Mossberg’s “Retrogade” Models Commemorate 100th Anniversary
Mossberg
Celebrating a milestone in the continuing history of O.F. Mossberg & Sons, the company is introducing a pair of pump-action shotguns dubbed the “Retrograde” models and describes them as “the two most iconic police and military pump-action shotguns” in company literature.
As the satisfied owner of a Model 500 pump gun that has accompanied me on a fair number of treks and put some meat in the pot, this was good news. The Retrograde series features a Model 500 Persuader Retrograde and a 590A1 Retrograde.
Built around what I consider a thoroughly reliable pump action, features on both of these guns not only meet today’s challenges, but also provide a bit of nostalgia for us guys who lived well into the past century. They both include rugged walnut stocks and matching “corncob” forends.
My personal shotgun now rests handily near the front door, with an 18 ½” cylinder bore barrel installed. There’s a second 20″ barrel with interchangeable choke tubes I’ve used to hunt big blue grouse in Washington’s central Cascades. It’s got a synthetic Speed Feed stock, so it’s not nearly as handsome as either of these Retrograde introductions.
Mossberg
The Model 500 Persuader also has an 18 ½” cylinder bore barrel topped with a brass bead front sight. The walnut stock has a traditional thick ventilated recoil pad with black spacer and a blue finish on the metal. You will find QD sling swivel studs on the buttstock and at the front of the magazine tube, and the gun holds six rounds.
The 590A1 is built to Mil-Spec standards, with a 20″ heavy-walled cylinder bore barrel and a heat shield. This one wears Ghost Ring sights, a bayonet lug, Parkerized finish and has a metal trigger assembly. It’s also got a thick ventilated recoil pad and QD sling swivel studs fore and aft. This model holds nine rounds.
Both of these smoothbores have Mossberg’s rugged dual-action bar setup, and take my word for it, this mechanism works time after time in pretty crummy conditions during all seasons. They feature steel-to-steel lockup, dual extractors, anti-jam elevators, anodized aluminum receivers and the top tang safety can be used by either right- or left-handed shooters.
The Mossberg slide-action is among the most reliable platforms ever designed, and once some years ago after writing an advertising “gazette” featuring Mossberg shotgun products, a pal asked me what kind of shotguns he should purchase for his sons, who were both attending college at the time. I quickly told him to head for the local gun shop and order a couple of Mossberg 500 pump guns.
Make no mistake, the Mossberg 500 and 590A1 Retrograde models are not show horses, they’re workhorses, same as any other Model 500 or 590 that ever came off a Mossberg bench.
The Model 500 Persuader has an MSRP of $504 while the 590A1 has an MSRP of $902.
For more info: https://www.mossberg.com/, O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Ph: (800) 363-3555.
