Editor’s note: Check out the latest from Mossberg at SHOT Show 2025. Visit booth 12832 to learn more!
“Do you want to go to Gunsite and shoot free ammo through our new Professional Series shotguns?” OK, so that wasn’t exactly what Mossberg’s Law Enforcement and Military Sales Manager Jeremy Stafford said when he invited me to their media event in October, but that’s the gist.
Getting hands on with Mossberg at Gunsite
I’ve always enjoyed working with Mossberg and own a few of their shotguns; one of them for over 40 years. The organization is consistently and unabashedly against form over function and they’re more than a little prideful about their products. Not surprisingly, they aimed to rigorously test the new Professional Series before the official release. What better way to do so than by placing them in the hands of shotgun enthusiasts from commercial, law enforcement and military backgrounds in a multi-day class?
Mossberg sent seven folks from engineering, sales and leadership to wrangle the motley dozen of us media folks through the three-day school.
At the end of each day, we were asked to spend an hour critiquing the guns. The first day, Brad Gilpin of Blue Force Gear provided GMT ”tailed” slings for testing and a short, but informative tutorial on their usage.
Then we met our instructors for the class, Mario Marchman and Paul Garcia. Unsurprisingly, they were fantastic as was the class and the facility. If you’ve not attended training at Gunsite, I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Professional Series overview
Think of the Professional Series as an evolution of battle and street-tested firearms. Each part is hand-checked in spec devices to avoid problems with “tolerance stacking” (the cumulative effect of individual parts tolerances and they how work together).
Cerakote/MarineCote
Mossberg invested in a special Tungsten Cerakote process that not only looks great on the receiver, barrel and magazine tube, but also protects the guns against the environment for which they are intended. They also offer a MarineCote finish that is specifically designed to fight extremely humid environments and has a nickel-plated aspect.
Barrel
The heavy-walled barrel is topped with metal ghost ring rear and fiber optic front sights; both of which have low-profile wings to protect them when being placed in the rack or vehicle mount. The edges of ejection ports and loadings ports are relieved so well that even I didn’t need a bandage during the entire school, which is unusual for me.
The barrel and sights are optimized for the popular Federal Flite Control LE 132 buckshot and low recoil one-ounce slugs out to 75 yards. The rear sight cut is optics ready for the RMS-c footprint such as the Holosun 407k or 507k. The forward QD mount is placed more rearward so as to avoid interfering with light switches.
Premium
One might be concerned that the premium (increased cost) for the Professional Series might exceed the budget of your typical agencies or individual officers. I was not expecting to hear that the Professional Series features will only add about $100 to the MSRP.
The 590 A1 Professional Series
Stocks
The 590 A1 Professional Series will come in various configurations, including the option of Magpul brand or Mossberg’s new compact stocks. The new Mossberg stocks have a great feel to them. They’re shaped to force the shooter into a solid, low cheek weld, which lines up perfectly with the low-mount sights. This is important for less dedicated shooters who tend to raise their head away from the stock during recoil. That causes discomfort while shooting and leads them away from the shotgun as a defensive tool. These stocks are rounded at the top to facilitate a quick transition from the high-ready position to target acquisition and a pronounced toe to ensure a consistent, tactile shoulder mount.
Administrative loading/unloading
All the new stuff is cool, but my favorite feature of the 590A1 is still the ease of administrative unloading. Simply compress the cartridge stop and, one at a time, let the rounds fall into your hand. The Professional Series 590A1 will come in of a 14-inch barreled, 5-shot (NFA/Class 3), 18-inch, 6-shot and 20-inch, 9-shot versions.
590M
Magazine-fed shotguns are sometimes considered suspect. Mossberg spent a lot of time and resources making the 5-, 10-, 15- and 20-round magazines for its 590M series extremely rugged and reliable. We put several cases of buckshot, slugs and high-brass birdshot through them without trouble. In addition to the obvious advantages, magazine-fed shotguns have better balance due since the weight of the cartridges closer to the center of the firearm.
The Professional Series will include the 590M Breacher (in both standard and NFA configurations) and 590A1/590M Less Lethal. The Less Lethal models are optimized for feeding the “sock” rounds, which tend to vary in dimension from manufacturer to manufacturer.
940 Professional Series and Pro Tactical SPX
I was especially fond of the 940 Professional Series and the 940 Pro Tactical SPX.They have all the above advancements in sights and stocks with a few more that are unique to the autoloader. The first that stood out to me was the forend. It extends upward from the barrel creating an integral heat shield for those who tend to grip with their support-hand thumb on top of the barrel. The QD attachment is moved rearward so it doesn’t interfere with lights, etc. The oversized safety and knurled charging handle are intuitive and user-friendly. The redesigned, self-cleaning gas system is good for up at least 1,500 rounds between cleaning. I found the 940 very comfortable to shoot with high-brass birdshot, low-recoil buckshot and low-recoil slugs.
The oversized loading port is designed specifically for dual and quad loading and the elongated elevator makes for a pinch-free experience. The single-piece magazine tube is slightly longer than previous models to ensure it will hold seven rounds no matter the cartridge’s crimp (which tend to vary a bit from lot to lot). The tube is secured to the barrel with a polymer M-Lok barrel clamp, which not only prevents damage to the barrel from overtightening but also provides a place to mount accessories. The 940 Professional Series guns come with 6-shot Vang Comp receiver-mounted shotshell carriers.
940 Pro Tactical SPX
The 940 Pro Tactical SPX has all the above features and is further benefited from even a more enhanced assembly and quality control manufacturing process. Also, one of the SKUs comes with a Holosun 407k as part of the package.
MVP Patrol
Mossberg’s MVP Patrol rifle is also undergoing a Professional Series evolution.They will have similar upgrades including the Cerakote finish. MVPs come in 5.56mm, 300 AAC/Blackout and 7.62 NATO/308 Winchester. They use 16.25” barrels and at an MSRP $829, they are a solid lower-cost rifle option for officers and departments.
Evolution
Mossberg maintains its leadership in the tactical shotgun arena. Having spent extensive time with the Professional Series shotguns, I am confident they are poised for success.
