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Making my 590 more versatile for hunting

I have an 18.5" 590 (50778) for home defense with Magpul furniture and an S&J extension and I love it. I was thinking about how it would be cool to have additional barrels for hunting, but barrels that work with the 590/835 mag tube interface are pretty expensive and hard to find.

I also thought about buying a 500 mag tube and swapping it onto my 590; then I could use all the 500 barrels. Has anyone done this? It seems like the least expensive and easiest way to go. I also thought about just buying a 500 but then I would need to buy a new stock or swap the stock every time I want to switch tasks. If I had a 500 mag tube I could quickly and easily swap between barrels while using the same stock and changing the LOP and cheekweld with spacers.
 
Works perfectly. Easy switch. Just remember, when you switch out the tubes, just twist them in hand tight. No need to torque them down or loctite them.
 
Sounds like an excuse to get another gun! :D A used Maverick 88 with 28" barrel can be had for the cost of tube and barrels... Note that the safety is in front of the trigger.

But yes, what Richard said: once you heat up the receiver (with heatgun) to soften the OEM red Loctite, the tube should unscrew, allowing install of the 500 tube. Good and snug by hand and you shouldn't need replacement Loctite as long as you remember to check tube tightness every so often. The spring, follower and slide should be the same although I would keep the spring/follower with the tube it came out of because I am OCD... ;)
 
I frequently use 500A barrels/mag tubes on my 835. Mossbergs modular design makes their models extremely versatile.
 
I am currently in the process of deciding which way to go with this same scenario... I am considering having the 20" cyl bore bbl reamed & threaded for chokes. The cost of having this done is definitely a factor , as is the cost of the tooling from brownells should i chose to do it myself.

Interested to see if anyone else has been down this road.. Truth be told my HD rig is one of the most comfortable shotguns I have and so I find myself reaching for it first when I need to do close range predator control on the farm.. But having some choke would definitely open more doors for this gun.
 
I am currently in the process of deciding which way to go with this same scenario... I am considering having the 20" cyl bore bbl reamed & threaded for chokes. The cost of having this done is definitely a factor , as is the cost of the tooling from brownells should i chose to do it myself.

Interested to see if anyone else has been down this road.. Truth be told my HD rig is one of the most comfortable shotguns I have and so I find myself reaching for it first when I need to do close range predator control on the farm.. But having some choke would definitely open more doors for this gun.
Rose Action Sports will thread for choke tubes for $90. The threads will be Invector/Mossberg or you can also get RemChoke. I highly recommend them.
 
If you are truly looking for a hunting shotgun, get a separate shotgun. The 590a1's barrel can be swapped out, but at the end of the day:
- it will still be heavier than most other shotguns.
- it will carry more rounds than you need (or in some cases more rounds then are legally allowed).
- while it's no custom over/under, it is a nice shotgun, and it will get banged up and scratched if you hunt with it.
- no choke tubes, but I suppose that can be fixed with a barrel swap.

You're better off getting a cheap, used maverick, mossberg 500 or comparable remington. You won't care so much if that shotgun gets abused and beat up, and you won't have to worry about installing a magazine tube plug for hunting certain types of waterfowl. My 2 cents anyways.....
 
5+1 590 special purpose, though....not an 8+1 590a1.

His gun uses the same tube as an 835 and if he switches to a 500 barrel and tube combo, his gun will be functionally identical to a 500. It will always require a mag tube plug for waterfowl hunting. All of them do.

The great thing about the 500 system is that it is designed as a "system". The basic receiver is a seed....the tree grows many diff branches, but they all come from the same seed. The 500 will always be the standard gun, though...and since it has many more mods and switchables than all the rest combined, you will always come out ahead by being able to switch to the base 500 configuration. Every 835 owner....and every 590 six shooter as well....needs a 500 mag tube as his or her first part purchase.
 
Rose Action Sports will thread for choke tubes for $90. The threads will be Invector/Mossberg or you can also get RemChoke. I highly recommend them.


Thanks Mike! I actually just located a retired smith locally who does have the tooling and assorted bushings needed and said he will do it for less than 100 bucks (Cdn) if I supply the choke tubes... He said to bring the barrel over and he will see if it will work without going to a thinwall choke.
 
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