Photos courtesy of O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc. (except where noted)
As a writer and reviewer of clay target shotguns, I am constantly looking at which guns shooters are using at competitions and recreationally. More and more I see shooters shooting the two Mossberg sporting clays shotguns: the Gold Reserve – Super Sport and the 940 Pro Sporting. So I was extremely excited to be able to conduct a gun test/review on the Mossberg International Gold Reserve – Super Sport and see why this gun is gaining so much popularity.
After picking up the Gold Reserve – Super Sport at Cabela’s in Thornton, Colorado, I took it home to my basement workshop to check it out. This Mossberg assembled like all over/under break-open shotguns; it went together very smoothly and opened-and-closed without too much effort. While most new shotguns have some stiffness to them, this Super Sport was not overly stiff or difficult to open. When fully assembled, the total weight is 7½ lbs.
Inserting a couple of snap caps, I came to discover that the trigger mechanism of the Gold Reserve – Super Sport is mechanical. Going through a pre-defined sequence, I fired the lower barrel only, then top barrel only, then top-bottom in sequence, then bottom-top in sequence. Each time I opened the Gold Reserve, the ejectors tossed the snap caps quite high in the air just behind where I was standing. The safety is right behind the opening lever and easy to operate. No stiffness was felt in the operation of the safety. The safety is mechanical, not automatic. This is very important for the clay target shooter and hunter, as I have seen many ‘birds’ fly away when the shooter forgets to disengage an automatic safety after closing the action. While the safety moves forward and backward, the barrel selector is integrated on top of the safety lever and moves right to left to select which barrel will fire first (when a “U” is showing, the under/lower barrel will fire first and when “O” is showing, the over/upper barrel will fire first).
Breaking out some measuring tools, I saw the bore diameter of both barrels was .725. Next, I measured the trigger pull of each barrel. The bottom barrel had a trigger pull of 6 lbs. while the top barrel had a trigger pull of 6½ lbs. The non-adjustable trigger was very crisp, with no take-up or slack, for either barrel.
The Gold Reserve – Super Sport comes with five choke tubes: Full, Improved Modified, Modified, Improved Cylinder and Cylinder. These chokes are extended chokes at 2 7/8″ in total length (with ¾” extending past the muzzle). These chokes have three features I really like: the extended section is color-coded so the shooter can quickly see which chokes are installed; knurled at the end which makes them easy to install and remove quickly by hand; and imprinted with the choke name (F, IM, M, IC, C) on the part of the choke which extends beyond the muzzle… just in case the shooter fails to recall the color key. The chokes come in a small plastic case which houses three chokes and a choke-wrench tool. Mossberg assumes two chokes will always reside in the shotgun.
One of the most impressive features of the Gold Reserve – Super Sport is the “fully” adjustable stock. The stock Length Of Pull (LOP) can be adjusted from 13½” to 15″ by using the ¼”, ½” and 1″ spacers provided with the gun. Screws on the top and bottom of the recoil pad and plate can be adjusted to change the pitch of the stock. With a four-way adjustable comb, it can be adjusted for height and cast. The Gold Reserve – Super Sport has a medium-hardness ½” black recoil pad which is slightly curved. This pad should be good when using a static or dynamic (or off-the-shoulder) mount.
The Gold Reserve – Super Sport shotgun comes with some very nice wood. Mossberg calls this wood “Grade A Satin Black Walnut.” The dark wood has some excellent grain which gives it a very rich appearance. The Gold Reserve – Super Sport shotgun I received was right-handed, as the stock had a palm swell on the right side of the pistol grip. I have medium-sized hands, and it felt firmly comfortable in my hand. The pistol grip (along with the forearm) has light checkering — just enough to prevent hand slippage when damp. The wood-to-metal fit is quite good throughout (i.e., stock to receiver and forearm to receiver and forearm iron) with no protruding edges or sharp boundaries seen.
The receiver is polished and engraved with a silver finish on all sides. On the bottom of the receiver is the model “Gold Reserve” engraved in cursive and a 24 kt. gold medallion with the letter “M” inside. The top lever is also engraved with a scrolling design.
The 30″ non-ported barrels of the Gold Reserve – Super Sport shotgun are topped with a ventilated 10mm wide rib which tapers to 7.1mm wide at the muzzle and contains a red fiber-optic bead at the muzzle end of the rib. These barrels also have full-length ventilated side ribs to help dissipate heat.
The Gold Reserve – Super Sport’s beavertail-style forearm is also made of the “Grade A Satin Black Walnut.” I found the finger rail in the beavertail forearm to be very comfortable. The forearm iron utilizes the Deeley & Edge-style lever-pull release.
