Western Field M550

About the Western Field M550

The Western Field M550 is a pump-action shotgun chambered in 12 Gauge, sold through Montgomery Ward under its Western Field house brand from the early 1970s. It was a private-label version of the Mossberg 500, built by O.F. Mossberg & Sons with the same aluminum-alloy receiver, twin action bars, dual extractors, and top-mounted tang safety. M550 models were typically offered with long 28- or 30-inch field barrels, many fitted with a C-LECT-CHOKE adjustable choke, a tubular magazine, and a walnut-finished stock and forend. It was an affordable, utility-grade hunting and field shotgun typical of mid-20th-century American mail-order firearms.

Sold through Montgomery Ward's catalog and department stores, the Western Field M550 let budget-minded American hunters buy a Mossberg-built pump shotgun under the retailer's own house brand rather than the maker's name, a common practice for U.S. mail-order retailers of the era.

Western Field M550 specifications

Western Field was Montgomery Ward's store brand; the M550 (also seen as 550A, 550AB, 550AD, 550ABD) was Ward's relabeled Mossberg 500. Suffix letters denote barrel, choke, and stock configurations. Chambered for 2 3/4 inch (and on some examples 3 inch) shells. Many wear a C-LECT-CHOKE adjustable choke marked Full / Mod / I-Cyl.