Mossberg's 500 in this configuration is a 12-gauge pump with a blued finish and a wood stock, supplied as a Field/Deer Combo: a 28-inch barrel with a vent rib for birds, and a fully rifled 24-inch barrel for slugs. The 3-inch chamber takes standard and magnum shells, the tube holds five with one more in the chamber, and the safety sits on the tang where either hand finds it. With the longer barrel fitted it measures 43.5 inches, weighs 7.5 pounds and has a 14.5-inch pull.

For a Massachusetts hunter this two-barrel set covers the calendar with one receiver. Rifles and handguns cannot be used for deer anywhere in the Commonwealth, so the rifled tube is the deer tool for the two weeks after Thanksgiving, roughly November 30 to December 12 in 2026, while the ribbed barrel handles the rest of the year. A 12 gauge is comfortably inside the 10-gauge limit on legal deer guns, Sunday hunting is still closed, and MassWildlife's current regulations are worth reading first.

Key features

• 12 gauge pump action, 3-inch chamber
• 28-inch vent-rib barrel plus 24-inch fully rifled barrel
• 5+1 capacity
• 7.5 pounds, 43.5 inches overall, 14.5-inch pull
• Blued finish, wood stock, ambidextrous tang safety

The combo ships to the Massachusetts FFL you select, where you show your FID card or License to Carry before the dealer hands it over.