Well long story short I just snagged a decent mossberg 500 cracked forend and a decent amount of wear on the actual stock and missing some blueing also a sticky safety. So im looking at buying a hogue stock set and the brownells enhanced safety also picking up the tactical barrel and shot tube. I was curious what you guys would do to change it to more of a cheap tactical shotgun ?

First of all, even with the problems you mentioned, you stole that thing!
If it were mine, I would just replace the safety and stock, get an 18" barrel,
and put a decent light on it. Refinish with Krylon, and you have yourself a
really great, cheap, tactical shotgun.

The Hogue stock you mentioned is perfect. If you're really going cheap, just
cut down the existing barrel. There are plenty of threads here on how to DIY.

I have a Sure-Fire G2 on my 870 I got the light, mount, and 20 batteries for
less than $80 I've beat the shit out of it, and it still works.

Krylon is actually a surprisingly durable finish, for something that costs about
$4 a can Get one of the outdoor or all-weather types, and put on a few coats
I did mine this way a few years ago and only rarely have had to touch it up.

Good luck with your project, and congratulations on the new shotgun!

I'm also thinking of trying to setup a military type mossberg 500. But I'm having a hard time tracking down what they normally used seems to be all kinds of configs. Also will parts of any other mossbergs work on the 500 ?