What are the differences among the 500, 590, and 590A1?

[Rossignol]

I'll be illustrating with a few stock photos from Mossberg.

First the 500.

The 590.

My beloved favorite, the 590A1.

As Shown:
The first, the 500 Persauder, Blued and synthetic, 20" barrel, 8 round capacity.
The 590 Special Purpose, Matte finish and synthetic, 20" barrel, 9 round capacity.
The 590A1, Parkerized finish and synthetic, 20" barrel, 9 round capacity.

The extra round is accomplished by a redesigned magazine tube and cap, allowing an extra round of 2 3/4". Both the 500 Special Purpose and 590 Special Purpose are available either blued or with a matte black finish. But the magazine cap and bayonet lug quickly distinguish the one from the other.

The differences between the 590 Special Purpose and the 590A1 are a little more difficult to spot immediately. Both have the redesigned mag and bayonet lug, but the 590A1 features some changes specifically to meet military standard 3443. The changes made to meet the military's stringent standards include a heavy wall barrel, and metal (aluminum alloy) trigger gaurd and safety button. The 590A1 receiver is also stamped on the left side with "M590A1".

While any of the three can be configured nearly identically with the many options and part #'s available from Mossberg like rear ghost ring and front AR styled sights, adjustable or Speed Feed stock, cruiser pistol grip models and heat shields, the 590A1 is the only of the three to feature the heavy wall barrel, and metal trigger gaurd and safety button.

Additionally, there are a few part #'s in the 590A1 family available only to military and LEO's, such as the 14" barrel "Compact" model with a 6 round capacity, and 13" LOP, and the 14" barrel "Compact Cruiser", 6 round pistol grip model.

I own both the 500 Persauder/Cruiser 20", and the 590A1 20".

Brad.

 

[m24shooter]

Keep in mind that some 590/590A1s will have features of the 500 as far as mag tube arrangements and that some 500s will have 590 mag tube arrangements.

 

[DaveinCT]

Word of caution to 590A1 owners who seek to upgrade the forend, I haven't found one yet that would simply slip on. The Knoxx Blackhawk forend needed serious dremel work to accommodate the heavy wall barrel as did the Hogue I just installed. The Hogue is one sweet feelin forend, has a rubber texture to it that is very nice..

 

[Rossignol]

So heres whats been throwin us for a loop. Part # 54125. Its listed as a 500, but has a barrel/mag tube set up of a 590.

Everything else on Mossbergs site with that arrangement is a 590 or 590A1. So why all the confusion? Why not call it a 590? What makes it a 500? Nothing I can see visibly. So any insight that can be offered that will be available to help other potential owners of this model is appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[Rossignol]

I'm getting ready to start uploading the pics I took last night of both my 590A1 and 500A Persuader broke down. Its goin to take awhile, but theyll be up this evening!

 

[Rossignol]

I'm going to do this in a couple different posts.

I'm first going to show a sort of exploded view of both the 500A Persuader and the 590A1 broke down completely. I'll try to show like views of each.

First, the 500A.

Eploded View.

From top to bottom, receiver, cartridge interupter, bolt, shell lifter, bolt slide, cartridge stop, trigger group.

590A1 in the next post!

 

[Rossignol]

Now the 590A1.

And something specific to the 590A1.

Exploded view.

From top to bottom, cartridge interupter, bolt, shell lifter, bolt slide, cartridge stop, trigger group.

Metal trigger group and parkerized finish on all parts.

Again, parkerized finish.

Next post will begin side by side comparisons.

 

[Rossignol]

As I do the side x sides, there a couple of things specifically to point out. The parts are laid out with the 500A on the left and 590A1 on the right in all of the side x side comparissons.

Top to bottom is the 500A Persuader, and the 590A1.

Trigger group. A couple things of note. As I was pulling parts, I was also swapping parts back and forth. Except for the trigger group. The 500A wouldnt drop in place, couldnt be forced either. The 590A1 easily fit into the 500A receiver. I couldnt figure out why at first. But after reviewing the photos, I think I see it. If you look at the end of the trigger groups, at the rounded part, it appears to be deeper on the 500A, which would explain why it wouldnt fit.

On the bolt slides, what is most noticable to me, the slide for the 590A1 seems to be fabricated much cleaner. You see lines on the slide of the 500A from either forging or casting.

Flipping the bolt slides over, you see the patterns of wear are more even on the slide of the 590A1 as well. Parts look to be made to stricter tollerances.

The bolts are nearly indistinguishable one from the other except for finish.

A follow up will be posted next.

 

[Rossignol]

Some final thoughts. I had heard once before the 590A1 is given a little more room in the parts. This makes it feel kida "loose", but it also makes it more reliably functioning. If this is true, it will certainly explain the trigger group of the 500A not fitting into the receiver of the 590A1, and yet the trigger group of the 590A1 will easily fit into the receiver of the 500A. Something of note on the trigger group. In the pics you can see the passenger side of the 500A group is more open and "honey-combed" for a lack of a better way to put it. Beyond those couple of things, I noticed no other differences.

