are either drunk or ugly, or both).

Having stuff hanging off my boomstick pisses me off, because I know, in the middle of the night, I'll be the one getting it hung up in the sheets, curtains, my pajamas, etc. So, I wanted one of those mag cap lights, but they don't make short ones. It would hang way out past the end of the barrel. So, I'll make my own!

We have 4 boys, all avid outdoorsmen. I looked at all of their headlamps, but none were small enough. Then, I remembered one of their gopro vids where one of them wrecked. Bad. Like tumble down the mountain, get the gauze pads bad. And his bike light was on!

They have an assortment of small, rechargeable led lights designed to take a wicked beating. If I could find one that fits, and is tough enough to survive repeated shotgun blasts, I'll just attach it to the mag cap.

First problem, the Mossberg mag cap sticks way out, and has a swivel stud, (which I don't need anyway because the CDM Gear MTRS I attached has a sling loop.

I bought a used cap from a Magtech 586 off ebay cheap. It's flat, has the same teeth to engage the detent ball, and only required a little filing to work.



Now to find a light. I bought a few different ones before settling on this $20 Walmart winner!

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Bike-Ligh...Taillight-Smart-Bicycle-Phone-Mount/895362929



Removed the rubber strap.



Hacksawed the lug off the back.



Used JB Weld and stuck it to the cap.



And just unscrew it from the base to recharge it with a regular phone charger.



Ta-daaaah! A short, tough, rechargeable light that fits a Shockwave!

 

[Edwardteach72]

Ok, company all left, ham's put away, and dishes are done. On to the light.

Having used various scatterguns in my past, one thing that drove me up a effin WALL was getting it hung up on shit. Door frames, bushes and trees, car mirrors, hell even my own damned clothes!

See, I'm clumsy. Ya know in the movies where some tall, wirey, skinny guy dances through a room like a ballet dancer, pew-pew-pewing bad guys like a hot knife through butter? That's not me.

I'm a bull in a china factory. With the lights off. I'm 6'2", 350lbs, and I don't dance. (OK, maybe the chicken dance at a wedding if it's open bar and all the girls are either drunk or ugly, or both).

Having stuff hanging off my boomstick pisses me off, because I know, in the middle of the night, I'll be the one getting it hung up in the sheets, curtains, my pajamas, etc. So, I wanted one of those mag cap lights, but they don't make short ones. It would hang way out past the end of the barrel. So, I'll make my own!

We have 4 boys, all avid outdoorsmen. I looked at all of their headlamps, but none were small enough. Then, I remembered one of their gopro vids where one of them wrecked. Bad. Like tumble down the mountain, get the gauze pads bad. And his bike light was on!

They have an assortment of small, rechargeable led lights designed to take a wicked beating. If I could find one that fits, and is tough enough to survive repeated shotgun blasts, I'll just attach it to the mag cap.

First problem, the Mossberg mag cap sticks way out, and has a swivel stud, (which I don't need anyway because the CDM Gear MTRS I attached has a sling loop.

I bought a used cap from a Magtech 586 off ebay cheap. It's flat, has the same teeth to engage the detent ball, and only required a little filing to work.

View attachment 44584

Now to find a light. I bought a few different ones before settling on this $20 Walmart winner!

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Bike-Ligh...Taillight-Smart-Bicycle-Phone-Mount/895362929

View attachment 44585

Removed the rubber strap.

View attachment 44586

Hacksawed the lug off the back.

View attachment 44587

Used JB Weld and stuck it to the cap.

View attachment 44588

And just unscrew it from the base to recharge it with a regular phone charger.

View attachment 44589

Ta-daaaah! A short, tough, rechargeable light that fits a Shockwave!

View attachment 44590

View attachment 44591

Word right on better than anything I could do, at best I could ever maybe figure out the duct tape and a flashlight.

Props to you on the custom light, I will say just incase, streamlight just released a new shotgun flashlight that goes into the pump part. But honestly this is cool as shit that you were able to make this by yourself so cheers to that.

 

[Sixbennetts]

Thanks, Ed. A blind squirrel finds a nut occasionally! Up next, a leather cartridge sling.

 

[Sixbennetts]

Ok, a bit about the build. First thing I noticed about the Mossberg Shockwave is that Mossberg's flat blue finish, and how susceptible it is to wear and scratches, especially on the action bars and mag tube.

Just racking the slide few times shows bare metal. No WAY was I, Mr clumsy, going to be able to keep this thing new looking for long!

