The Mossberg Shockwave remains one of my favorite guns. It’s just so much fun. The short nature, the fact that they aren’t shotguns but are “firearms,” and thus can have a short 14-inch barrel, makes you feel like you’re getting away with something.
The Shockwave was a big success, and Mossberg followed up with the Shockwave .410 and 20 gauge.
I’ve always wanted a .410 version, but I never got around to it. Other projects and guns took my attention away, and I more or less forgot it existed. That was until I saw a used model for $250 and jumped on it. As far as I know, this is the first time Mossberg ever made a 590 variant in .410.
They did release a proper shotgun version of the 590 .410, and I’m confident saying that was due to the success of the Shockwave. The Mossberg .410 Shockwave is a neat little gun, and I thought it would be a fun range toy, but after a little shooting, I realized it was a bit more than that.
Breaking Down the Shockwave .410
There isn’t much fancy about this gun. It’s a fairly basic 590 model. The gun has a 14-inch heavy-walled barrel and a Raptor grip, with an overall length of 26.37 inches. That “over 26-inch” length ensures it remains an “other firearm” and not an NFA-regulated AOW.
Like any Mossberg, it has an ambidextrous tang safety, dual-action bars, a tubular magazine, and an aluminum receiver. The tubular magazine holds five 2.5-inch rounds or four 3-inch rounds. The gun has a basic bead sight and comes ready for a sling.
It’s quite plain, but what stands out is the overall weight of 4.24 pounds. It’s super light for a pump-action “totally not a shotgun.” The Shockwave .410 is super lightweight and handy. It feels like I’m waving around a wand, not a gun—like some kind of American Harry Potter.
The Defensive .410
What can a glorified garden gun do? The .410 is a little fella and offers small, lightweight guns with very little recoil. If you are recoil-averse, you might have a .410 shotgun suggested as a good defensive weapon.
Without a doubt, a properly loaded .410 can be a capable defensive weapon. A load of 00 or 000 buckshot can get the job done. Still, I don’t often suggest .410 shotguns. If a .410 shotgun is all you can handle, I’d probably steer you to an AR-15 in 5.56, or even a PCC. The reason is that the .410’s reduced payload isn’t worth it to me in a full-sized shotgun.
Due to the NFA, a shotgun has to have at least an 18-inch barrel, making it longer than most AR-15s. They are difficult to accessorize because they aren’t all that common in defensive variants. The 5.56 AR has even less recoil and gives you thirty rounds in a standard capacity magazine.
There is a lack of proper defensive-oriented .410s; Mossberg and KelTec are the only two I know of off the top of my head. Additionally, most people who aren’t strong enough to handle extra recoil tend to be the type who aren’t all that interested in shooting in the first place. They are less likely to train, and running a pump gun takes a little practice.
Finding a Purpose for the Shockwave .410
The Shockwave .410 might be one of the few .410s I’d suggest for defensive use, at least to a degree. I see .410 shotguns as a “shotgun minus” because you get the length of a 12-gauge without the payload. To me, it’s an inefficient trade-off.
When we shrink the .410 to the Shockwave size, we get something more akin to a hand-cannon. It combines low recoil with an extremely maneuverable package.
If you want something you can use inside an RV, a tent, a phone booth, or any other place where inches matter, the Shockwave .410 fits the bill. The bigger Shockwaves are tougher to manage and require a lot of practice and upper-body strength to be effective.
The Shockwave .410 gives us a much more controllable, lighter option that’s just as maneuverable. If I’m using a .410 for defensive purposes, it better offer me an advantage over something measured in gauge. The Shockwave .410 does that by being super small and super light.
I can toss it into a pack and have a gun capable of fending off vermin that walk, crawl, and slither. As a working gun, it’s easy to store and easy to carry on all sorts of adventures, from kayaks to ATVs.
The Shockwave .410 At The Range
Cute. That’s how I describe it. At first, I was a little nervous. My shells were sticking and required a lot of force to remove. After a few, I tried some Federal Top Gun, and it was much smoother. It turns out the Nobel Sport ammo was the problem. I finished the box, and it was a real pain in the bum.
Past that box, I used Federal, Remington, Winchester, ATI, and Aguila, and I had no problems. Buckshot, birdshot, slugs—everything but that Nobel Sport ammo cycled without a problem. I chewed through 250 rounds of .410, mostly birdshot, but including 50 rounds of mixed buckshot and five slugs.
In terms of patterns, it has a cylinder bore, so it’s a bit more dependent on your ammo. At seven yards, you can keep a tight pattern with Federal 00 2.5-inch shells. The Remington Ultimate Defense, a 3-inch 000 load, produced a 4-inch pattern at 7 yards. The Aguila was surprisingly tight, with a 2.5-inch 00 load that patterned the size of my thumb.
While the patterns are a little looser, I like the five-pellet 000 load for the .410. The big 000 pellets will dig deep, and getting 5/8ths of a standard 12-gauge buckshot load isn’t bad. The recoil might be a hair more, but a dime is twice as much as a nickel—it’s still not much.
The birdshot and 2.5-inch buckshot loads were crazy light. Easy to shoot, easy to control, and easy to handle without a stock.
Ringing Steel
I tried to work a drill where I shot three rounds in one second. I never met that goal, but I was able to fire three rounds of buckshot onto a 10-inch gong at ten yards in 1.14 seconds. That’s still a fair bit of lead dispersed quickly.
Moving the gun from target to target didn’t prove exceptionally difficult either. I could “run and gun” with absolute ease, quickly recovering from the light recoil and moving from target to target. It was easy to put three shots on three targets separated by about ten feet in around two seconds.
It’s fast, it’s maneuverable, and low-recoiling. This is why I think it’s a great defensive option, and the best combination of the .410 caliber and platform for defensive use.
Where we have some issues is in the point of aim and the point of impact. Mossberg attaches the bead directly to the barrel. This makes the gun appear to hit high. It’s a common Mossberg problem. I aimed at the bottom of an 8-inch circle at seven yards and still hit six inches high with my Federal buckshot.
A quick fix is the Defender Tactical Highball. This raises the sight and fixes that issue. Another easy fix is to add a red dot. The Shockwave .410 is drilled and tapped for a rail, and a red dot is an easy addition.
Loading the gun is a little tricky. The smaller rounds and the smaller magazine tube make it tricky to put shells into the tube. They often get caught on the receiver when you start going fast. Other than that, the Shockwave .410 is fine ergonomically. The safety is good, the pump action is smooth enough, and the gun is lightweight.
Specifications
- Barrel Length – 14.375 inches
- Overall Length – 26.37 inches
- Weight – 4.24 pounds
- Caliber – .410 3-inch chamber
- Capacity – 4 to 5
Accuracy – ***
In its stock configuration, the bead has POA/POI issues. It appears to hit high, meaning you have to compensate.
Reliability – *****
I blame the Nobel sport ammo. It turned out not to work well in a Remington 870 or KelTec KSG in .410 either. It chewed through everything else without a problem.
Ergonomics – ****
The less-than-intuitive reloading takes a point off, but other than that, the Shockwave .410 handles quite well.
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