Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
The Mossberg 500 is a great shotgun. With more than 12 million in circulation, it’s safe to say I’m not alone in that thinking.
In a time when content is king and new gun announcements come fast, the opportunity rarely arises to do a truly long-term gun review. One where you can get to know it, shoot it a lot, knock it around. I wanted to figure out what does and doesn’t work, set aside any marketing hype, and live with the gun.
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Rare as it is, that’s the case with this Mossberg 500 Turkey 20 gauge pump-action shotgun. Outfitted from head-to-toe with Mossy Oak Obsession camo. It features a 22” barrel with a Mossberg X Factor Turkey extended choke and a mag tube of 5+1 3” shells. I bought this gun, brand-new in March 2022 in anticipation of my first turkey hunt.
I chose the 20 gauge because the 12 gauge versions were out of stock everywhere I looked. As my third turkey season opens with this gun, I’m glad I got the 20 instead of the 12.
Weighing 6.75 pounds, I found that the gun carries and maneuvers easily through the woods on walk-and-call hunts. The 22” barrel doesn’t get hung up when trying to sneak into a blind in the dark. Or even when you’re trying to pour out of said blind after making a shot.
The receiver is drilled and tapped for a rail and an optic, but the fiber optic front sight is really bright. I don’t see the need to put one on the gun.
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First Season With the Mossberg 500
In my opinion, the gun performed like an absolute champ during my first season. I got it wet, drug it through the grass, and bumped into branches for 40 hours in the field. When the opportunity arrived, I was prone in tall grass and dirt. The Mossberg 500 didn’t hesitate to function, firing the first shot, ejecting the spent shell, and loading another in case the first one from 35 yards wasn’t enough. It was, but I was ready just in case.
2022 Observations
I couldn’t be happier with how the gun performed under all the different conditions. However, after just one season, I noticed the Mossy Oak Obsession camouflage was starting to wear off on the edges and high points of the gun. It’s just an aesthetics issue, but I expected it to hold up better.
Second Season With the Mossberg 500
The 2023 season was tougher for me (and the gun). I spent a total of 57 hours in the woods with this gun by my side. Using the same ammo and Mossberg factory choke, I dropped a mature tom turkey with one shot at 56 yards. Yes, that’s right: one shot at 56 yards with a 3” 20 gauge TSS shell.
2023 Observations
A sudden downpour required me to take the entire gun apart one afternoon, wipe it down, oil it up, and reassemble for the next day. Unfortunately, removing the safety was not something I thought to do, but I wish I had. I discovered this at the worst possible moment when a big tom came into range and I couldn’t get the safety to disengage. Upon complete disassembly of the gun, I found that a nutmeg-on-hot-chocolate kind of thin layer of powdered rust had accumulated on the ball detent for the safety, locking it in the safe position.
A solid cleaning and oiling – and a mental note to service this part in the future – was all it took to get the gun back in the field.
As I mentioned, I only needed one shot and that’s a good thing, because it’s all I got. I worked the pump quickly after the first shot and the extractor skipped over the rim of the spent shell. I tried to pry it out from the rim to no avail and had to wait to use a cleaning rod from the muzzle once I got home.
The finish wear that began last year worsened this year. Yes, I carried it more and subjected it to more, but it looks a lot older than the honest two years that it is because of the finish loss. There are parts of the gun that are completely white.
Ammo
I picked up some BOSS TOM 3” shotshells, some with #7 TSS and some with #9 TSS shot, to try out. Both patterned great at 50 yards and beyond. I was impressed with the ported factory choke. With today’s TSS loads, a 20 gauge 3” shell can do the same work as that of a 12 gauge without TSS, but with one important difference: recoil. The BOSS TOM shells deliver a two-ounce TSS payload at 1,050fps. I found that the Mossberg 500 makes shooting that a breeze. If it wasn’t so expensive, I wouldn’t think twice about shooting a round of sporting clays with it because the gun is so comfortable to shoot.
Choke Tube
For many, the choke tube is the first thing they swap out on a new turkey gun. However, I don’t see the need. In my particular gun with my preferred load, the Mossberg factory choke works very well. After seeing the proof in the performance with 2023’s 56-yard shot, I’m confident the gun could have gone to 60 or more without opening up too much.
Final Thoughts on the Mossberg 500
Despite the premature finish wear, rust, and ejector skip, I’m still planning on hunting this year with the Mossberg 500 Turkey. It is, at the end of the day, a piece of equipment, and equipment fails. Sometimes you get lucky and it happens at an inconsequential time. In other instances, the timing is terrible. That’s just how it goes. I don’t blame the safety selector for my failure to do a deep cleaning or the extractor for my fast pump work.
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If it were a higher-end, four-figure shotgun, then I’d definitely be more critical. The fact of the matter is that the Mossberg 500 Turkey 20 gauge pump shotgun is a solid turkey gun at a great price. If you’re ready to give your shoulder a rest from the 3.5” 12 gauge loads you’ve been shooting, then pick one of these up. You won’t be disappointed.
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