30 American Shooting Journal // August 2019
under the names Invisible Defender
and Unique. Oscar Mossberg initially
manufactured the pistol himself in the
barn behind his residence with the help
of his teenage sons Iver and Harold. In
1909 he sold the manufacturing rights
to his former employer, C.S. Shattuck
Arms Company, which manufactured
the gun until 1919. Mossberg frugally
set aside that money for Iver and
Harold’s college education.
When his sons weren’t in school or
working with him in their backyard
gun factory, they were learning about
manufacturing by working on the J.
Stevens factory floor, no doubt by
their father’s arrangement. Both boys
graduated Worchester PolytechnicalInstitute. Oscar got Iver a position with
Marlin-Rockwell, where
he worked briefly. When
younger Harold graduated,
he went right to work for
their newly formed family
partnership.SO THERE YOU HAVE the genesis of a
great American gun maker and the
great American family that founded it.
The imagination and inventive spirit
from which O.F. Mossberg & Sons
was born continues to this day, as
does their focus on giving American
shooters a lot of gun for their hard-
earned money. Attentiveness to the
desires of the consumer is one of thesecrets of Mossberg’s success and
I’ll point out three recent products
that exemplify that: the MC1sc 9mm
pistol, MVP Precision bolt-action
rifle, and the 590 Shockwave shotgun.MC1sc 9mm Subcompact Pistol
Mossberg chose their 100th
anniversary in 2019 to introduce their
first handgun since 1919. Like the
Brownie a century before, their new
9mm MC1sc is oriented to the self-
defense market. The acronym stands
for Mossberg Carry 1 subcompact and
the pistol shows they’ve given a lot of
thought to the features people want
in a concealed carry handgun in order
to challenge the immensely popular
Glock 43 subcompact 9mm head-on
with an MSRP that’s $155 less.
As one would expect today, the
MC1sc is striker-fired and recoil-
operated with a polymer frame, the
usual trigger-blade safety and rated for
+P ammo. It’s every bit as lean a gun as
the Glock 43 subcompact at barely an
inch wide at its thickest point and 6.25
inches long, and it has features and
factory options the Glock doesn’t.
The MC1sc is a sleeker gun
and fully dehorned for a fast and
unfettered draw. In addition to
rounding all the corners, Mossberg
fitted it with rugged steel (not
polymer!), low-profile, three-dot,
drift-adjustable sights. The dovetail
size matches the SIG #8 pattern,
which allows users a wide range of
sight choices if the Mossberg standard
or factory optional Tru-glo tritium
night sights don’t suit their tastes. It’s
also available with a factory-installedViridian targeting laser that fits
snuggly beneath the barrel.
The MC1sc comes with a pair of
different Mossberg, indestructible,
Clear-Count transparent polymer
magazines that allow instant visual
assessment of ammo supply when
dropping the magazine. The compact
six-round magazine fits flush with the
bottom of the grip and the seven-round
magazine includes a grip-extending
floor plate. (Fully loaded with six
rounds and one in the chamber, it
weighs 22 ounces, which is slightly
more than an ounce heavier than thesix-plus-one capacity Glock 43.)
The MC1sc has some ergonomic
advantages as well. The shooter’s grip
is enhanced by aggressively textured
grip panels, a palm swell, two subtle
finger grooves on the front strap, and
sculpting of the frame to slim it down
immediately behind the triggerguard.
The slide has front and rear gripping
serrations. Control of the excellent
6-pound trigger pull during its ½ inch
of travel is enhanced by a flat trigger
face. Like the Glock, the MC1sc
magazine release can be switched
around for left-handed shooters.
Unlike the Glock, there is a factory
optional cross-bolt safety.
Knowing that many firearms
accidents result from negligent
discharges during cleaning, Mossberg
designed the MC1sc to be field
stripped without ever needing to
touch, much less pull, the trigger. It’sInvisible
Defender9mm MC1sc