Reinaldo Diaz with his Mossberg Model 500 and a large bag of santa cruz pigeons shot near Naranjal, Ecuador in 1989. Note the gay patterned dress material that was used to make a protective sock for the butt stock.
If there ever was a pump gun, no just a shotgun, that was utilitarian, it is the Mossberg Model 500, a gun that quietly made its first appearance in 1961 and sold for a grand sum of $74, the same amount charged by Stevens for its cheapest pump gun. Up until the introduction of the Model 500, the O.F. Mossberg and Sons company was mainly known for making inexpensive, somewhat aesthetically challenged, bolt action .22 rifles and bolt action shotguns. They were all good guns and certainly good buys for the price. But they were not exactly graceful looking and certainly could not compete in looks with big boys like Winchester and Remington, although mechanically they were just as good.
The introduction of the Model 500 pump gun was a bit of a surprise, especially since it had many innovative features despite its bargain price. Mossberg had tried entering the pump shotgun market before back in the 1950s, shortly after the end of World War II. Their first pump shotgun was somewhat unique, a one piece stocked and box magazine fed Model 200 series that they produced from 1955 until 1959 when it was discontinued. It basically looked like their bolt action shotguns, except that it had a plastic pump handle. It was cheap, sold for less than fifty bucks at a time when the cheapest pump guns on the market sold for around seventy bucks. The gun may not have been won any beauty contests and it did have rather an odd appearance, but it worked and it was cheap. However, it was obviously not a commercial success. Two years after the Model 200 series was discontinued, the Model 500 was introduced.
Reinaldo Diaz with his Mossberg Model 500 and a large bag of santa cruz pigeons shot near Naranjal, Ecuador in 1989. Note the gay patterned dress material that was used to make a protective sock for the butt stock.
The new Model 500 was of conventional design, and it incorporated many new features that were found on more expensive guns. The barrel could be simply removed by unscrewing the magazine cap ala Remington Model 870, and the trigger group would drop out by punching out a single pin, one less than the Remington. Remington had the easiest trigger group removal system of all pump guns on the market prior to the appearance of the Mossberg Model 500. The receiver on the Mossberg was made of alloy, making the gun lighter. Mossberg also was the only pump gun on the market that had a top safety, not exactly a top tang safety since it was located on the receiver, but still a top sliding safety which made it convenient for either the left or right handed shooter. For the price, the gun was surprisingly well finished, actually appeared to be better finished than the comparably priced pump guns of other make.
Considering what all the new features the Mossberg had, the price charged for their new pump gun was surprisingly low. Still, the finely made Winchester Model 12 had not yet been discontinued and all other pump guns were measured against the Winchester. Remington Model 870 was rapidly gaining in popularity on the Winchester, but the Remington cost $89 in its “plain Jane” AP version at the time, fifteen bucks more than the Mossberg, an amount that may seem trifling today but would have bought you a bunch of ammo or an inexpensive single shot .22 back in the day!
Juan Carlos Barreira with a nice bag of pigeons holding his Mossberg Model 500 near Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.
In 1964 when Winchester came out with their new Model 1200 as a replacement for the venerable old Model 12, it became quickly apparent what a good deal the Mossberg Model 500 was in comparison. The Winchester Model 1200, also with an alloy receiver and somewhat cheaply put together, sold for $96, a whopping $22 more than the price of the Mossberg. Yet, for those who understood pump guns, it became obvious that the Mossberg was superior both in its design and its construction, and it cost less. I guess in a way you could say that the appearance of the Winchester Model 1200 helped the sales of the Mossberg Model 500. Actually, the sales of the Remington Model 870, Ithaca Model 37, as well as the various High Standard and Savage/Stevens pump guns all increased!
Quietly, through the years, the Mossberg Model 500 gained popularity among pump gunners. It was never considered to be in the same class as the Remington or Ithaca, however, it was considered better than the new Winchester Model 1200! It was simply viewed as a reliable, strong, utilitarian shotgun. It was not a shotgun you bought to use on the trap or skeet range, it was more like a good tool, a wrench or a hammer that always worked when you needed it.
A Mossberg Model 500 with its top tang safety.
In 1970 Mossberg improved the Model 500 by providing a dual action bar system rather than the single action bar that it had before. In the late 1960s, Mossberg also tried to upgrade their line of shotguns and rifles. A custom gun section was started, called the Pedersen Custom Guns. Mossberg imported Beretta over under and side-by-side barreled actions and stocked and engraved them in their custom shop. They also imported some Spanish guns for the same purpose. For domestic guns, they used the Model 500 pump gun and their new Model 800 high power bolt-action rifle. The pump gun was beautifully stocked in fancy American walnut and finely checkered. The action was polished and smoothed out so it worked like butter. Robert Stack was a spokesman for Mossberg at the time and he posed for many advertising photos with the pump gun, hunting pheasant or other game. Stack, a former skeet champion and a Hollywood movie star was always a gun enthusiast and a hunter. The fact that he promoted the Mossberg Model 500 was a very good boost to the company and particularly the gun. Everyone felt that Stack would not promote something that he did not personally feel was up to his standards. The Pedersen version of the Model 500 was truly a fine pump gun, a definite upgrade from the standard model. Unfortunately, the venture failed; the Pedersen Custom Guns was quietly put aside by Mossberg, and they resumed their normal production.
