Mossberg Cruiser

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texasred777

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Has anyone seen or better still, shot the Mossberg Cruiser .410 shotgun? I'm thinking about buying one for home defense. I'm not fond of the recoil of anything larger. I have a double 20, and even it has more recoil than I like. I'm 73 and just don't need the recoil of anything! I just got rid of my .38 spl. revolver about 2 weeks ago. I've got a little Bersa .380 cc that I really like. The recoil is negligible.
I asked the LGS if they could order one of the Cruisers for me, but was told that there were none available at this time. I'm sure someone has one in stock, but I'd really like to find out a little about them before plopping down about $350 for one.
 
I have an old (like it was my first shotgun old, and I am) .410 Mossy. Some years back I bought a pistol grip. Here are my observations.

Easy to shoot, no real recoil like you'd get with a 12 ga version
Sure works better in tight spaces.
Just about impossible to hit anything with.

I still wanted it a bit shorter for storage reasons so I put a youth butt stock on it. It crowds a bit, but I can deal with that.
 
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I have a geek-tastic Mossberg .410.

Not the "Cruiser" but still, I have no lack of confidence in having it leaning behind the door for just-in-cases. Can't stand the laser fore-grip but there it is.

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I backed into mine on the cheap at an estate sale so I'm a bit skewed on values but seems like $350 might be better spent on something else - though I acknowledge Bud's to have reasonably market-indiciative pricing. MSRP being just over $100.00 more.

I would make certain that a pistol grip shotgun is what you want at 73 also, .410 not withstanding. A full length can be put at your hip and is less of a reach if stored in a leaning location.


Todd
 
jeepnik said:
I still wanted it a bit shorter for storage reasons so I put a youth butt stock on it. It crowds a bit, but I can deal with that.
Click to expand...
What he said. Or buy a Mossberg youth .410 and put an 18" barrel on it. That's probably cheaper.
 
toivo said:
What he said. Or buy a Mossberg youth .410 and put an 18" barrel on it. That's probably cheaper.
Click to expand...
That's what mine above came with; a "Youth" stock. I guess a fella could shorten it more by replacing the rubber pad with a plate too.

Todd.
 
If the 410 platform is what you want, I'd try to find the cruiser because:

  • It is an AOW and not a shotgun. So you can shorten the barrel to less than 18" if you want as long as the overall length is 26" or more.
  • It comes with a cylinder choke, and that may work best for short range home defense with the OOO buck rounds intended for the Taurus Judge (and a shotgun firing those is more effective than the Judge too).
  • You can put a shoulder stock on it if you want (although if you do this, you can't go the short barrel AOW path anymore).
  • If you get a regular 410 hunting shotgun, it is a shotgun and not an AOW. You could put a pistol grip on it and change the barrel to cylinder if you can find one. But the cruiser has more of what you need out of the box than going the other way around.

I think firing a 410 PGO with your trigger hand up by your face is an OK approach. I would not do that with a 20ga or 12ga PGO however.
 
Ok, I'm talking just .410, not 12 or 20 gauge. I may not can hit the broad side of a barn at 20 paces with it, but an intruder's not going to be more 20 feet from me. If I can't hit an intruder that is 20 feet from me with a load of 000 or even #4, I can't hit him with a double barrel, firing both barrels at the same time!
I just want to know if these are reliable and would really like to hear someone who has actually shot one. I've got a little Stevens 94F, single shot break-action that my wife gave me for Christmas in 1968. I used to hunt rabbits with it, carrying and firing it with just one hand. I've killed a lot rabbits using it that way. I don't know just how much recoil the shorter, lighter Cruiser would have, but can't believe it would be much more.
 
texasred777 said:
Ok,
I just want to know if these are reliable and would really like to hear someone who has actually shot one.
Click to expand...

