Shotguns

Despite all the press that handguns garner, the simple fact is that you are barely armed should you meet a threat with a pistol or revolver in your hands. A retired Delta operator once opined over lunch that pistols were good for shooting dogs and little else. Over numerous deployments, his weapons of choice were the carbine, shotgun or JDAM. Since JDAMs are not available over the counter, long guns sit atop the personal-defense food chain for civilians.

Shotguns have long been the gold standard for self-defense (or offense) in close quarters, and with good reason. Handguns are handy, but nothing says hello like a 12 gauge. The Mossberg 590A1 sits high on--if not atop--the list of pump-action home-defense possibilities. The gun is available in dozens of configurations and has inspired a long list of accessories that make it particularly suited for repelling boarders.

The 590A1 was first introduced in 1980s. Born from the 500 series that appeared in 1960, it has, at the U.S. Navy's request, a heavy-walled barrel, metal triggerguard and safety, and a new corrosion-resistant finish.

Nine-shot versions were fitted with a bayonet lug. Before adoption the gun passed a 3,000-round endurance test with buckshot and slugs that allowed for just three malfunctions. It was the only gun tested that passed. Sand emersion, saltwater fogging and interchangeability tests were also part of the procedure. The 590A1 was adopted by the U.S. Army, Navy, Coast Guard and several Special Forces units and has since been issued by several hundred police departments, as well as state and federal agencies including the NYPD and theTexas Department of Public Safety.

The action is pretty standard stuff. Twin action bars attached to the fore-end move the bolt to and fro, and since the single bolt lug locks into a steel barrel-extension mortise, the receiver can be machined from aluminum alloy to save some weight. The trigger group holds most of the firing system and can be removed for cleaning by tapping out one pin. A tubular magazine is threaded into the receiver, and the barrel is collared to the magazine tube and held in place by the magazine cap. Fire controls include a two-position top-tang safety and bolt release located just behind the trigger. The barrel and extension are machined from steel and button-drawn to the cylinder bore. The front sight has a high-visibility florescent orange stripe down its center and is brazed onto the barrel. Metal parts wear a durable Parkerized finish.