On the bolts, I couldnt find any difference in weight or feel. The only difference is the finish.

I witnessed no difference in the cartridge stops and interupters, and in the shell lifters, except again for the finish.

The bolt slides I did find interesting that there seems to be such a noticable difference in fabrication.

Now for just a few more pics!

Thanks folks!!!

 

[goosebob]

Nice write-up! Very informative.

 

[Rossignol]

Thanks man, I hope it can be useful. I dont have a 590 to compare this stuff to, maybe someone else would like to get some simialr pics!

I do have more pics if any one wants to see more of something. Just let me know!

 

[shane_huskey]

If I had half of the photographic ability that you do, I would do a similar disection of my 500 Cruiser and post it up. Very good write-up.

 

[Rossignol]

Shane, Thanks! I'm not great at getting pics... I went through about 300 pictures to get 30 or so that I like! The biggest thing I had a problem with is the lack of natural light, and my camera wants to pick up a lot of red. So I had to mess with the exposure compensation to balance it out.

It would be interesting to highlight your cruiser particularly because of the mixing of parts. At the very least, what I'm hoping on, is say folks in your position, wanting to better identify the parts used, you'll now have something to campare to. Even without getting pictures, if you can break the gun down, you can look closely at each piece between the the 500 and 590A1 and see what internals your parts look most like.

I would say based on my findings, there is little difference with the exception of a couple pieces, being trigger group and bolt slide. Then of course on the 590A1 the receiver, trigger group, and safety are of the same aluminum alloy. I cant find anything negative to say about any of it whether the 500 or 590A1. They both function flawlessly and have never disappointed me, though I have more rounds through the 590A1. Besides the action being really stiff early on, I have no ther complaints.

So while you have both parts from the 590 and the 500, I see no issues, and I say rock it and put lots of rounds through it including as much high brass as you can, and youre going to enjoy it for a long time to come!

 

[VitSports6]

Very nice write up indeed!
I also had noticed the difference in trigger assemblies between my 500 ans M590A1 as well as the slide, But I thought the slide on my 500 was due to the age and not quite the precision of today's equipment.

 

[Rossignol]

Thanks Brian! It was cool to find this stuff when I had the 2 side x side!

 

[catnphx]

That was interesting, Rossignol ... good stuff, thanks.

 

[Rossignol]

Thank You, and youre welcome!

 

[alphacharlie1808]

I'm looking to buy a 590 50663 or 590A1 51663, and was wondering if given the option, is it better to automatically go with the A1? I recently had the chance to use a new 590 with a variety of ammo (slugs, 00buck, #8 shot) in varied drills, and it performed great. The only thing I noticed that may be of note was a seemingly unusual amount of wear on the top of the chamber in two places from the bolt, and the forearm had quite a bit of play when twisted side to side, and racking the slide was not very smooth (is this all normal for a new 590 or pump in general?).

I am an almost total noob to shotguns, but my limited experience has made them my favorite weapons system (so far).

 

[Ripsnortr]

Very well done!

I only have the 590A1 so I can not compare with a 590. I will say there is some play in the forend, but I am under the understanding that is normal ot allow for doing things like crawling around in the mud with it and still allowing it to operate without binding.

Most civilian firearms are not expected to endure this kind of abuse, so they are made to tighter specs to make them feel smoother, and operate under tighter tolerances.

I look at my 590A1 as a work horse as opposed to a show horse. It may not be the most gracefull, but if I need it to do it's job, I won't wonder if it will be able to.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[LAZY EYED SNIPER]

I'm looking to buy a 590 50663 or 590A1 51663, and was wondering if given the option, is it better to automatically go with the A1? I recently had the chance to use a new 590 with a variety of ammo (slugs, 00buck, #8 shot) in varied drills, and it performed great. The only thing I noticed that may be of note was a seemingly unusual amount of wear on the top of the chamber in two places from the bolt, and the forearm had quite a bit of play when twisted side to side, and racking the slide was not very smooth (is this all normal for a new 590 or pump in general?).

I am an almost total :x noob to shotguns, but my limited experience has made them my favorite weapons system (so far).

The biggest factor in your decision between the two (50663/51663) would be the intended use for the shotgun. The "a1" is definitely the more rugged of the two due to the heavier, thicker walled barrel, the metal trigger housing, and the metal safety. It's built to withstand the abuse that a duty shotgun can be put through on a daily basis. Essentially, both guns are set up the same though, and the non- "a1" 590 is by no means fragile. I'll guarantee that the "a1" will be a LOT harder to get your hands on right now. If you don't intend on putting the weapon through heavy use, then you'll be just as well off with the 50663.

As Rip said, the play in the action is completely normal and to be expected. The little bit of play in tolerance makes the weapon a lot more forgiving when it comes to cleaning, abuse, etc. The action will smoothe itself out with plenty of use. A good cleaning and a bit of oil will go a long way. The action on my "a1" was stiff as a board straight outta the box, but after putting a hundred rounds down range it's now smoothe as silk.