What the hell is a Mossberg Persuader? Seriously, search “Persuader,” and the only thing I can guarantee you is that it will be a Mossberg shotgun in a pump-action format. Most Persuaders are Mossberg 500 models, but they have called a few 590s Persuaders as well. In my mind, a Persuader is always a pistol-grip Mossberg 500 series with a short barrel.
What Exactly is a Persuader?
In reality, the Persuader series is a lot more than that. The Persuader series has featured stocks and pistol grips, and a long time ago, there were Mossberg Persuaders with Choate folding stocks. You might ask how the Persuader with a pistol-grip-only design varies from a Cruiser?
I’m asking that too.
I couldn’t tell you. To be honest, it seems like the Mossberg Persuader is just a piece of marketing that’s become a brand for Mossberg. To this day, the catalog shows Mossberg Persuaders in .410 and 12 gauge, all with fixed stocks. However, while it’s not in the catalog, there is also a Mossberg 500 Persuader in 20 gauge.
I know this because I bought one. It’s not just a 20-gauge Persuader, but it features a heat shield and barrel that have a parkerized finish. I know this is a new production because we have what I call a Gen 2 Safety. Mossberg has made the tang safety larger than normal and more aggressively textured.
The Persuader – Pistol Grip Shotguns Suck, Right?
The general knowledge of shotguns says that pistol-grip-only shotguns suck. This idea has changed a bit due to the Shockwave and the more horizontal pistol grip. Vertical grips, they still suck, right? Sure, maybe, but mostly.
They put a lot of recoil into your wrist. Even when you use a proper push/pull, you’ll feel the sting. With a proper push/pull, you can control a PGO shotgun fairly well, but it won’t deliver the same control as a stocked shotgun.
This forces us to ask: Why did guns like the PGO Persuader ever become popular? I didn’t know, so I asked. I contacted Mike Searson, a legendary firearms writer with an encyclopedic knowledge of firearms and tactics. He told me pistol-grip shotguns became popular as special tactics teams rose to prominence.
Police forces wanted an entry weapon, but it wasn’t always easy to convince administrations to purchase submachine guns, and it was even harder to convince them to purchase AR-15s. A lot of these special teams weren’t favored by bean counters and administrations. A pistol grip added to a shotgun was an easy way to create a short and sweet weapon for the first man in the door.
Police forces quickly discovered that it wasn’t the best gun for the role, and so did most of the shooting public. These guns faded from police use, but never from Mossberg’s catalog. They might not be the best option, but they scored high when it came to the rule of cool.
The Persuader Perfected?
I’m not sure why Mossberg doesn’t list the 20-gauge Persuader in their catalog. Maybe it’s a limited-run thing, but I’m seeing them around a little more locally. This configuration is the way to go if you want a traditional, old-school, pistol-grip-only shotgun. Namely, due to the 20-gauge design.
The 20-gauge Persuader reduces recoil significantly from the 12-gauge variant. It’s less painful and arthritis-inducing on the wrist than the 12-gauge guns. With the 20-gauge Persuader, I can put two rounds of buckshot into an IPSC-sized A-zone in less than a second. Is it almost a second? Yes, but still less than a second.
Load the 20-gauge Persuader with Federal Flitecontrol and let it rip, and you have a very short, but powerful gun. Like any Mossberg 500, it’s a reliable and capable weapon. It’s also very affordable. I got away with paying Mossberg Maverick money for a Mossberg 500 shotgun.
The Mossberg Persuader offers a short and sweet shotgun that works in states that might ban the Shockwave and similar platforms. Yes, those states exist, and that’s the reason why Mossberg made a 990 Aftershock with an 18.75-inch barrel. In 20 gauge, it’s easy enough to handle, and if you don’t like it, you can make it a shotgun with a stock.
So What Is It?
I still can’t tell you what makes a Persuader different from any other Mossberg tactical shotgun. There doesn’t seem to be any distinct differences between the Persuader line and every other gun. It just seems to come down to marketing. It’s a plain-Jane tactical shotgun that’s affordable, but capable.
