Don’t you love it when it starts to get a little cooler? Jackets, sweatshirts, and more make carrying larger guns a bit easier. This brings me to my new winter EDC, the Mossberg 500 Compact Cruiser, which is the closest a 12-gauge gets to being concealed-carry friendly. It’s legally an “Any Other Weapon” (AOW), but if I call it a shotgun, forgive me.
I can tie my love of these guns back to watching reruns of Miami Vice with my dad, where Detective Tubbs carried a variety of short-barreled shotguns with pistol grips.
The Compact Cruiser series was Mossberg’s brief take on the micro-sized AOW category. Mossberg didn’t make these for very long, and based on how few are on the secondary market, it didn’t make many. Now, they seem quite collectible. The only listing I found was on Gunbroker, priced at an opening bid of $3,500.
Mossberg made two of these shotguns: a 590A1 version with a 10.25-inch barrel and the Mossberg 500 model with a 7.5-inch barrel.
Inside and Out With the Compact Cruiser
The Mossberg 500 Compact Cruiser has an overall length of 17 inches. It holds only 2 rounds of 2 3/4-inch ammunition but can hold 3 mini shells. The barrel alone on a standard Mossberg Cruiser is actually 1.5 inches longer than this entire gun.
Since I mentioned mini shells, I added the Defender Tactical adapter to make them run reliably. I also added a mini shell from a side saddle from Pew Pew Koncepts to top off Mossberg’s mini monster. To me, mini shells are a fun novelty, but so is this entire gun.
The Compact Cruiser replaces the standard pump with a vertical grip. A traditional pump is just too big to work on this ultra-small gun. It would hit the receiver, preventing the action from cycling. The vertical grip also folds out of the way, making the weapon easy to store and reducing its profile.
I like vertical grips on shotguns; in fact, I prefer them. It makes it a lot easier to do a good push-pull, which is how we’re going to mitigate recoil with a shotgun. Mossberg went with an ATI pistol grip that is much better than the typical hard plastic on the other Cruiser platforms. It’s softer, has a rubberized back strap, and is wider, helping to dissipate recoil better than the old design.
We get the classic Mossberg Tang safety, which I find is awkward with the pistol grip. It requires a hefty thumb movement to access; it’s slow and not very ergonomic. So, the safety is a mess, but overall, the ergonomics are fine.
Ringing Steel With the Compact Cruiser
Shotgun accuracy is always an interesting discussion. We typically discuss patterns, but I want to focus on accuracy because the gun has point-of-impact/point-of-aim issues. This is common with Mossberg shotguns and bead sights because they place the bead directly on the barrel. This typically makes Mossberg’s appear to hit high.
With buckshot, it’s not typically an issue, but it is noticeable with slugs. On the Compact Cruiser, it’s a pretty big problem due to the shorter sight radius. If I wanted to hit an FBI Q target in the chest region, I’d have to aim at where the belt buckle would sit on a person. The point of impact and the point of aim are poorly aligned, and this gun is definitely more of a point-and-shoot weapon.
The patterns are also fairly wide; at 12 yards, they covered a 12-inch target. I’m betting the dramatic barrel taper is what’s causing the massive pattern. However, with a gun this short, you’d be using it at close range, and admittedly, the wider spread is beneficial. Is it accurate? No, not really, but you’ll hit your target with a load of buckshot, and that’s what matters.
Riding the Recoil
I fired some standard buckshot through the gun; I fired a lot of Fiocchi Defense Dynamics reduced-recoil buckshot. Firing this ammo was a literal and figurative blast. You can actually feel the gas leaving the barrel. With the reduced recoil ammo, recoil wasn’t that bad at all, and I could put two of those Fiocchi rounds on target in about 1.1 seconds. Without a stock, you are going to sacrifice some performance and deal with some recoil.
I primarily fired mini shells through the gun because it is a fun gun, and with mini shells, it’s a ton of fun. There’s barely any recoil. Slugs, buckshot, and birdshot are all very easy and fun to shoot.
The Compact Cruiser shines in maneuverability. It’s incredibly small and potent, making it easy to maneuver the gun around close-quarters environments. I also find it is a lot of fun to engage close-range targets from the hip. I bought this gun thinking it would be fun, and it turned out to be a very, very fun gun.
I had no reliability issues, and the Compact Cruiser is a ton of fun. It cycles everything without a problem, and the short movement makes short stroking an issue.
Now, let’s play pretend: if I had to go to a gunfight and I had to carry this gun, would I feel comfortable? I guess, but I’d still prefer a stocked fighting shotgun. It’s better than harsh language, but it wouldn’t be my first choice for home defense. If the world ever ends, I might toss this in the backpack when I head to work.
Mossberg’s Compact Cruiser 2.0
The Mossberg 500 Compact Cruiser is about as short as a pump shotgun can get. I doubt they sold well when they were released, but I do think Mossberg could re-release these guns, given the renewed interest in “super shorty” shotguns.
In fact, I have a design in my head that I think would make for the best compact cruiser. What I want Mossberg to do is make the 590 RM variant into an AOW:
- “R” (AR-style safety): This would fix the ergonomics issues.
- “M” (Magazine): This would fix the capacity problem.
Wait, Mossberg already made this gun. They developed a breaching gun, the Vanisher, for the UK Military.
Why Mossberg hasn’t brought the Vanisher to the market is beyond me, but it would be a fantastic addition. I would pick one up, and there’s got to be a few other people out there who’d pick one up.
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