Trench Gun!

M

Model12Win

Moderator
Hey guys!

Well I finally got around to a project that I've had in mind for at least five years now. What I wanted to do was make a modern iteration of the classic "trench gun" style shotguns such as the M97 and M12 Winchesters. I knew right from the start I wanted to build it off a Mossberg M590A1 shotgun as it is all milspec and comes with a bayonet lug.

To fulfill my requirements, I took a 9-shot 20" bbl M590A1 and added a USGI "silent sling" to it with milspec sling swivels (GrovTec Mil-Force). Next I added a heat shield to the gun, the special parkerized model meant for the heavy barrel on the 590A1 series guns. To complete the "build" (not much to it really!) I added a Vietnam era surplus M7 bayonet to the shotgun. This is all in accordance with MIL-S-344G for a Type 1 shotgun. Here is the final result:

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I really like this gun! As you can see I also have some accessories for it. A Claymore mine bag holds a few dozen extra shells (old trick from the Vietnam War), the M8A1 sheath for the M7 bayonet, some Winchester/Olin military-grade buckshot (current issue ammunition), and a neat ammo pouch made by a defense supplier for a 2007 U.S. military contract. So, technically everything you see in the picture (minus the floor) is either 100% milspec or genuine USGI surplus.

I can't wait to get this gun to the range! It feels so great to finally have done this. I think the end result looks very awesome. I'll be posting a range report in the near future. Stay tuned, and thanks for looking!

M12
 
Pardon my ignorance, but is the Mossberg actually USED by any of our military forces??

other than not "looking right" to my eye (shield/bayonet mount look "wrong") its a nice build.
 
Pardon my ignorance, but is the Mossberg actually USED by any of our military forces??

other than not "looking right" to my eye (shield/bayonet mount look "wrong") its a nice build.
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Yes. Many, many Mossbergs are in US military service. This version, the M590A1, is the truly "milspec" iteration and has some features the standard Model 500 and 590 don't have that the military specifically was looking for, like a heavy-walled barrel and metal controls etc. And the heat shield and bayonet are correct.
 
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I've read at least two accounts about shotguns in the middle east.

One was from a individual who was issued a handgun as a personal weapon. He promptly scrounged a Mossberg from somewhere and kept it loaded with slugs. I was left with the imperssion, or seem to recall, that the shotgun was in the units armory, but nobody wanted it, carbines being preferred, but there were no more carbines available. He account went on regards some fights he got in, and won, with the Mossberg.

The other instance was shotguns being used as breaching tools. This second account had a pistol gripped Mossberg......and there was no slugs or buckshot available, simple some type of special breaching load.

Sorry, I cannot recall the text......
 
Well I suppose I should congratulate Mossberg. (or bemoan the fact that the military has "sunk so low"...:rolleyes: - that is a joke, by the way)

The Winchester 97 and Model 12 trench guns are the classics. And while I'm sure your Mossberg shield and bayonet are right, they don't look "right" to me as I am accustomed to the look of the Winchesters. (specifically the heat shield & bayonet mount)

I'm sure you're aware, though others may not be, of the subtle differences between a true trench gun and a combat/riot shotgun.

My personal experience with military shotguns was in the 70s, and by then the 97 and the model 12 had both been officially retired. The standard issue then was a Win 1200 for the Army (which was a piece of crap) and a Rem 870 for the Marines (which was not a piece of crap ;))
 
Thanks, AMP. I might well add a Remington 870 to the stable but I have heard bad things about the quality control coming out of Big Green these days. I will probably get a used one for this reason.
 
My buddy carried a mossberg pistol grip pump in iraq. He was usually mounted and said it was nice and handy while riding in the truck but basically worthless when dismounted. I want to say it was a mossberg 500 but can't remember.

Edit. I talked to him, said he had it while riding in the gun truck turret. Used em to shoot rubber bullets at cars.
 
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Very cool CLC. True, most shotguns nowadays in the military are used for door breaching. But I have read of combat accounts in Iraq where they were put to anti-personnel use.
 
I have heard bad things about the quality control coming out of Big Green these days.
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I can't say, one way or the other, what Rem is making TODAY, but if you're going to convert it into a combat shotgun/trench gun, why waste money on a NEW gun???
 
Oh yeah, the Mossberg M590 (this was back in the late 80's when I was a young Lance Criminal and before the M590A1 came on scene) was issued as the pick of the litter when it came to fighting shotguns. I was stationed in Naples, Italy where we had the Mossberg, a few old Winchester M1200 trench guns that had seen their better days and a couple of Remington 870 shotguns with 14" barrels and top-folding stocks were in service.
 
The same guy worked the armory on his base and up till a couple years ago the one base had winchester trench guns. The government could have made big money off those guns but he imagined they destroyed them when he had to turn them in for new loot. I think he turned them in for Benelli M1's but I'm not sure. He said that base had some random stuff like a full auto M1 carbine they couldn't get rid of.
 
I can't recall if we had Mossberg 500's or 590's, but we definitely had them in a breaching variant with a pistol grip. Only ever used them for breaching, and ballistic breaching isn't ever the preferred method.
 
He said that base had some random stuff like a full auto M1 carbine they couldn't get rid of.
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The military paperwork system is a fantastic thing, works perfectly, as long as EVERYONE involved does their job right. Otherwise, it is a mind boggling morass of frustration.

Had something similar happen in my shop. We had an M73/M73A1/M219 machine gun that the paperwork said had been turned in and destroyed, yet the gun was sitting in the bottom of "my" safe. Three times we tried to turn it in, each time it was rejected, because it had "already been destroyed".

With an IG coming up, my shop sgt was sweating bullets, almost literally, convinced he (and probably the rest of us, but HE was signed for the shop, and everything in it) would go to Leavenworth.

A week before the IG, I got the system to accept it, as "Found on Post", and they took it away. For the rest of my tour, I had a pet Sgt. :D
 
I like it!

I've had my 590 for almost a year now and love it. Mine is the non A1, 9 shot version with ghost ring sights and magpul stock set. I do however have both a heavy walled and standard barrel for it. With the heavy barrel and fully loaded it sure is heavy!
 
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