The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Shotguns => Topic started by: billt on August 16, 2012, 12:03:04 PM
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I've had a Mossberg 500 "Combo Gun" for some time now, and recently picked up a 590 A-1 Mil-Spec. I thought it would be helpful to do a comparision of the features / price / and value of both guns because while both may appear similar, there are a few differences worth pointing out.
First off I'd like to point out that isn't rust you're seeing in the pics. It is just very poor color saturation from my crappy Sony Cybershot camera. The "striped" appearance of the Parkerizing on the 590 are oil absorption marks that transferred from the case I had it in.
PRICE
The Mossberg 500 "Combo-Gun", as it is referred to by several of the big box stores that sell it today, runs right around the $249.00 to $299.00 range. The 590 A-1 Mil-Spec runs, (as you see it configured), around $460.00 to $480.00. About $160.00 to $180.00 more.
FEATURES
The 500 "Combo" comes with a standard anodized receiver and 2 gloss blued barrels. The barrel you see mounted to the weapon is the 18" cylinder bore with a standard brass bead front sight that is threaded into the barrel. The gun also comes with a 28" Vented Rib standard field barrel that has a fixed Modified Choke. It does not accept screw in choke tubes. Mossberg does sell aftermarket barrels for this gun that do have them. It has the standard synthetic field stock and forend. The gun has a standard 5 + 1 capacity. Both barrels have 3" chambers.
The 590 A-1 Mil-Spec has a parkerized finish on all exposed parts. Barrel, receiver, and bolt, as well as the magazine tube are all Parkerized. The barrel is a 20" cylinder bore with a single brass bead threaded front sight. The magazine tube hold 8 rounds for a 8 + 1 capacity. It also has a 3" chamber. Other features of the 590 A-1 Mil-Spec Model are a bayonet lug that is threaded to accept a front sling swivel that comes with the gun, a heavy walled barrel, a metal safety button and trigger group, (the safety switch and trigger group on the 500 are plastic).
The 590 A-1 Mil-Spec also comes in an all but limitless amount of stock configurations. Standard, collapsible, as well as Speed Feed and others are offered. There is also the 590 SPX Model that comes complete with the Ontario Knife M-9 Bayonet.
Another feature of the 590 A-1 Mil-Spec Models are the dual barrel / magazine tube attachment points. As the photographs show, the 500 Models are attached by a single ring at the end of the magazine tube. The 590 A-1 Mil-Spec has a dual attachment system with two rings that are heavily brazed to the barrel. The barrel also attaches a bit differently on the 590. The magazine cap is completely removed, then the barrel removed. This is much like a Remington 870 in that regard. On the 500 the magazine cap does not completely come off.
The actions on both guns, while not totally identical, are very similar. The manual states that barrels and internal parts will not interchange between the 500 / 535 / 590 Models. I haven't tested this, so I'll take Mossbergs word on it.
OVERALL VIEW
Both of these guns exhibit excellent value and quality for the price. Both are made in the USA. If a person is looking for the most for his money, the 500 "Combo" is pretty hard to beat. It offers very good value for the dollar. Especially considering you get 2 barrels with the package. I've had around 1,500 rounds through mine total so far, and have not had a single issue or problem. These loads were a combination of low brass target loads, heavy 3" Magnums, as well as Buckshot and rifled slugs. It ate them all with zero issues. The 590 Mil-Spec I just received this past Friday, so I have not been able to evaluate it's performance. Hopefully I'll get out to the range next week to run it through it's paces.
If a shooter is looking for a well built, solid home self defense weapon, the 590 A-1 Mil-Spec would be a pretty difficult gun to beat. It was the only pump action, combat shotgun tested by the military that met Mil-Spec requirement Mil S-3443 which consisted of 3,000 rounds of Magnum buckshot with the gun being fully operational afterward.
The other guns in it's class are more expensive when similarly configured. It appears to be a gun that can hold up to a lot of rugged use. I think it would be a hard gun to beat in the role of a home self defense shotgun. Which is better? At this point having not yet run the 590 A-1 Mil-Spec through it's paces as of yet, I would say based on features and price, the 500 "Combo" is the better buy, while the 590 A-1 Mil-Spec is the better gun. Either way I doubt you could go wrong with either.