So, I'm going for well-used. Distressed. User-friendly. Found this old Garand sling on ebay for $5 plus cheap shipping.




Nice and old looking. But I wanted a nice cartridge sling, which are hella expensive. So, I bought this. It's from China, so it might not be cowhide. (It might be dragon, or unicorn, or people).

Vbestlife Leather Cartridge Holder Belt 6 Rounds 12G Buttstock Shotgun Shell Holder Leather Ammo Belt Pouch Hunting Shooting Rifle Buttstock Ammo Caliber Cartridge Loop Holder https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0792HJ6NZ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_cMJVCbGYTXJ62

And bolted it to the old Garand sling! It's designed to go on your belt, but what's the difference, right? Once I darken up the leather a bit so it matches the sling, it'll look much better.



It's actually very comfortable on your shoulder. Next up, the Tacstar stock adapter.

 

[GUNSICK]

Nice theme going there! You should find another Garand sling to make a new hand loop to match.

 

[Sixbennetts]

Nice theme going there! You should find another Garand sling to make a new hand loop to match.

I thought about that, but the sling keeps your hand from sliding in front of the muzzle just fine.

 

[Sixbennetts]

Ok, the stock adapter, (or should I say brace adapter).

First one I considered was the Ergo stock adapter. It's lighter than the one I used, because it's plastic. It also has more drop than the one I used. Those may be preferences for others, though.

https://www.ergogrips.net/shop/tactical-stock-adapter-mossberg-500/

I also considered the Mesa Tactical, but at $100, um...nope. It's aluminum, so lighter than mine.

Mesa Tactical Low Tube Telescoping Stock Adapter Mossberg 500 590 835

I chose the Lyman Tacstar unit. It's die-cast metal, so it's heavier, but I'm a big boy. It's longer in the back than the other ones, which means you have to account for that in length of pull. I found it for $20 on Cabelas. (Make sure you click the drop down and choose your weapon, as this sale is for both Mossberg and Remington)

TacStar Stock Adapters : Cabela's

One of the reasons I chose this one is how it follows the line at the back of the receiver, marked in red on this pic. It's athletically pleasing to me. I'm planning on scuffing it and spraying it a flat black, to get it closer to the receiver's finish.



I had a spare pistol buffer tube leftover from my Anderson RF85 AM15 pistol build, and a spare brace, the SOB by SB Tactical.

SB Tactical SOB Pistol Stabilizing Brace AR-15 Black

It is very soft on the shoulder, even with hot slugs or #4 shot.



You screw the buffer tube into the adapter, the lock ring down just like an AR, but it also has a pointed set screw that drives into the threads of the tube, making a very secure junction, (important for guys who drop things alot!)


Next, we'll be talking about wood furniture!

 

[Curmudgeon]

Nice. I like this...

 

[Sixbennetts]

Quick update. Took a lotta trial & error, but I got the texture right. It's now smooth like the receiver. Color's close enough. Once everything is distressed and oiled, it'll be pretty close.

 

[Sixbennetts]

On to the wood.

I really love the look of old reddish golden brown gun stocks. Same for corncob forends. A nice, soft sheen. Black, grease or oil filled dents, splits, and cracks are beautiful to me. I don't have the years left or the patience to wait for new wood furniture to get that way, so I'm distressing it to match up with the Mossberg satin blue finish's inherent ability to show wear, knicks, and scratches so readily.
So basically this is me saying, "fine, if you wanna look all beat up after one day at the range, I'm giving you wood that matches!" (Yes, I talk to my guns. I also talk to lawnmowers that don't start, and Christmas lights that don't light. Don't red-flag me, bro).

The price of a new Mossberg Nightstick was another $100 over the Shockwave, and I'm a cheap bastid. I also didn't like the huge diameter of the stock Mossberg forend, both plastic and wood. Even the aftermarket Shockwave wood is thick. Just too thick, IMHO. So, I bought this cheap on ebay.




$10 and $7 for shipping didn't seem too bad. Auction said it was for Mossberg, and it's marked underneath with a 12 stamped into the bottom, so it should fit, right?

Nope.

Action tube hole was too narrow, so out came a wooden dowel wrapped with sandpaper. (I won't share the comments from the Mrs as I was sliding it in and out, but suffice it to say that she is, um, 'colorful') God love her!

I also had to do a little trimming to get the action bar bracket to nestle into the back of it, but I only lost a little blood to the X-Acto gods, and I 'did' want a reddish wood tone, so....
Here it is before finishing.