For the range portion of this gun test/review, I headed out to Colorado Clays Shooting Park in Brighton, CO. Before meeting up with my shooting friend Phil Chastagner, I headed to the patterning board to confirm Point Of Impact (POI) and pellet distribution. Using the Allen wrenches provided, I inserted the 1″ spacers in the stock (to get the LOP to 14.5″) and inserted two small washers on the comb posts (which I hoped would give me a 55/44 POI).
With a box of Heavy 8s in my pocket, I inserted the Modified choke into the bottom barrel. Standing 15 yards back from the patterning board, I shot three shots at the clay target on the paper. Upon review, I noticed this centered the pattern 3″ above where I was aiming — thus indicating it was throwing a 60/40 POI with two small washers. I removed one washer from each post and, with a clean sheet of patterning paper, did that again. This, indeed, lowered the pattern 1.5″ and, therefore, gave me the 55/45 POI I desired. Moving the Modified choke to the top barrel, I shot three more shots from 15 yards and proved that the top and bottom barrel gave me the same POI. I then backed up to 40 yards and repeated the process but looked for pattern distribution within the 30″ circle on the paper. For both barrels, the pattern was uniform and very well distributed — showing no holes or clumping of shot.
Colorado Clays Shooting Park has 15 sporting clays stations. They set the stations up such that the levels are usually five easy, five medium-difficulty and five hard. With a limited amount of time, I asked the Range Manager which stations were which. I opted to shoot six stations (two of each level of difficulty) and three pairs at each station (doing an A-B report, a B-A report and a true pair). So, I inserted the Improved Cylinder choke in the bottom barrel and the Modified choke in the top barrel, grabbed some shells and took the first golf cart which was not being used.
Of the 36 targets I shot at, I missed one rabbit target which took an unexpected hop and a springing teal after I lifted my head to watch him take off vertically. I shot the incomers and rabbits with a low gun, the chandelles and crossers with an off-the-face mount, and the outgoers and springing teals with a static/pre-mount. The Gold Reserve – Super Sport is a bit lighter than my normal sporting clays shotgun and, as such, I found I moved it lightning fast to get to the targets. After about 10 shots, I got used to the weight and it felt (and moved) quite well.
I shot all 36 targets with the same Heavy 8s I patterned with and did not feel any recoil. The Improved Cylinder and the Modified chokes had no problem breaking targets on all the Colorado Clays stations, and the barrel selector switch was easy to use to change barrels when the presentation warranted it. The balance of the Gold Reserve – Super Sport between my hands was excellent. And, Mossberg got the palm swell ‘just right,’ as it gave my right hand a really good feel on the gun, not too shallow and not too thick.
Phil arrived after I finished shooting my six stations. Phil was a champion High-Power Rifle shooter when he was in the Marine Corps and picked up clay target shooting in 2020. He competes in trap, skeet and sporting clays. The training techniques he used to become successful with a rifle have served him well with a shotgun, as his scores continue to increase exponentially. Phil is taller than I am and, as a result, shoots a 14¾” LOP. Within 30 seconds, we added the ¼” stock spacers onto the stock, and Phil said it fit him well. I told him what I discovered on the patterning board, and he said he was fine with a 55/45 POI. With 100 rounds loaded onto the golf cart, we hit the sporting course.
I did not shoot with Phil but instead pulled the targets as he tried out the Gold Reserve – Super Sport. After shooting 100 targets, Phil’s scorecard showed 87 hits. Phil went out of his way to let me know that none of the missed targets were the fault of the gun. He said what he liked best about the Gold Reserve – Super Sport was: (1) how easily it mounted when shooting with a low mount and (2) how smooth it was to swing on the crossing targets. He also commented on the adjustable stock and how easy it was to change it: “I could set it up for myself to shoot on Saturday morning and then set it up so my wife could shoot it Saturday afternoon.”
After spending a day on the range with the Gold Reserve – Super Sport, I now can understand why this shotgun is getting so popular and gaining so much interest. The handling characteristics of the Gold Reserve – Super Sport are quite good. The quantity and range of stock adjustments which come standard make it so this shotgun can be custom fit to almost every shooter. With a listed MSRP of $1,408 and so much going for this shotgun, it should appeal to both new shooters and experienced shooters alike. SS
Mark H. Taylor has over 40 years of shooting experience. He has won many regional, state, national and international clay target competitions. He is the author of the book Clay Target Shooting – The Mental Game and co-author of the book Break ’em All. Mark is a NRA Certified Advanced International Shotgun Coach and a High-Performance Shotgun Coach for USA Shooting. He is a Caesar Guerini and Cabela’s (in Thornton, CO) Pro Staff shooter, and teaches monthly beginner shotgun clinics at Colorado Clays in Brighton, CO, and travels nationally and internationally teaching coaching courses and working with world-class athletes. You can email him at coloradotaylor@gmail.com.
