This week, on the inaugural Shotgun Spotlight, we’re looking at the iconic Mossberg 590 with new furniture from Magpul Industries and topped with a Leupold DeltaPoint Pro red dot.
Mossberg 590 7-Shot 12 Gauge Pump-Action Shotgun MSRP $581
It’s really hard to argue against the firepower of a 12-gauge shotgun for home defense. When loaded with 00 buckshot, every pull of the trigger sends eight to 12 .33-caliber pellets downrange in a tight pattern, which is a compelling argument indeed. Add in the rock-solid simplicity of the pump-action setup and a magazine capacity that’s large enough to settle most defensive encounters, and the defensive shotgun starts to make a lot of sense.
Mossberg is the premier American defensive shotgun manufacturer, and the 590 is the cornerstone of its pump-action line. The shotguns in the 590 are available in a variety of finishes and with many different features, such as wooden stocks and fore-ends, different magazine capacities and other options. The 590 we’re showing is the standard seven-shot version, but we’ve removed the factory fore-end and stock and replaced them with Magpul furniture (more about that later).
The stock Mossberg 590 has a cylinder-bore barrel, which means it cannot accept chokes. There is a brass-bead front sight, and the top of the receiver is drilled and tapped to accept an optic. The stock is padded for comfort and there are swivel studs at each end so you can mount a sling.
Inside the receiver, there are dual extractors and twin action bars for more reliability, and the action has steel-to-steel lockup for strength. The ambidextrous safety is mounted on the back of the tang for easy access, and there is an anti-jam elevator for reliable feeding.
What’s not on the inside or the outside of the 590 is the Mossberg’s reputation for rugged dependability. The 590 is in use by military and law enforcement agencies all across the country and across the globe, making the 590 a gun that is trusted for use on the front lines as well as serving as the last line of home defense for many American gun owners.
Magpul MOE Fore-end (MSRP $29.95), SGA Stock (MSRP $114.95)
The fore-end on a factory-fresh Mossberg 590 will certainly do the job, but there may come a time when you’ll need to add a light or other accessory to your defensive scattergun, and that’s where the Magpul MOE fore-end comes in handy. It’s super-easy to install and is covered with M-Lok slots, allowing you to position your tactical light, laser sight or other accessory where it can be quickly reached by your support hand.
Most, if not all, defensive shotguns come equipped with a stock that is the same length as a hunting or competition shotgun. The problem with this is that the purpose of those guns is to blast flying objects out of the sky, not send rounds into a target that’s on the ground. The motion involved in tracking a flying object is different from the motion of a quick follow-up shot on a bad guy, and the setup of a defensive shotgun needs to reflect these facts.
This is why a shorter length-of-pull is a good idea for a defensive shotgun, as it allows you to get more of yourself behind the gun to help manage recoil. The Magpul SGA stock has spacers to provide for this, as well as a loop for a sling, padded cheek risers and a padded butt. The stock also has a different grip shape for better ergonomics and is available in a variety of different colors.
Leupold DeltaPoint Pro Sight MSRP $449.99
“Wait,” you say, “A red dot sight on a shotgun? I thought you didn’t need to aim them!”
That idea is, in a word, wrong. A shotgun is a smooth-bore firearm, and those pellets have a nasty habit of spreading out too fast for the safety of everyone around your target. Pellet spread can be mitigated by ammunition choice and patterning your shotgun to know when things get dicey, but at the end of the day, the more precise your aim, the more precise your hits.
Which is where a red dot sight like the Leupold DeltaPoint Pro comes in. The DeltaPoint Pro has motion sensors which activate the sight when picked up and turn it off when not in use, prolonging your battery life. The sight is built to Leupold’s standards of rugged reliability and has a 6 MOA dot for quick target acquisition and fast follow up shots. We’ve added our sight to this 590 with the help of an adapter from KE Arms, and there are options out there for other red dot sights.
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