Mossberg 590

The designation "Model 500" is a little misleading. Rather than referring to any particular model it refers to the entire range of Mossberg pump shotguns designed for chamber 3" shells.

Model 500 has been is available in many variants, each customized for a different purpose. There are field models which are essentially basic sporting guns. Special purpose models are made for police and military use; m590 is the best known model in this segment. There are also models for home security. M500 HS410 availble in .410 bore has been designed for self defense.

M590, Mossberg's premier military model, is available with polymer stock, top-folding stocks and conventional rifle-type sights. Like as m500 it is a manually operated, pump-action smoothbore shotgun. However, ther are key differences between the two models especially in magazine tube design. Also m590 was designed for military use it facilitates easy cleaning.

The Model 590a1 is a minor variant of model 590 with an aluminum trigger guard and a heavier barrel. Another variant m590DA, offers a handgun-like trigger.

To customize m500 for military Mossberg strenghtened key parts such as the receiver, installed a heatshield around the barrel, bayonet lug and extended magazine.

It has been reported that m590 is the only shotgun to pass the US Army's Mil-Spec 3443E test, which Mossberg describes as a "a brutal and unforgiving torture test with 3,000 rounds of full power 12 gauge buckshot". Interestingly Remington 870, which is a competing model to m590, the dominant shotugn used by police in the United States, was not submitted to 3443E tests.

Mossberg 590 is extremely rugged and reliable gun. It is adopted by US Marine Corps and by many Police depts and various other law enforcement agencies. It was the military issue shotgun until 1999 when it was displaced by the Benelli M4 Super 90 shotgun.

But various branches of the US defense continue to acquire m590. The Navy acquired several thousand Mossberg 590A1 shotguns in 2004, and the US Army placed an order in 2005 for 14,818 units.

There is a lively debate among shotguns enthusiasts that compares the Remington 870 to the Mossberg 500 series. Not surprisingly, given the dominant position of Remington 870 in police and military there are sizeable adherents to it. But there are also experts who do a point-to-point comparison of both models on features such as installation of magazine extensions, position of safet, quality of finish and so on and cast their vote for Mossberg models.