Mossberg
M500 Shotgun
by Kevlarman
I received my Marushin Mossberg M500
today from RedWolf Airsoft Specialists. This is only a
first-impressions review, so forgive me if there is detail lacking.
The one I'm reviewing is the silver, spring-actuated, pistol-gripped
version of the shotgun. Mossberg calls their silver coating
Marinecoate,by the way.
Upon opening of the box, you'll notice that this gun looks AWESOME!
The gun is all metal, with the only exception being the foregrip,
pistol grip, and trigger group (sans the trigger). No matter though,
real Mossberg shotguns are the same (yes, the trigger group is
synthetic). Everything else is metal! On the left side of the receiver
it is stamped "Mossberg" and "Chambered for 23/4 and 3
in. shells 12GA 181/2 in. cylinder bore" The real one has this
stamped on the left side of the barrel though. Even the outer barrel
is stamped just as a real Mossberg, saying "Warning, before use,
read owner's guide for safe operation ----- free from P.O. Box 497,
North Haven, CT. U.S.A. 06473." The gun is quite hefty, coming in
at about 5 lbs(2.27kg). The shotgun came with a removable barrel
shround, which is pretty cool... it fits the real one! The foregrip
and pistol grip are made of a synthetic material, and do not feel like
they would break in a fall. I think they would feel just right on a
real 12 gauge! The stocks are not interchangeable between the airsoft
and real ones, however. Another cool feature is that the bolt and
elevator move with the motion of the pump!
True to RedWolf's words, this gun is quite hard to hold one-handed!
I should mention that this gun doesn't have any sight at all, not even
a front bead sight. I don't think it matters though, this weapon is
really easy to point and shoot. Loading the gun is very much like
loading a .22 fed with a tubular magazine. You switch a lever and pull
out what would be the barrel screw on the real gun. You then pour 150
BBs in the tube, and replace the screw tube. You can then rack the
pump (makes a cool sound!), switch off the safety (it's located at the
top of the receiver), and let loose! For even more spread (but less
power), you can then depress the action lock (left side of receiver,
behind trigger guard) and rack the pump again. Each time you do this,
3 more BBs are loaded into the barrel. Be careful though, if you point
the gun down, those extra BBs will roll out.
I did an informal accuracy test, and found that the shotgun fires a
1" grouping at 10' and a 2" grouping at 20'. Not bad at all!
Power is marginal however, mainly because it's shooting out 3 BBs at a
time from one barrel, unlike the SPAS and Benelli, which has a barrel
for each BB. As far as range goes, I find that the BBs will travel
pretty straight for about 50' (using .12g BBs). I do not think there
is hop-up on this gun. All in all, this gun is pretty neat if
you're into shotguns and want something other than a SPAS, Benelli, or
M1100. The pump makes the coolest "clack-clack" sound, and
is indistinguishable from the sound my real M500 makes. Power isn't
that good, but I'm looking into replaceing the spring in there to
alleviate that problem.
Length: overall - 27"
Outer barrel - 16"
Inner barrel - 14"
Weight: 5 lbs (2.2kg)
Pros: Hefty, shoots 3 (or more) BBs at a time, spread
Cons: Mediocre power, heavy, suicide if going against AEGs
Read TangoHQ's review and see pictures
of the Mossberg
500