What Mossberg 500 setups does the military use?

Status
Not open for further replies.
I read up a little on the 500Mils(Military Specs) as i used to have one and it was a 20" 5+1 cylinder bore,brass beaded,aluminum safety button and trigger guard,heavy barrel ect. I would assume any 590's ordered would be pretty plane jane with the basic config as the 500Mils besides the 7+1 full length magazine tube and heavy barrel,and bayonet lug.

Supposedly there were only a few thousand of the ones marked 500MILS and some where issued at US Embassy's.
 
chuck, I can't speak to the Aircraft, but the Marine Corps has their own procurement arm for small arms.
Click to expand...

You are correct, I was on the fighter aircraft/engine management side at the Aviation Supply Office (ASO) in Philadelphia for the Navy and MAG's. On ocassion I got to visit the bases. Mag 14
an Iwankuni( Spelling?) Japan were my favorite bases.
 
Just curious, out of all the people here who has carried anything other than a 500a for military duty? I've heard of a few cases of the 590 on here but apparently it and all it's tacticool bolt on's are saved for grunts and special forces but if it has been the official shotgun for more than twenty years would'nt it be in pretty standard issue by now? I mean really how long did it take to switch from the m14 to the m16, months not twenty years. I also heard through WIKI that now we adopted the beneli m1014 as the official shotgun. Has anyone seen in person or carried one of those yet?
Click to expand...

Well, when I was in the Marines, we had 2 Remington 870 shotguns with the top-folding stock and 14" barrels we used to guard the CINCSouth but those were the only Remingtons I seen during my time in the Marines. For normal posting duties in Naples, Italy during my time there in the late 80s to early 90s, we had older Winchester 1200 trench guns and the Mossberg 590s that were phasing the older Winchesters out. Initial Mossbergs had the bead sight and heat shield but later shotguns had ghost ring sights but still had the heat shields as well.
Moving forward to the present with my time in the USAF, I have seen older Remington 870s with the wood stocks, with or without the magazine extension and on models with the extended magazine, those were also equipped with the the bayonet lug as well. These older 870s have over the past couple years though gone through a phasing out process by being replaced with the newer 870 MCS (Modular Combat Shotgun). This is nothing more than an 870 with a Speed feed pistol grip stock. shorter handguard, rifle sights, a rail on the receiver and a magazine clamp with a couple rail sections on that too.
Now as far as the Benelli M4, high speed gadgets, optics and other doo-dads a lot of people think we use, I never seen that stuff. Every shotgun I've seen in service has been pretty much utilitarian with the "tactical accessories" being used for movie magic.
 
I'll post the ones we used in Iraq tonight. Mossburg 500 w/o buttstock, just pistol grip.
 
Wow the first thing I saw in that picture was what you were holding and was very confused... guess i need to scroll down and read the whole thing before making conclusions.
 
The Marine Corps has a major problem when it comes to weapons and aircraft--------they get what is either left over or not wanted by the Navy.
Click to expand...

chuck, I can't speak to the Aircraft,
Click to expand...

As far as aircraft go, the Harrier in particular, the USMC is the only branch of the armed forces to fly it. (Not to poke fun at AF pilots, they do something I can't do.) But the USAF tested the Harrier and the pilots found it too hard to control. Whether the USMC took control of those aircraft tested by the AF, I don't know. But it is my understanding that the Navy never even tested the aircraft.

Wyman
 
As far as aircraft go, the Harrier in particular, the USMC is the only branch of the armed forces to fly it. (Not to poke fun at AF pilots, they do something I can't do.)
Click to expand...

There was at lot of politics/pressure involved that forced the procurement of the AV8 Hawker Harrier for the Marines. Do you really believe that the Navy would have allowed the Marines to have the AV8 if the Navy had wanted it? The Navy was looking for a replacement for the F14 Tomcat and the AV8 was not the aircraft. The US had made a commitment to purchase the aircraft but the air force could not handle it or did not want it, the Navy did not want it, but the Marine Corp was in need of any type of advanced fighter and, I would guess, at the time would take anything that was offered. The Marines and the Harrier made a good match.

Special Operations Arms Room.
Those are all 870s.
Click to expand...

Wow, those are crummy looking fore end pistol grips. Looks like someone wittled down an old pine 2 X 2 and stuck it on the rail. I know designed function is 1st priority and looks are not concidered. My Choate Grips look better.
 
Those are TangoDown stubby grips on the rails.
I have a few and use them with M1A and AR15 railed forends where they work great.

I personally do not see any advantage to a vertical fore grip or a railed forend on a shotgun but the guns in the picture are designed for breaching use only using sintered lead powder loads, the VFG may allow more precise control for this application.

I use a Hogue overmolded stock and Hogue rubber forend on my Mils-Gun.

standard.gif
 
ok hold up. HOLD UP.

All I ever read on this forum from ALL of the old fogies <this is a term of respect> is "Pistol grip shotguns are USELESS with a capital U."

uh.. I am seeing a TON of PGO shotguns in service in these pics. One would assume the military could buy them in any configuration, why the "useless" pistol grip?
 
Because they are used for breaching, Dom. That's why.