Once it was reamed out, and sanded down, I was a little nervous about how thin it was, so I mixed up some epoxy, thinned it with acetone so it was thinned considerably, and soaked in a few coats from the inside. Then, just before it dried, I buttered the action tube with epoxy and slid it in. I also epoxied the lock nut onto the front. It is all one piece now. I don't think the wood will ever split, but if it does I'll just buy a new action tube/bar assembly, and do this all again. They're only $20 or $30 on ebay, and this was a fun little project.
Next post, a walnut AR15 A2 style pistol grip!

Stay tuned...

 

[Sixbennetts]

The pistol grip.

Here's where I really struggled. Not the actual work, that was easy. It's the style or shape of the grip that I struggled with. Here are concept images I made on my phone with Picsart. (Scale and angles are off a bit, as well as sizes. Also, these images show the Ergo stock adapter because that's what I thought I was going to use, but I realized I didn't like the amount of drop).

A Thompson sub-machine gun style.



A 1911 steel grip converter that takes 1911 grip scales.



A rounded grip in the style of a German Mauser pistol.



And lastly, an AR A1 style grip with grooves to match the corncob forend.



Now, there's no reason you or I can't make these and just bolt them on. Have at it. Use these pics for whatever. I might make the Thompson one, I might not. I like the one I made so much, I'm really not interested in the others much. Others might be.

Here's what I settled on, an A2 style AR grip, (the one with the finger bump). It's what I used when I was in, and I like it. I struggled with the finger bump. I also considered checkering it, but it's not a fancy gun, it's a military or LE gun.




I decided to keep the bump for a little detail on an otherwise slab-sided piece of wood. Plus, that's how I got it from Gene at Blackgunswood.com! He was nice enough to send me a damaged factory 2nd I could work with. The actual milling of the wood where it meets the receiver, (or adapter in my case), is very precise and well done. This was what kept me from trying to carve one myself. That, and drilling the hole correctly. And the blood, too.

The sling stud!

Wow, what a time I had finding something that worked! When this scattergun is all done, there'll be a decent amount of brass on it. Sling swivel, sight bead, maybe even one of those gold triggers. Not bright brass. Browned brass. Old brass. I wanted a small brass sling swivel stud to match the bronze/brass swivels. Nobody in the US makes them. It would have cost like $27 to get one from the UK. Nope. I went a different route.

Sling Swivel Base, Brass | Gun Parts Corp.

A sling swivel base! Out came the Dremel and blood-letter, (X-acto). I kinda inlayed it into the base, then rounded the brass to the wood. It meshed nicely. I would have preferred it to be full width so it could just be a flat brass base, but this works, I think. Once it's browned up nice, it will look pretty good when the wood is finished.



Stand by for the Birchwood Casey Stock Refinishing Kit, and also their walnut, and rusty walnut, stains. All covered with their excellent product, Tru-Oil!

 

[Sixbennetts]

Forgot a pic of all the wood installed, sorry!

 

[Sixbennetts]

And this is the kind of wear I'm talking about. Not finding fault, just pointing it out. These bright spots showed up on a well-oiled gun after 50 rounds, and a few trial racking of the slide.

Rather than fight this wear, I'm going with it by distressing the entire gun to sort of camouflage it. A side effect of this is that I won't have to baby it like I do with brand new guns.

 

[gun_slinger_boy]

I was going to say I'd go with the thompson grip or the AR grip. The others look awful.

 

[Sixbennetts]

The Thompson grip in the pic is a little off ratio, too. But I agree, that might be my next one.

 

[fnfalguy]

@Sixbennetts Fantastic job, back in the day when I was building FNFALs and someone described this sort of work, we would give them a certificate from WECSOG. Congrats, you earned one. A proud member of the Wile E. Coyote School of Gunsmithing. Nice job on this boom stick.

 

[Sixbennetts]

I saw the, 'SOG', and thought, 'Special Operations Group', and almost ran outa the room!

No more of THAT, thank you! I paid my dues.

Thanks for the kind words.

 

[fnfalguy]

Lol. I do imagine there are a small handful of similarities such as swearing, drawing of blood, merciless good natured mocking from others at times, and oft wondering why did I start this.

 

[Paxal]

I love it. Great job. But, why is it legal? I missed a memo somewhere. Catch me up.

 

[Edwardteach72]

I love it. Great job. But, why is it legal? I missed a memo somewhere. Catch me up.

Because it's the shockwave and that's a pistol brace?