Jackal
Member
Well, as promised, here's a layman's mini range review. I am no scientist and I am happy to offer an honest opinion of a rifle I just purchased, good, bad and ugly.
The the rail/front sight got a Loctite and torque treatment (both were loose from the factory). Sights are aligned perfectly as is the flash hider. Steel finish is very nice, very few tooling marks to be found and action is smooth. Wood to metal fit (yes, its a laminated stock underneath the textured coating), at least on my example is horrid. Large gaps, uneven gaps and heavily proud steel abound. I have seen hack job sporterized rifles with better wood/metal fit. Trigger breaks clean at 3.5lbs. I did no "break in" or anything fancy. I simply ran 1 dry patch through the bore and took it out shooting. Iron sight were not used.
At the range (ok, its my back field), it fed perfectly from both the 20rd Pmag and the factory metal 10rd. It requires a healthy amount of force when opening or closing the bolt, since the upward spring pressure from the mags, especially the 20rd is fairly stout. Mag release is a little stiff (which may or may not get easier), insertion/removal is clean and easy.
So, enough about that, how does it shoot? All shooting was done at 50 yards, prone with a rest and a 9x scope. Rounds used for sight in and the 2 initial groups were Herter's steel cased, which have Tula headstamps. Well, after getting the rifle on paper I walked the rounds to the bullseye. After getting a few rounds in the bull, it was time for groups. Ugh... After firing my first 6 shot group, which measured 1.9", (remember, at 50 yards) I decided to check my rings/bases which were perfectly tight. Next group was a 1.7" 5rd group... still absolutely pathetic and just awful. Then i fired 1 last Tula/Herter round to establish an aiming point for the next ammo in line, PPU 168gr HP Match. Loaded it up and put 5 rds into .49", YAY!!! we have a winner. I just sat back and watched 5 rds go into the same hole, it was lovely. So, this rifle hates Tula and quite apparently loves the 168gr PPU load. I ran out of time do to unpleasant incoming rain.
So, within the bounds of this little test, it shows that both it and I are capable of sub minute accuracy. The rifle suffered from 1 malfunction, a hard primer on 1 round of PPU, which fired on the second try. I will try other loads when I can find them. I have no plans on reloading, but with good bullet/load selection, this little bugger is a tack driver. For around $600 after tax/transfer, I think its a solid little rifle. I may bring the poorly fitted wood up with Mossberg and see what they will do about it.
Any questions, feel free to ask.
The the rail/front sight got a Loctite and torque treatment (both were loose from the factory). Sights are aligned perfectly as is the flash hider. Steel finish is very nice, very few tooling marks to be found and action is smooth. Wood to metal fit (yes, its a laminated stock underneath the textured coating), at least on my example is horrid. Large gaps, uneven gaps and heavily proud steel abound. I have seen hack job sporterized rifles with better wood/metal fit. Trigger breaks clean at 3.5lbs. I did no "break in" or anything fancy. I simply ran 1 dry patch through the bore and took it out shooting. Iron sight were not used.
At the range (ok, its my back field), it fed perfectly from both the 20rd Pmag and the factory metal 10rd. It requires a healthy amount of force when opening or closing the bolt, since the upward spring pressure from the mags, especially the 20rd is fairly stout. Mag release is a little stiff (which may or may not get easier), insertion/removal is clean and easy.
So, enough about that, how does it shoot? All shooting was done at 50 yards, prone with a rest and a 9x scope. Rounds used for sight in and the 2 initial groups were Herter's steel cased, which have Tula headstamps. Well, after getting the rifle on paper I walked the rounds to the bullseye. After getting a few rounds in the bull, it was time for groups. Ugh... After firing my first 6 shot group, which measured 1.9", (remember, at 50 yards) I decided to check my rings/bases which were perfectly tight. Next group was a 1.7" 5rd group... still absolutely pathetic and just awful. Then i fired 1 last Tula/Herter round to establish an aiming point for the next ammo in line, PPU 168gr HP Match. Loaded it up and put 5 rds into .49", YAY!!! we have a winner. I just sat back and watched 5 rds go into the same hole, it was lovely. So, this rifle hates Tula and quite apparently loves the 168gr PPU load. I ran out of time do to unpleasant incoming rain.
So, within the bounds of this little test, it shows that both it and I are capable of sub minute accuracy. The rifle suffered from 1 malfunction, a hard primer on 1 round of PPU, which fired on the second try. I will try other loads when I can find them. I have no plans on reloading, but with good bullet/load selection, this little bugger is a tack driver. For around $600 after tax/transfer, I think its a solid little rifle. I may bring the poorly fitted wood up with Mossberg and see what they will do about it.
Any questions, feel free to ask.
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