...I assume they know what they're doing when it comes to ordering weapons...

Better get someone to explain to you how the military defines ASSUME... :D. What the military gets is defined by two words- lowest bidder. Just ask an astronaut.

lpl (retired Department of the Army civilian, survivor of the Army's Contract Officer Representative class)
 
Military Shotguns

Hey guys,
I'm a late comer to the discussion and I'm not a member of the military or a vet, but I was watching the Military Channel a couple of weeks back and they said on the show I was watching that the Mossberg 500 was the only manufactured shotgun to pass the stringent military testing methods and was the official shotgun of all military services. I know, I know I've just read through all of the posts and you have all described the different types ranging from Remington to Benelli; the one question I have is what the heck is going on in our military procurement office? Wouldn't it make sense to have one type so training personnel would be that much easier. It sounds to me like each base or branch just goes out and gets whatever they want....is that a fair assessment?:banghead:
 
Lee thanks for pointing that out ive heard it more than once.

EDIT TO EARLIER STATEMENT: It is my belief that the military knows what they are doing when they order firearms because making war is their number one service provided and that involves firearms.

Mr. T the Mossberg 500 is the only gun to pass the test you are referring to. The reason you see references to the other guns is that some branches are phasing in the Benelli, also the Remington 870 is very popular with law enforcement so I imagine at some points it was quicker to acquire a Remington 870 than a Mossberg, probably has to do with supply and demand somewhere.
 
Mossberg won the contract in question at least in part because Remington didn't submit any samples on that particular RFP. And how many years ago was that original contract, anyway? Benelli won the contract proposal when it called for a semiauto, not a pump.

There is an art to writing RFPs, in such a way that only one available product can fit the terms of the contract... not saying anyone in the military procurement process would ever do such a thing, but...

lpl
 
The 500 Milsgun is really a 590 because it is basically the same shotgun as the 18.5" barrel 590A1. It has the same mag tube setup and will accept a tube extension.

The 500 Milsgun, 500 Tactical Breacher & the 835 all have the same mag tube setup and take the same mag tube extension but of different lengths. The Mossberg 930 tube extensions will fit all of these shotguns as well.

Here is the LE Military 18.5" heavy BBL 590A1 with a +2 (7+1) tube extension. This shotgun has become very popular for good reason and now in 2009 it's being offered to general public.

590A1-2-1.jpg



GC
 
Seen alot of mixed answers, ive just seen alot of 18" PGO Mossbergs, 20" 8 round M500's. New 20" 590's and several variants of the R870's
 
I've heard of a few cases of the 590 on here but apparently it and all it's tacticool bolt on's are saved for grunts and special forces but if it has been the official shotgun for more than twenty years would'nt it be in pretty standard issue by now?
Click to expand...

SF unit I was in (as a support guy, not a team guy), we only had 500s with pistol grips as breaching shotguns. I think we had maybe 2-3 500s with a couple different kinds of stocks on them that had come in for T&E but never really got used.

The only shotguns I ever saw team guys training with for anything besides popping doors were the Benellis we had in our foreign weapons set -- some of the three gunners liked to play around with them on the range, though not for use downrange just competition.
 
whats the main different between 500 and 590?

590 only comes in 20" and is it okay to shoot rifled slug?

#51663 comes with heavy barrel. whats the advantage of it?
 
Last edited:
That is a slightly custom 500mills, don't know if they are in current produciton, with the factory Mossberg Ghost ring sight that bolts to the scope mount holes on the top of the receiver and the front sight has to be soldered on. They usually don't come with the gun.It also has the magazine extension tube that i believe is a modified(shortened) Choate for a Mossberg 5500/935/9200/590 or 835.

http://www.mossberg.com/cgi-bin/com...es\MossPdgNav\SearchResult.html&category=SIGH

My gun was just like that minus the ghost ring sights and i believe they are going for 400-500 new on gunbroker but i only payed 250 for mine at a pawn shop as they didn't know what it was. The ghost rings and magzine extension are 50-75 each.

You can buy a current production 590 that comes with the full length magazine tube.
 
Last edited:
@scottishclaymore

We used them mainly for breaching. We had to carry them all the time just in case we had to enter a building and clear
 
590 only comes in 20" and is it okay to shoot rifled slug?
Click to expand...

Mossberg website lists seven variations: 590A1 18 1/2" six-shot and six different nine-shot 20-inchers with bayonet lug (Blued/Parked, with/without Ghost Rings, with/without vented handguard).

All are cylinder bore, so there's nothing to impart a spin on the rifled slug.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

timberwolf204
  • Locked
the man who wants to trade the 870 for a 500 mossberg
Replies
0
Views
292
timberwolf204
timberwolf204
N
  • Locked
Mossberg 88 disconect
Replies
5
Views
636
foghornl
F
throdgrain
  • Locked
A bit of Mossberg help if possible ?
2
Replies
35
Views
2K
Trifler
T
T
  • Locked
Mossberg 500 mods
2
Replies
26
Views
2K
The Highlander
T
Big D
  • Locked
Thoughts on the Mossberg 500
2
Replies
33
Views
2K
Erik M
Erik M
Back
Top