First things first, a huge thanks to Gary at Wanstalls for helping me with this magnificent shotgun. Disclaimer here is that I was not paid or endorsed to do this review but of my own free will. Now for my review of the Mossberg 590A1 SPX 9-shot...
It costs me $849.99 after taxes and shipping and took 2 days to ship (because it's from BC to BC locations).
The Good (Pros)
-All metal trigger housing
-LPA Italy Ghost rear sights and front fibre optic red sights (not sure if they really are made in Italy or Italian style)
-Pumping this shotgun is rock solid in feeling
-Handgrip feels solid until reaching the stock (see Cons)
-Ported barrel supposed to give better recoil reduction
-Not even close to as many flaws like an 870 Express does. Quality control is VERY high with this shotgun.
-Built to be low maintenance but with a drawback (Cons disassembly)
-Typical Mossberg engineering, the shooting hand can manipulate the trigger, safety and the pump release. The pump release is not as easy to access on a Remington 870
-Believe it or not, I like the fact it doesn't come with a speed feed stock (personal)
-Ambidextrous for left or right handed user
-Rails uptop for mounting an Aimpoint or an Eotech if you so please
The Bad (Cons)
-It's heavy (but I don't care)
-Bayonet is not very sturdy when mounted on the shotgun
-Needs to be greased when you get first get it
-The welds that are on the barrel seems sloppy (not sure if it's a brass braze or aluminum) not terrible or noticible but you can clearly tell from my pics
-The action you really need to pull back
-Disassembly, you require brain cells and its a good thing youtube was invented. Thankfully you don't need to do this very often
-The stock is hollow but shouldn't bother most shotgun users. It's thicker walled compared to the flimsy 870 Express
-The shell elevator is cut out in the middle (see picture) but shouldn't effect your shells at all (I keep thinking it'll fall out)
-Needs to be greased the moment you get it. The action is not very smooth and could use some oiling up
The Ugly
-Accessories are not as abundant and easily found compared to an 870
-Really wished that it can eat 3 1/2 shells
-Did I mention what a nightmare the disassembly is? I'll elaborate seeing that I saw the youtube vid. You need to take out the trigger housing in order to get to the rest of the parts. Judging by the video, this is slightly more complex than a 1911 takedown and requiring a 1/8 flat punch.
Overall
I really believe this shotgun is worth forking out the $850 for. While the latest craze is about getting 930's, a pump action shouldn't fail you in using target loads albeit not as fast as a semi-auto but reliability and quality is the huge factor in my determination of choice.
On with the pictures...
(This is the one reason why I hate ghost sights, I just can't see the rear sights with a camera!)
It costs me $849.99 after taxes and shipping and took 2 days to ship (because it's from BC to BC locations).
The Good (Pros)
-All metal trigger housing
-LPA Italy Ghost rear sights and front fibre optic red sights (not sure if they really are made in Italy or Italian style)
-Pumping this shotgun is rock solid in feeling
-Handgrip feels solid until reaching the stock (see Cons)
-Ported barrel supposed to give better recoil reduction
-Not even close to as many flaws like an 870 Express does. Quality control is VERY high with this shotgun.
-Built to be low maintenance but with a drawback (Cons disassembly)
-Typical Mossberg engineering, the shooting hand can manipulate the trigger, safety and the pump release. The pump release is not as easy to access on a Remington 870
-Believe it or not, I like the fact it doesn't come with a speed feed stock (personal)
-Ambidextrous for left or right handed user
-Rails uptop for mounting an Aimpoint or an Eotech if you so please
The Bad (Cons)
-It's heavy (but I don't care)
-Bayonet is not very sturdy when mounted on the shotgun
-Needs to be greased when you get first get it
-The welds that are on the barrel seems sloppy (not sure if it's a brass braze or aluminum) not terrible or noticible but you can clearly tell from my pics
-The action you really need to pull back
-Disassembly, you require brain cells and its a good thing youtube was invented. Thankfully you don't need to do this very often
-The stock is hollow but shouldn't bother most shotgun users. It's thicker walled compared to the flimsy 870 Express
-The shell elevator is cut out in the middle (see picture) but shouldn't effect your shells at all (I keep thinking it'll fall out)
-Needs to be greased the moment you get it. The action is not very smooth and could use some oiling up
The Ugly
-Accessories are not as abundant and easily found compared to an 870
-Really wished that it can eat 3 1/2 shells
-Did I mention what a nightmare the disassembly is? I'll elaborate seeing that I saw the youtube vid. You need to take out the trigger housing in order to get to the rest of the parts. Judging by the video, this is slightly more complex than a 1911 takedown and requiring a 1/8 flat punch.
Overall
I really believe this shotgun is worth forking out the $850 for. While the latest craze is about getting 930's, a pump action shouldn't fail you in using target loads albeit not as fast as a semi-auto but reliability and quality is the huge factor in my determination of choice.
On with the pictures...
(This is the one reason why I hate ghost sights, I just can't see the rear sights with a camera!)
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