I picked up an MVP Predator 18.5 in central Pennsylvania as I was driving through on my to Detroit.
After I got home, I noticed the barrel was not centered well in the stock. Wish I would have noticed that in the shop.
I called Mossberg and left a message and also emailed them but am awaiting a response.
So, I decided to open it up and I found the problem. The magazine receiver is made of plastic and was cracked. This affects the line up of the barrel.
It's likely that someone over torqued the screw that goes through the stock, passes the magazine receiver and screws into the barrel.
The problem is I think this is highly likely to happen again. The spacer that is supposed to assume the torque of the screw is shorter than it looks like it should be. This leaves the plastic magazine receiver to assume the torque of the screw which would make it split with even the slightest bit of pressure. I'm wondering if this is a manufacturers defect because I can’t imagine someone doing this intentionally. In addition, the screw appears too short. It only threads into the barrel maybe 1.5 turns. The good news is that it's a fairly easy fix. Find a small spacer (tiny washer?) and perhaps a slightly longer screw and the spacer will assume the torque. Anyway, just thought I'd pass this along.
(see the white ring around the screw and note that the plastic is higher than the spacer)