I've had a new mossberg 500 in 410 for about 3- 4 months now. Not a cruiser but the standard model with a 24" barrel. It has between 2-300 shells through it of various make. It also has ejection issues. It's been well cleaned an the chamber has been polished. The gun has been unleliable from the get go and needs some attention from mossberg. I wouldn't trust one, based on this experience, for HD.
 
suemarkp said:
If the 410 platform is what you want, I'd try to find the cruiser because:

  • It is an AOW and not a shotgun. So you can shorten the barrel to less than 18" if you want as long as the overall length is 26" or more.
  • It comes with a cylinder choke, and that may work best for short range home defense with the OOO buck rounds intended for the Taurus Judge (and a shotgun firing those is more effective than the Judge too).
  • You can put a shoulder stock on it if you want (although if you do this, you can't go the short barrel AOW path anymore).
  • If you get a regular 410 hunting shotgun, it is a shotgun and not an AOW. You could put a pistol grip on it and change the barrel to cylinder if you can find one. But the cruiser has more of what you need out of the box than going the other way around.

I think firing a 410 PGO with your trigger hand up by your face is an OK approach. I would not do that with a 20ga or 12ga PGO however.
Click to expand...

No, it's is most certainly not an AOW. It is a "firearm" neither a rifle, nor shotgun, but it is not an NFA AOW.
 
Darn it, you're right. There are too many categories under the NFA and I forgot about the generic "firearm" category. I wish NFA would go away...

But the point still applies.
 
Mossberg Cruiser in .410

Just bought a Cruiser! I'll try to post some of my thoughts about it after I get a chance to go out and shoot it. I only have some regular #6 shells at the time. I'm going out for a while tomorrow (hopefully). I carry some paper plates in the Jeep GC and use them for targets. There's some boards and such out at the place I go to practice. I carry a stapler and extra staples so I can staple the paper plates to the boards. I carry a 'magic marker' to make 'bullseyes' on the plates the size I want. I'm hoping I can set up about 6 of the plates and try to shoot 6 times and see how many of them I can hit at about 20 feet.
Stay tuned!
 
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Just got back and cleaned the little Cruiser. It's a great little gun. I shot about 20 times with #6 shot. At about 35 feet, I could, from the hip, hit within about 12 inches of where I am trying place the shot during the first few shots. After that, I started shooting at a closer target, about 20 feet. I had to raise my 'sights' a bit because I kept hitting about 6 inches low. With a little practice, (and I plan on getting a lot!) I should be able to hit a 6 inch target easily at 15 feet without trying to actually point the gun.
 
That's great red... Remington loads one Heck of a good 4 ball buck round you might want to try. I think it's 000 but I'm not sure. I prefer the 2 1/2" shells for the 410 mossberg personally. They are just easier to load if nothing else. 3" shells are a PITA but you may like them.

Herters buck is on the light side but I do like herters slugs when they are available. Haven't tried much of anything else but my reloads.

Congratulations on the new 410. You did good.
 
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Thanks, Sappyg. I'm going to try any and all forms of the .410 loads. I've never tried reloading, but with the price of .410 shells, it might be tempting! I've known some friends back in Texas that reloaded almost everything they shot. One of them had a garage. Anytime he wasn't working on a vehicle, he was reloading. Kept all his reloading equipment in the garage. When buck season started, everybody knew they better not have car trouble because Runt wouldn't be around for several days, sometime weeks. lol
 
I reload 410 all the time, mostly 3 inch shells. I reload 3 inch shells with 5 pellets of 00 buck using Hodgdon H110 powder, Winchester Super X hulls and Clay Buster wads. All five pellets stay within a paper plate at 20 yards out of my Mossberg with the standard 24 inch barrel.
 
reloading

12Bravo20, thanks for that info. Sounds interesting. I'll probably try to check out the equipment and supply costs before long. A lot depends on how long I'm in shape to get out and do some shooting. I think I mentioned that I have some medical conditions that kinda keep me for a lot of activities. I don't get to go tramping through the woods and use my metal detectors much any more. COPD and a bad knee are real pains in the butt.
 
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