Went to the LGS today and saw a Mossberg 500AB for a decent price. Asked what it stood for and nobody seemed to know, the owner claimed it was a nicer one with higher quality wood but that didn't seem right. Upon handling it, the pump was significantly smoother than my newer 500 all purpose field (likely due to extended use) to the point that it could probably be racked by motion.

What stood out to me the most was how much better the action felt than my newer one, breaking in period aside, the action felt of a higher quality.

I am curious if anyone has any experience with the AB variant or if this might be a misidentified variation of the 500.

The A stands for 12ga. The B stands for it is being sold under the Lakefield and other retail stores. If it has an 'R' the R is for deluxe, or royal engraved bolt and receiver.

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SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS

My experience with these shotguns has been very disappointing.

Bits and pieces break and fall off, the action won’t stay closed through the shot,

I relegated my last one to loner status: the last guy I loaned it to said he missed a follow up shot when it jammed. I sold it pretty quickly after that.

This one had a weird engraving on the bolt that I thought was custom. Perhaps it's one of those mislabeled.

Good to know, probably should avoid it then. The slide action did seem a little too loose. Holding it upright started the action a little bit. I can only imagine when firing.

Was it a newer one? I went to a Combat Shotgun course in the late 1980's and watched Mossberg 500's being shot for 350 rounds of 00 Buck and slug without fail. The same guns were used year round.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

My Mossberg 500AB is circa 1970. I bought it in a pawn shop in 1973. It came with an 18" slug barrel. I don't know if that was the original barrel or not.

Back in the day, as I recall, I looked it up and it was listed as a police type shotgun that might have been kept in a squad car.

Didn't the U.S.M.C. adopt the Mossberg Model 500 12 gauge ?

The M590 is a Mossberg 500 with metal safety and trigger. It's the standard military shotgun but not for SOCOM.

The USMC Security Force Battalion Atlantic used them for training. This was before the 590 hit the street. So they probably used it in a security role somewhere.

I was train by Battalion Lant, but worked for USMC SFB Pacific at NS Long Beach training their Auxiliary Security Force. We used Mossberg 500's there.

I used this Remington 870 Express that I had modified to an USMC M870 MK 1. I had found the parts at a gun show in Calif. and then bought an 870 Express to mount them on. The sailors called it "The Gunny's Road Warrior Shotgun". I got a laugh out of that. Not many folks can say thet they have a gun that they used on active duty.

Attached Images

USMC Remington M870 Mk 1.jpg (34.8 KB, 24 views)

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

The Mossberg 500 is one of the most widely used shotguns in military and police. I always thought they were one of the most reliable of all.

I have 3, from 1970 until the 1990's. All have been bulletproof (pardon the pun). I can't speak for current quality, but the ones I own have never had a part break or experienced a malfunction of any kind.

I just pulled mine out of the safe. Apparently, the older ones had a jeweled bolt, making them appear fancy to some.

If one is found to be loose or troublesome, my guess is that it was badly abused.

There is no general reason to avoid a Mossberg 500

Assuming that the gun had been fired/dry-fired, this is not unusual. Pulling the trigger on a pump-gun unlocks the action so that it can be cycled. The only things holding the action closed at that point would be gravity, friction, and possibly the hammer spring pressing the hammer against the back of the bolt. On a well-broken in gun, it is not at all uncommon for the combined weight of the action parts to initiate the opening of the action when pointed skyward. Some models, the Winchester Super-X/Speed-Pump in particular, are well known for using recoil to initiate the rapid cycling of the slide.

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Ain't This Fun Though?

My experience has been very similar: have never been let down.

I have more faith in the Mossberg 500/590 Series of shotguns than I do some of the Winchester pumps post Model 12. Watched five (5) Winchester 1200 lose pins and stuff that held them together on a shotgun familiarization fire for a Marine MP Company one day. Never saw a 500 go down, unless the student loaded the rounds in backwards (yes, you can do it). We finished the day for the fam fire using my 870 that is pictured in a post above.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

The 590A1 is the one with the the aluminum trigger guard and safety. It also has the the thicker, heavier barrel.

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Thread Killer.

I have mossberg 500s, 590s, and 590A1s. They've all been good.

The one thing that I've been told to do to improve reliability is to replace the factory mag tube spring with an extra power one.

That goes for the 870s, too.

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Thread Killer.

My first shotgun is a Mossberg New Haven 600AT bought at a NY Jamesway store. It came with the select-a-choke barrel. My only problem with this shotgun was with the plastic safety button which I replaced with a metal one. Got a slug barrel and took two deer with it.

My brother has been a Mossberg fan for many years and has had very good luck with them; but given a choice I would pick the 870 every time.