Mossberg 500 Retrograde 12 Gauge
Model: 50429
Mossberg 500 Retrograde 12 Gauge
Model: 50429
Full Specifications
About This Firearm
The Mossberg 500 Retrograde is a walnut-stocked pump-action 12 gauge built for home defense. It has an MSRP of $665. A checkered walnut buttstock, a matching corncob forend and blued metal put the look of Mossberg's first tactical pumps on a gun still in production.
Mechanically it is a standard 500, with an 18.5-inch cylinder-bore barrel, six rounds, 108.0 oz and 39.5 inches of gun, the same anodized aluminum receiver and the same ambidextrous top-tang safety. The receiver on this model is drilled and tapped, so a rail or a rear sight bolts on with the screws already in it. Sighting is a bead and nothing behind it. The walnut needs oiling and a look at the grain after a wet day.
If you're cross-shopping, the plain Mossberg 500 is this gun in synthetic with matte metal and an undrilled receiver. A Mossberg 590 has an MSRP of $592, $73 less, and holds seven rounds at 100.8 oz, 7.2 oz lighter, in a magazine tube that unscrews at the muzzle end. Neither of those two has any wood on it.
Best For
Strengths & Limitations
- The grip is cut with checkering and the butt carries a vented rubber pad, neither of which the synthetic security guns get.
- Dual extractors, steel-to-steel lockup, twin action bars and the anti-jam elevator are the standard 500 action, so nothing about servicing it is model-specific.
- Stocks, forends and barrels interchange across the 12-gauge 500 line.
- There is no bayonet lug and no barrel heat shield on it.
- Six rounds is one short of a Mossberg 590, and the closed tube takes no extension.
- None of the wood, the checkering or the bluing changes how the gun shoots.
Ballistics Calculator
Calculate trajectory, drop, and energy for 12 Gauge ammunition.
12 Gauge Ballistics →Frequently Asked Questions
Can synthetic furniture be fitted later?
Yes. The Retrograde uses the same stock and forend interface as the rest of the 500 line, so standard 500 furniture drops on.
Which shells does it take?
Standard and three-inch. Six rounds is the count with standard shells and one fewer with the longer ones.
Is the barrel choked?
No. It is a fixed cylinder bore with no threads, so the pattern cannot be tightened with a tube.
