Mossberg 500 vs 590 vs Maverick 88: what actually differs
One mechanical difference explains all of them. Plus the honest answer on whether 500 barrels fit a Maverick 88, and the capacity rule people miss.
Three Mossberg pumps sit next to each other on the rack at three different prices, and they look nearly identical. The real differences come down to one mechanical decision, and everything else follows from it.
The 500 and the 590 differ in one place: the front of the magazine tube
Mossberg’s own manual gives it away in the assembly instructions.
For the 500: slide the barrel into the receiver and tighten the takedown screw. The 500’s magazine tube is closed at the front, and a screw passes through the barrel lug into it.
For the 590: slide the barrel in and tighten the magazine cap. The 590’s tube is open-ended with a screw-off cap that retains both the magazine spring and the barrel.
Everything else people list as a difference flows from that:
- Capacity. Every 500 in the current catalog is 5+1. The 590 runs 6+1 on an 18.5″ barrel or 8+1 on a 20″, because its tube runs the full length of the barrel and ends in a cap.
- Cleaning. The 590’s cap unscrews, so the tube can actually be cleaned out. Mossberg markets it as a “clean-out magazine tube.”
- Magazine extensions. Different tube designs mean different extension options. This is why an extension that fits one will not simply thread onto the other.
Worth saying clearly: the safety is the same. The 500, 590 and 590A1 all use the tang safety on top. That is not a 500-versus-590 difference, whatever you have read.
What the 590A1 actually adds
Three things Mossberg calls out by name: a heavy-walled barrel, a metal trigger guard, and a metal safety button. Plus a parkerized finish, and a bayonet lug on the 9-shot models.
The metal safety button is the one people actually notice in use. If this is a truck gun or a working gun that will get knocked around, the A1 is worth the difference. If it lives in a closet, it is not.
The 590S, which nobody explains properly
The 590S feeds 1¾″ mini shells, 2¾″ and 3″ — in any combination, with no adapter. It does it with a short-shell bumper on the trigger housing and an extended elevator tab marked for the range. With minis you are looking at 9 to 14 rounds depending on configuration.
Important: Mossberg is explicit that only the 590S properly cycles mini shells. A standard 590 will not reliably run them. Check the receiver is marked 590S before you buy a case of minis.
The Maverick 88, and the barrel question
The 88 is made by Maverick Arms in Eagle Pass, Texas. Two real differences from a 500: it uses a cross-bolt safety at the front of the trigger guard instead of the tang safety, and it has no clean-out tube.
The cross-bolt safety is the meaningful one. A tang safety is genuinely ambidextrous and works from a firing grip; a cross-bolt is neither, and that matters more on a defensive gun than on a bird gun.
Do 500 barrels fit a Maverick 88?
Yes — and here is why. The 88 uses the takedown screw, exactly like the 500. Mossberg states on the Maverick product pages that the 88 is interchangeable with Mossberg 500 barrels, and compatible with 500 stocks and Accu-Choke tubes.
But read Mossberg’s own qualifier, because this is where people go home with the wrong part: barrels interchange within gauge and capacity.
- Gauge has to match. Obvious, but stated.
- Capacity has to match — meaning magazine tube length. A standard 500 barrel is cut for a 5-shot tube. Most Maverick 88s are 5+1, so it fits. But the 20″ 7-shot 88 Security models have a longer tube and need a matching barrel. Do not sell a 5-shot barrel to a 7-shot owner.
- 590 barrels do NOT fit an 88. Completely different retention system. This is the most common wrong purchase in the family.
- Barrel length is not the constraint. An 18.5″ and a 28″ 500 barrel will both fit a 5-shot 88.
On trigger groups, Mossberg publishes nothing about interchange between the 88 and the 500, and the manual says the trigger housing is not to be disassembled. We are not going to guess for you.
Which one should you buy
- Home defense: 590, 18.5″, 6+1. Higher capacity, cleanable tube, tang safety. Step up to the 590A1 if it will be handled hard. Look at the 590S if you want the mini-shell flexibility — but only the S.
- Clays and birds: a 500 Field with a 28″ vented rib. Capacity is irrelevant here and the Accu-Choke system is what you want. The 590 offers nothing for this and costs more.
- Deer with slugs: a 500 Slugster, or better, a 500 Field/Deer combo that ships with both barrels. For a New York deer hunter who also wants to shoot birds, that combo is the best value in the whole lineup. 20 gauge combos are the right call for youth and recoil-sensitive shooters.
- Tightest budget: Maverick 88 Security. It is a real gun, it takes 500 barrels and stocks, and it is not a compromise on function. The honest trade is the cross-bolt safety and no clean-out tube. If the budget stretches at all, the 500 is the better long-term platform.
All three are usually on the rack at the shop on Route 112 in Medford. Work the safeties side by side — that is the difference you will actually live with.