(http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/billt460/TacticalShotguns001-1.jpg)
(http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/billt460/Mossberg500590A-1005.jpg)
(http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/billt460/Mossberg500590A-1006.jpg)
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I have a Mossberg 500 that I bought back in the early 80's that I used for Hunter Safety courses.It has to have over 10,000 rounds of ammo from birdshot to slugs and have never had a problem.It just keeps getting smoother.Best money I ever spent on a shotgun.
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One other feature I forgot to mention on the 590 A-1 Mil-Spec, is that it is equipped with dual extractors. It is all but impossible to get a shell stuck in it.
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I like the Remington 870's, and have had one since the mid 70's, (Wingmaster). With that said I prefer the Mossberg 500 or 590 Models for a home defense shotgun. I just think they are better suited for the task. I like the steel receiver of the 870, but I wish they would get away from that cheesy, cheap, stamped metal, double C-Clamp for attaching the barrel to the magazine tube. Especially on the Police Models. When you're paying that much for a self defense, Hi-Cap shotgun, it should have better manufacturing than that. If Mossberg can supply brazed, machined steel, dual barrel attachment points, a bayonet lug, and dual extractors for under $500.00, (590 A-1 Series), Remington should be able to for almost $200.00 more, (870 Police).
(http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz50/billt460/Mossberg500590A-1005.jpg)
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One other feature I forgot to mention on the 590 A-1 Mil-Spec, is that it is equipped with dual extractors. It is all but impossible to get a shell stuck in it.
The bolts look the same....where is the 2nd extractor?
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The bolts look the same....where is the 2nd extractor?
Actually they're very similar. My bad. The 500 is also equipped with dual extractors.
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Well I decided to head out to the desert today with the new Mossberg 590 A-1 and run it through it’s paces. We got almost an inch of rain last night, so I knew it wouldn’t be too dusty, that’s for sure. I brought along a hand trap and some clay targets, and a bunch of water filled jugs, cans, and some other stuff I had lying around to shoot at. I stopped at Cabela’s this morning and picked up another 100 rounds of the Rio, 00 Buckshot they had on sale for just $2.19 for a box of 5. I also had some Federal 3” 000 Magnum Buckshot loads, and about 50 slug loads. Some Winchester, Remington, and a few Federal.
Before we left I lubed the action up really good. I set up several water filled 2 liter bottles at about 30 feet, and filled the magazine with 3” rifled slugs. The gun ran through them flawlessly, vaporizing the bottles into nothing more than shredded plastic. The 3” Magnum 000 Buckshot loads did much the same. Recoil was stout, but it felt a bit less than the same loads run through my Mossberg 500 I brought along as well. I had a can of Miller Lite that’s been sitting in the fridge for months that I shook up real good, then smacked it with a 3” slug from about 25 feet away. It erupted like a can of shaving cream! It's amazing how accurate that single bead front sight is once you learn to settle into the same sight position every time.
My wife shot it with both the slugs and buckshot loads, but found the recoil to be a bit uncomfortable. I had a bunch of Trap loads I brought along, so I threw several clays for her, which she had no trouble breaking consistently. Tossing clay targets from a hand trap is like shooting fish in a barrel, when compared to shooting singles from the 16 yard line, but it’s still enough of a challenge to do it with a cylinder bore riot gun.
I had some short pieces of 2 X 4’s I brought along, and sat them against a small hill. I shot them with 3” 000 buckshot, 2 ¾” 00 buckshot, as well as Trap loads, (1 1/8 ounce of #8’s loaded with 17.5 grains of Clays). From 6 to 8 feet away the buckshot had zero trouble chewing the 2 X 4’s in half. It didn’t surprise me how much damage the Trap loads did from that distance either. They would have been extremely lethal at that close of a range. They chewed right through the wood like a spade drill. The 1-1/8th ounces of shot almost acting like a slug at that close of a distance.
Through all of this the gun performed flawlessly. It was amazing how slick the action became after about 200 rounds or so. It was very humid, so after cleaning up after ourselves we decided to call it a day. After we got home it was humid as hell out, so I set up a fan in the garage and gave both guns a good wet cleaning with clean Kerosene, cut with a little Hoppes #9. Both barrels got a good brushing until they were spotless. While shooting I tried not to heat them up too much. This greatly reduced the plastic fouling from the wads. Afterward I gave the actions a good blow dry with compressed air, and a good oiling. The 590 A-1’s action improved immensely after the cleaning and relubrication. It’s far smoother than I though it would get from just a bit of use. The Parkerizing can be quite “gritty”, and after you wear it off the high contact areas, it really smoothens thing up.
