Review of the Mossberg 590A1

     I recently purchased th3 Mossberg 590A1 pump shotgun as a home defense weapon. It came with all of the accessories I wanted already installed. The only way to get the gun set up the way I wanted to, was to get the "Blackwater Edition". I could care less about the logo on the side, I wanted the features I wanted. The model I bought, so you can see the specifications, is this one 590A1 Blackwater

 I took the 590A1 to the indoor range and ran 150 rounds through it. All rounds were 2 3/4 inch shells. The shot size was mainly 7 1/2 but I did feed 15 rounds of both 00 Buck and slug through it. Loading the weapon was easy, and could be done fairly fast. I bought the 20 inch barrel model, which holds 8+1 rounds. I like the safety controls on the Mossberg better than the Remington 870, probably because I'm left handed. The all metal safety slide on the receiver is easy to find, and grabs your thumb well, with and without gloves.
    
The trigger group is metal on the 590A1. That might not be a big deal to some, but it's extra insurance for me against a part breaking. The trigger guard allows enough room to operate the gun with gloves on. I ran it with Camelback summer weight gloves on. I don't know what you'd do with ski gloves. The stock is the traditionally shaped synthetic stock, I did not get the pistol grip stock. The stock is stippled for better grip and control over the weapon in adverse conditions.The weapon shouldered well, and pointed extremely well. On occasion the recoil absorber on the stock would grab my t-shirt on the way up slowing me down some. I'll have to find a way around that.
    
      The stock is a Speed Stock version which has storage for 4 extra rounds inside the stock (2 on each side). It was fairly easy to load the speed stock with a little practice. Removing the shells from the stock took longer than I thought it would. I'm sure I can speed it up with some practice. I tried a slug change over from the Speed Stock and it was a nightmare for me. With additional training and repetition I'll do better with it I'm sure. I simply wasn't familiar enough with the weapon or the process.
    
     I really like the ghost ring sites on this shotgun. They are XS Ghost Ring Sights. This was my first exposure to ghost ring sights, but they were AMAZING. So much better than the basic bead sight on my Remington 870. I was able to pick the target up quickly in a variety of light conditions. My slug shots were much closer to where I intended to place them with the ghost rings versus the bead sight, especially at 25 yards. The receiver has a rail mounted forward of the rear sight to allow attachment of optics if you want them.

     The action cycled very well. I didn't have any failures with the first 150 rounds through the weapon. I'm going this afternoon to feed another 100 rounds through it. The slide itself has an integrated rail on the bottom, and two "detachable" rails (one on each side). The integrated rail I liked. The slide is long enough to allow a full hand grip behind the rails, which would allow you to operate any railed attachments on the slide without having to grip over them.

     I strongly disagree with the term "detachable". That was a nightmare. I was able to remove the rail from the slide with the hex bit on my Leatherman MUT tool. That's where the fun ended. The nuts that the hex bolts threaded into fell into the slide handle. Now, let me be clear, that the loose nuts in no way interfered with the mechanical functioning of the shotgun. I shot the last 60 rounds with the little bastards rattling around inside the grip. HOWEVER, removing them from the grip required complete field stripping of the gun (which I intended to do anyways). Then you have to remove the retaining collar from the slide, and shake the nuts out. Not too bad right.....right. But wait, there's more.

     Detachable implies "attachable" in some sense. The rails are re-attachable if you have the patience of a Trappist monk, and improvise a tool or two from a paperclip. Lets assume you've retrieved your rattling parts from the grip, and then decide you want to re-attach them. Now the fun begins. I wanted to re-attach my rail because it gave me a thumb stop, and a point of grip reference on the slide. So, after about 45 minutes of trying to balance the slide, and feed the attaching hex bolts from the bottom, I managed to get one hex bolt attached. YAY! But then I lost the second one into the slide. So the entire disassembly / re-attachment process started all over again. I got both attachment hex bolts in  place and re-attached the rail, but it sucked.

     Field stripping the 590A1 for cleaning is pretty easy, and drama free. As long as you line up the bolt in the correct position inside the receiver all of the parts drop in. Remember to push the slide rails down as they enter the receiver, and it's all good. There are lots of videos on YouTube and other sites on field stripping the 500 Series Mossberg. Watch one a couple of times, or follow along as you field strip your shotgun and you won't have any problems.

     I highly recommend this shotgun to anyone looking for a home defense weapon. It is as dependable as the sunrise, and as simple as an anvil. Aside from the "detachable" rail issue (which was a one time thing and didn't interfere with the operation of the weapon), I love this shotgun. I plan on adding a side saddle shell holder to this weapon, probably a 6 round model. I haven't decided between TacStar and Mesa Tactical for the side saddle. This will give me 19 rounds on the weapon when I pick it up. No looking for ammo, just grab and go.

     Again, I'm not an expert and I don't play one on the Internet. Comments, questions, and suggestions are always welcome. You can submit them through the blog, anonymously if you like, or e-mail them to me directly: survivalinthesuburbs@gmail.com  As always, thank you for taking the time to read my blog.