The Model 500 was always a fairly light pump gun. Without a ventilated rib it averaged 63⁄4 pounds in 12 gauge, same as the Remington Model 870AP and just a bit heavier than the Ithaca Model 37 in standard grade. The Mossberg was made in 12, 16 and 20 gauges right from the start. In 1967 Mossberg introduced the Model 500E, which was a scaled down version of the regular Model 500, but chambered in .410 only. It was, at the time, the only pump gun that was specifically made and scaled for the .410. There was a High Standard pump gun at the time that was made on a small frame and chambered for the 28 and .410, but it was built on a 28 frame as the later Remington 870 small gauge was made. Aside from the discontinued Winchester Model 42 on the used gun market, the Mossberg Model 500E was the only true .410 pump gun available at the time. This is true even today as Mossberg makes the only true .410 frame pump gun.
Movie star Robert Stack promoting the Mossberg Model 500 in this 1968 full page ad.
Through the years, the different variations of the Model 500 have appeared in so many versions that it is almost impossible to keep up. Like the very popular Remington Model 870 pump gun, the Mossberg Model 500 is also made in all sorts of version, obviously because it too is very popular. Perhaps the biggest boost that Mossberg received to its reputation was when Pentagon decided to use the Mossberg Model 500 as its official shotgun for the armed forces. To the average gun buyer, the fact that the U.S. military accepted and use the Mossberg pump is perhaps the best recommendation that the gun could receive. Still, despite the fact that Uncle Sam thinks Mossberg pump is perfectly suitable for its military, there are those who still turn up their noses and make derisive remarks and jokes about this gun. Ours is a society where it seems everything is judged by its dollar value. No one seems to really stop and think about why or who put that dollar value on a particular item. If a car, a piece of clothing or even a dinner menu is expensive, then it must be good, regardless of how it drives, looks, or tastes. So, naturally, the Mossberg Model 500 must not be as good as another gun that costs more!
Mossberg Model 500 pump gun from a 1981 ad – a well designed, extremely dependable, durable, inexpensive gun that offers everything that a hunter would want.
That seems to be the general attitude with the buying public. Be that as it may, I am here to tell you that when it comes to pump guns, the Mossberg Model 500 does not take a back seat to any other gun, especially when you consider the price!
I have personally never owned a Mossberg Model 500, although I have handled and shot several throughout the years. My first real encounter with a Mossberg Model 500 took place back in mid 1980s when I was in Ecuador, South America. One of my hunting companions, an Ecuadorian by the name of Reinaldo Diaz, had a Mossberg pump. He was quite proud of his Mossberg. It was a plain model, no checkering on wood or a ventilated rib on the barrel. It was one of the earlier models, the pre choke tube versions that had a modified boring. Reinaldo had his wife make a sock out of some cheerful dress pattern cloth to slip over the butt stock, to protect it from scratches and dings! The only other thing that he did to the gun was to have a local gunsmith install sling swivels so he could carry the gun on a sling. I hunted with Reinaldo over approximately a six-year period and we shot a lot. Reinaldo used some horrible looking reloads, but I never saw or heard of an instance when the Mossberg failed to fire or cycle a round. As far as Reinaldo was concerned, his Mossberg was the best shotgun in the world. Of course Reinaldo was not a shotgun collector or an aficionado of fine guns. He was a cattle rancher by trade and his shotgun was just a tool, a very reliable and dependable tool that never failed him. Prior to getting the Mossberg, Reinaldo shot a Remington 870 for 20 years. The 870, which has a sterling reputation in Latin America and is affectionately called ocho setenta in Spanish, also never failed him. However, the Remington was stolen and he replaced it with the Mossberg. When I asked him if the Remington was better than the Mossberg, he thought for a second then said that in his opinion, the Mossberg was as good as the Remington.
Mossberg Model 500, although not as finely made as some of the more expensive pump guns, it is still an excellent shotgun that is durable and very dependable.
Another Mossberg shooter that I knew back in the late 1990s was a Mexican friend by the name of Juan Carlos Barreira. Juan Carlos had a Mossberg Model 500 that was a bit nicer than the one used by Reinaldo Diaz in Ecuador. Juan Carlos’s Mossberg had a checkered stock (impressed checkering) and a ventilated rib on the barrel with a plain modified choke. I hunted almost every weekend with Juan Carlos for three years during Mexico’s long bird hunting season. We shot mostly in the northern part of Baja California, everything from valley quail to doves and even pheasant in Mexicali valley along the California border. Like my Ecuadorian friend Reinaldo, Juan Carlos also used some terrible looking loads that he produced on an obsolete Pacific loader. Not once, in all the time that we shot together did the Mossberg jam or fail to fire his reloads. About a year after we had been hunting together, Juan Carlos decided to upgrade his bird gun and got himself a European gas operated semi auto shotgun. It was not a Beretta, but it was still of decent make. Guess what, the new gun would not cycle his reloads reliably so Juan Carlos got rid of it in disgust and resumed shooting his trusty Mossberg!
No, the Mossberg Model 500 is not a finely built shotgun. It does not even compare in finish with the old Winchester Model 12 or the Remington Model 870 Wingmaster. However, it was never meant to compete with those two iconic pump guns in finish quality. It was, however, meant to compete with them in utility and durability, and in that regard, Mossberg succeeded in spades! The Mossberg Model 500 is truly a utilitarian pump gun. It is a gun that one would not be afraid to toss in the back of a pickup truck with decoys and other equipment. It is a gun that will function, fire each time, even if it doesn’t receive the best of care. It is truly the most utilitarian pump gun that is available on the market today.