Way back in the day, and I mean decades ago, the man of the house might have a well-used and treasured 20- or 16-gauge shotgun that served multiple purposes around the home or farm.

During hunting season he could slip a couple of handfuls of shells into his well-worn jacket and go hunting. He might run across some quail or squirrels, perhaps a rabbit or two, basically whatever was good for the pot. If he was lucky, he might have some slugs for deer season or maybe a sporterized rifle. But the shotgun was fairly prevalent in the Southeast and Midwest for hunting.

Secondary purpose? Home security. Prowlers at night, someone trying to steal something from the barn, maybe a slimeball slinking around where he shouldn’t be and the shotgun would be fetched.

Mossberg’s FLEX system for its shotguns gives you great versatility with multiple barrels, stocks, foregrips and more whether you’re going after hogs, deer, turkeys or you need to set up a tactical shotgun.

In 2012 Mossberg introduced the FLEX system for its shotguns. I was fortunate to be able to hunt turkeys and hogs in Texas that spring with the FLEX 12-gauge. We easily and quickly switched barrels, stocks and foregrips for morning turkey hunts and afternoon hog hunts. In just minutes, you could have a standard stock and slug barrel and then switch to an adjustable “tactical” stock with pistol grip for turkeys. Or whatever you wanted from the various accessories.

Mossberg now has more accessories for its popular 500 and Maverick 88 shotguns. Check out this press release about it with links to the new items.

Flexible, versatile and virtually limitless for fit, style and application; wouldn’t everyone want a gun that is flexible enough to fit that description? That’s the way that Mossberg described their ground-breaking FLEX Series of modular shotguns and accessories in 2012.

With the innovative system of TLS™ (Tool-less Locking System) connectors and FLEX accessories (stocks, recoil pads and forends), 500 FLEX and 590® FLEX shotguns could easily be converted in seconds from a rugged tactical platform to a foul-weather hunting gun – without the need for tools.

Mossberg’s new FLEX Conversion Kits for its 12- and 20-gauge Mossberg 500 and Maverick 89 pump shotguns will give you more versatility with these great guns.

Now Mossberg is revolutionizing the modular shotgun concept again with the introduction of FLEX Conversion Kits for your Mossberg 500 and Maverick 88 pump-action shotguns in 12-and-20 gauge options. Three conversion kits are available for each gauge with all required hardware included.

The flexibility and versatility of the FLEX System, designed to give shotgunners an easy and quick way to adapt their shotgun to a variety of shooting applications, can now be added to existing 500/88 pump-actions with your choice of the following kits in 12 and 20 gauge.

• Stock and Forend Adapter Kits – includes the FLEX TLS stock and forend adapters only, but provides the option to switch to FLEX accessory stocks, recoil pads and forends on your Mossberg 500 and Maverick 88 shotguns.
• Stock Adapter with FLEX Pistol Grip Kit – includes the FLEX TLS stock adapter and Mossberg’s FLEX Pistol Grip with convenient sling swivel stud and black matte finish. Easily convert your 500/88 to a Mossberg Cruiser® platform for home defense applications.
• Stock Adapter Kit – includes the FLEX TLS stock adapter only. This kit will allow your 500/88 to accept FLEX stocks and pistol grip for LOP (length-of-pull) customization or ease of converting your hunting shotgun to tactical platform.

With 16 FLEX accessory components and Mossberg’s extensive line of 500 accessory barrels (compatible with Maverick 88 shotguns as well), the options for your pump-action shotgun are endless. FLEX System accessories include three recoil pads (3/4-inch, 1 ¼-inches and 1 ½-inches thick); four synthetic forends (three standard and one tactical tri-rail); and nine stock options. Choose from standard full-length stocks with 12 ½-, 13 ½- and 14 ¼-inch LOPs; pistol grip; six-position adjustable tactical stock; and four-position adjustable, dual-comb hunting stock. Forends and stocks feature black matte, Mossy Oak® Break-Up® Infinity™ or Realtree MAX-4® finishes.

So, go ahead, FLEX your Mossberg 500 or Maverick 88 with the most-innovative concept in shotgun customization! To purchase the Mossberg FLEX Conversion Kits and FLEX System Accessories, visit the Mossberg site here.