Modern Marvel - Mossberg Flex
With interchangeable stocks, buttpads, barrels and fore-ends, the Mossberg FLEX pump-action
shotgun, based on the tried-and-true Model 500 action, is a complete shooting system that can
serve for deer hunting with slugs, scattergunning for spring gobblers or personal protection.
Mossberg’s signature product, the Model 500
pump-action shotgun, has long been valued for
ruggedness and reliability. Let’s face it; one of the
reasons you buy a pump shotgun, a Mossberg 500
in particular, is that you don’t like surprises. When
you take it to the field, all you want to hear is shuckclick-
boom, shuck-click-boom, shuck-click-boom
until you’ve bagged your limit. Another selling point for
pump shotguns is their near-limitless utility. Deer stands,
goose pits, turkey blinds, home defense—they can do it
all. Or at least, that’s what everyone will tell you. Really,
though, you can swap barrels on a pump gun, but
not much else. When you get down to it, a perfect
duck gun is a clumsy turkey gun and vice versa.
With its new FLEX system, Mossberg has turned
a hunting camp myth into a reality: one shotgun
that can do it all.
Briefly described, the Mossberg FLEX System is
a new concept that allows for the accessorizing of
Model 500 or 590 FLEX shotguns with stocks, foreends
and recoil pads using its new Tool-less Locking
System (TLS). Mossberg’s goal with the FLEX was
to create a modular system similar to what shooters
have in the AR-15-style rifle. In much the same way,
one FLEX shotgun receiver can serve as the basis for
anything from a field gun to a home-defense firearm.
At present, the FLEX system is offered only on new
production FLEX guns.
With most shotguns, it has always been easy
to swap out barrels, but the FLEX system allows
stocks, fore-ends and buttpads to be changed without tools.
With the tactical models in particular, you can switch from
a close-quarters shotgun to a breeching tool by swapping
the collapsing stock for a pistol grip and adding Mossberg’s
Chainsaw horizontal grip to the fore-end and switching from
a tactical barrel to one with a breeching muzzle. That’s not
something that usually would need to be done on the fly,
but it would certainly simplify the armorer’s job in a police
department or military unit. FLEX fore-ends range from tactical railed models to field version in various camouflage patterns.
The Mossberg TLS locking devices are designed to
withstand hard use, whether on the front lines or in the hunting
fields. Another important component of the FLEX system is
Mossberg’s extensive selection of barrels, all of which fit Flex
System models. They include short tactical barrels, vent-rib skeet barrels, camouflaged waterfowl barrels and tight-choked
turkey barrels. The receiver
itself is the proven Model
500 design, which features
twin-action bars and an antijam
shell elevator for greater
reliability. Its anodized aluminum
construction reduces weight. The
slide release, located to the left rear
of the trigger guard, and an ambidextrous,
top-mounted sliding safety button exhibit
good ergonomics.
The TLS in the FLEX stock consists of a flush-fitting halfmoon
shaped locking piece that slides into a recess in the
wrist. To release the locking piece, pull it up and rotate it 90
degrees so that it is perpendicular to the wrist. The latch is
captured so it can’t be lost. Once that is done, the stock slides
off to the rear. The rear of the receiver has a metal peg with
six splines that mate to corresponding recesses in the various
FLEX system stocks. Tight tolerances in the mating surfaces
between stock and receiver as well as the bevels in the
locking ridges maintain proper alignment between the FLEX
system stocks and the receiver.
Six different stocks compatible with the FLEX
system are available from Mossberg. They include:
standard fixed stocks in three different lengths of
pull (12½", 13½" and 14½"); an Adjustable Dual
Comb (ADC) stock with short and tall raised
combs that can be swapped out; a six-position
collapsible M4-style tactical stock with a separate
pistol grip; and a pistol grip without a stock in the
style of the Mossberg Cruiser.
The fixed and ADC stocks are compatible with
three interchangeable recoil pads. FLEX recoil pads
are available in three different thicknesses, including
small (3/4"), medium (1¼") and large (1½"). The
FLEX recoil pads are made from a compressible
synthetic material that helps cushion recoil.