The only downside to the day was the high humidity from all the rain we got last night. But I can’t complain. And the way it’s shaping up, it’s looking like we’re in for some more rain later today and tonight. We don’t get much of it in these parts. All in all it was a good day, and I couldn’t ask for a better performing gun than this new Mossberg 590 A-1 Mil-Spec!
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As an aside, how many know that Knoxx, the stock makers, used to sell a mod to the 590 that would convert it to magazine fed? This was while they were still independent company.
I had a Vang Comped 590 and installed the upgrade. They seemed to have trouble with the magazine supplier and discontinued the product.
I have 2 6rd "stick" mags and 1 10rd drum.
The magazines fed into a modified magazine tube under the barrel so you could have a round in the chamber, one in the mag tube and 6 or 10 in the magazine.
The 590 was stolen without any mags attached....the bastages are probably still scratching their heads about getting that gun to work.
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Bill
I thought the 590 had a set of ghost ring sights? I had one with these back in the '90s and they were scary accurate and quick to acquire. I'm not sure I'd pay the premium without them. For that matter my Maverick Special Purpose (same company) has the dual extractors as well. Its 18" and an 8 round tube. Its blued, not parkerized, and obviously isn't as heavily built. I'd prefer the 590 if I were off to sunny Vietnam or riding in a police cruiser, but for home defense? I think that the $250 Maverick riot gun or the more versatile Mossberg combo makes more sense. That said, if you can find those ghost rings for 590 go for it, I bought it as bear gun and I was very confident of my ability to put a slug where I wanted it at 50 yards.
FQ13
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Bill
I thought the 590 had a set of ghost ring sights? I had one with these back in the '90s and they were scary accurate and quick to acquire. I'm not sure I'd pay the premium without them. For that matter my Maverick Special Purpose (same company) has the dual extractors as well. Its 18" and an 8 round tube. Its blued, not parkerized, and obviously isn't as heavily built. I'd prefer the 590 if I were off to sunny Vietnam or riding in a police cruiser, but for home defense? I think that the $250 Maverick riot gun or the more versatile Mossberg combo makes more sense. That said, if you can find those ghost rings for 590 go for it, I bought it as bear gun and I was very confident of my ability to put a slug where I wanted it at 50 yards.
FQ13
You can get Ghost Ring Sights, and just about every configuration under the Sun. I didn't care for the Ghost Ring sights because they add a lot of height to the receiver and the front of the barrel. They really aren't necessary. In this video he puts an identical 590 A-1 through it's paces equipped with a simple front bead sight. Hitting a steel gong at over 200 yards was not a problem shooting offhand, (1:15 in the video). I don't think he missed once.
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Have had a 500 for 20 years now and it is still going strong.
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I bought a 500 combo for shooting with the boy scouts about 4 years ago and keep the HD barrel on at home. I love it. The stock fits me much better than an 870 so felt recoil is much tamer. I added a light tube sight to the long barrel for my old eyes and to teach scouts about sight picture (Can you see the red glow? No. close you left eye... OH THAT red light!) Works great!
It does not feel as substantial as my 870 but is half the price and clearly good enough. I score as well as I ever have at trap with it. The shots i miss are due to my wandering focus. Thankfully I have not started to drool yet...
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I have a 590A1 on order now. As soon as I pay the remainder it will be on its way. Shot one a good bit and found it much more tolerable with heavy hitting loads vs it's 500 counterparts. The weight helps a good bit.
Still having trouble deciding on a new stock for it. But after watching pincus's video on the Blackhawk Knox gen 2 I think I'm leaning that way.
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:) WE HAVE FOUR MOSSBERGS- 3 12's & A 20. THE MAVERICK RIOT GUN IS IN MY TRUCK UNDER THE SEAT 24/7.
THE 20 GA. IS IN MY WIFE'S TRUCK 24/7. THEY ARE EXCELLENT GUNS & HAVE NEVER FAILED US.
I WOULD RECOMEND A MOSSBERG ANY DAY TO ANYBODY. :)
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With the dual slide rails I would recommend a Mossberg 500 over as being better than a Remington .
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With the dual slide rails I would recommend a Mossberg 500 over as being better than a Remington .
As a big Remington fan, I'm beginning to come around to that line of thinking. These last 2 Mossbergs have convinced me.