One of the most recognizable sounds in all the world of firearms, is the racking of a shotgun. The Mossberg 500 is also one of the most widely used shotguns in Law Enforcement and in the Armed Forces. I went and picked one up as my first shotgun and I have had a blast with it so far. But it hasn’t been without some growing pains.
I sat there in the gun shop and debated…side by side and toe to toe with the shotgun “of my dreams”. The competitor had nice sights, a rail, collapsible stock and all the things that make all the tacti-cool kids drool. But then I had a grown up moment. I have no idea what I am doing with this thing. Let’s start with the basics.
So after dropping half the money on the Mossberg that I would have spent on the “cool” gun, I was on my way home with a big brown box that had a Mossberg logo on it. The box itself said Persuader/Cruiser, but their website lists the mossy as a Persuader Tactical tri-rail. Here are the findings of this first-time shotgun owner.
First off, shotguns are awesome. This is my first and I don’t think I could have ever imagined that I could have such a blast with such a versatile system for the price I paid. Price-point was a huge win for a popular firearm like this one and Mossberg doesn’t make junk. In side by side comparison with some of the other manufacturers I was looking at, the thing I noticed most was the action. By action I mean the thing everyone instantly does with a shotgun, rack it back and rack it home. It is smooth and consistent, but there is definitely some wiggle between the forearm and the receiver. Other than that, pound for pound I feel it was almost identical in “feel”, weight and balance.
The next thing I specifically paid attention to was the controls. Location of the safety and the action release in relevance to grip and trigger. The Mossberg had the controls in locations that were easy for me to access and manipulate. Safety topside accessible with your thumb as it wraps around the stock like my bolt action rifles. The action release was right behind the trigger guard closer to the middle finger behind the trigger guard as opposed to the front of the trigger guard like other brands. The stock is a standard synthetic stock and comes with a decent butt-pad, that was of no concern to me. The forend however, was another story. This looks cool on the rack, hell maybe i’m holding it wrong, but when I shoot this weapon that “tactical” tri-rail jacked my thumb every time. Now I am sure someone out there has a use for it like a light mount or something, but for me it was just plain annoying. Luckily though, they have two screw holding the rail panels in that when removed make the forend smooth again. Nothing to crucify a manufacturer over, just repeatedly jacked my thumb up, and it hurt. That concludes my whining about that.
The Persuader is a 20” Barrel with a “8 Shot capacity”. This means in the shotgun world that 7, 2-3/4” rounds can be fit in the tube and 1 in the pipe (7+1). It gets cut down to 7 shot capacity if you are using 3” shells. Mossberg also uses a “Double-Claw” Extractor to make sure you can cycle as fast as possible and get spent shells the hell out of the chamber quick. There is a standard brass bead sight on the front and the top of the receiver is drilled and tapped. This allows for even more customization as there is a wide assortment of parts from many manufacturers to add things like a picatinny or weaver rail, red dot, holographic, scope, ghost rings… it goes on and on. Since the Mossberg is so popular with Armed Forces and Law Enforcement there is no shortage of companies that make cool and useful accessories for this platform.
Disassembly is pretty darn easy which also aided in cleaning. I did not disassemble every part, lay them out and itemize and clean every piece. I did a basic field strip and got the fouling out, added some more oil and called it a day. As I spend more time with the Mossy I will of course, take it apart further and probably do a how-to for the site with Monkey.
Final assessment of this weapon? Damn good and the cost just seals the deal. Inexpensive, diversity of rounds and capabilities and highly customizable to make this weapon whatever you want it to be. The downside is that damn forend, but as I said, for $350 and removable screws to make it not kill my thumb? Worth every penny.
Thanks for reading, as always check your chambers!
