Anybody had experience with the new Mossberg 835?
Seems like a real silly thing with its 10 gauge barrel with 12 ga. chamber. Does it work? My biggest question is WHY??

Jed, As you know the Mossberg 835 12 gauge has a 3 1/2" chamber. The trouble with the 12 gauge 3 1/2" load is long shot strings. Meaning the pattern of the 12 gauge 3 1/2" is not as full and rich as the 10 gauge 3 1/2" load. There is a balance between the gauge and lenth of the load to get dense patterns. This is not a problem when shooting a stationary target such as the head of a turkey but is a problem with wingshooting for ducks and geese. So for that reason Mossberg puts a overbored, not a backboard, barrel on the 835 to improve patterns. Does it work, somewhat, not as good as a SP10 10 gauge 3 1/2" mag. But then the SP10 costs 1,000 US dollars compared to 400+ US dollars for the 835. Also the 835 kicks like a mule with the 3 1/2" loads. MIKE.