First Look: Mossberg 590 12-Gauge Shotgun

With the first gun I ever fired being a single shot 12 gauge without a padded butt stock, I knew I would have to eventually find one to fit my needs and personality. I had been drooling over a Benelli Nova for quite some time. However, the Benellis were right next to the Remington shotguns, which put me into an even greater predicament. It wasn’t until I found a used Mossberg 590 with the collapsible ATI top-folding stock that I found the one, or at least the ideal model I was searching for.

About a week later I picked up a brand new Mossberg 590, bolted over to Cabela’s to get the ATI top-folding stock, and made my way over to my friends shooting range. I first fired off a few rounds of Wal-Mart Birdshot and then some 3” Mag Buckshot and slugs. The rubber padding on the butt stock absorbed the sharp recoil from the powerful loads well, not as well as an AR absorbs recoil, but enough that it wasn’t unpleasant to fire off a few powerful rounds. At fifty yards nailing a 4X4 beam standing up with the slug rounds was a breeze with open sights, and a great deal easier than I expected it to be. From there, I put on my vicious-looking ATI stock and started with the bird shot again. Although I cannot say the ATI stock was the most comfortable thing to shoot I can say that it did not affect the firearm very much and still shot wonderfully. Although the stock does cause slight harm to one’s shoulder and cheek when being used for long range shooting, rather than close quarters tactical shooting, I kept the stock on the weapon as I intended to use it as my home defense gun.

Complete disassembly is a breeze and requires only a flat head screw driver, or an allen wrench for the ATI stock, and something to tap out one of the pins in the receiver and you’re good to go. The item breaks down easily, cleans fast, and goes back together in a breeze. My model, but a few years old, did have a problem with a part of the safety notch keeping one of the parts from being inserted into the gun, but I have learned from cleaning my friend’s newer 590 that Mossberg corrected this issue. I would also like to throw in that his model was stamped with the A1 designation. I’m not really sure how much of a difference that makes with the internals, but I figured it was worth throwing in there.

This gun has a great finish, as its lack of scratches can attest to. Being my home defense weapon this thing has seen a great deal of tight spaces and a whole lot of range time. Even though I am a person who babies some of my weapons, this is one of the few that I am not afraid of getting a little dirty. It has seen its fair share of bumps, but does not have the marks to show it. To this day it looks fresh off the gun rack, and I can’t give you a round count for this weapon.

Since I have owned this gun it has been a reliable shooter with zero problems and, in my opinion, it provides some of the best accuracy one can ask for in a smooth bore shotgun. This gun has functioned so perfectly it would surely be in my arsenal for a SHTF situation, and on a side note its accuracy makes it a great hunting shotgun when the Zombies/Nazi/Vampire/Robots are not your priority. From my experience with this weapon, there are not enough good things to say about it. It is a firearm that I trust with my life and love to shoot. You can’t go wrong with a Mossberg 590.