Jeremy Stafford
Newbie
Longeye, I attended the Scout Rifle Conference. I've been to tons of events, and this one ranks near the top as far as actual training goes. The Gunsite instructors know the rifle and it's purpose and it shows in their curriculum. The facility is also really set up to get the most out of it, with several courses of fire with UKD targets out past 500 (we only went to 500, but there were further targets I think).
I shot the Mossberg and it did everything I needed it to do. It's a bit front heavy, and I don't love the stock, but after breaking the barrel in it holds sub MOA (real sub MOA, not media MOA) with both Federal 168 GMM and PRIME 175. Usually I don't do the whole barrel break in thing, but under the borescope, I wasn't thrilled with what I saw. It turns out that my rifle was a hastily thrown together "show sample", but it shot so well I kept it. The trigger adjusted down to 2.2 pounds and is very good. It had a weird hitch at first, right in the take up before the break, but after the barrel break in rounds it disappeared. The Vortex scout scope sucked balls compared to the Burris and Leupold scout scopes that I shot at the event, but at it's price point, it's not terrible. I'm sure the rifle will shoot even tighter with some good glass.
The Col. valued "handiness" above most everything and was a big proponent of the snap shot, or coming from ready position to on target quickly. His standard was a six inch circle at 50 yards in 1.5 seconds. Definitely doable with the Mossberg, but the Steyr stock makes it way faster. There was a competition on the fourth day, and I ended up taking fourth. As I pulled the gun out of the case that morning I noticed that the action screw had come loose (my fault, I should have blue loc-tited it when I adjusted the trigger). I tightened it back up, but it messed up my dope, costing me some shots wide right on the first UKD course of fire until I figured out my Kentucky windage. My fault completely, but I'm pretty sure I could have taken second. The guy that won the shoot was the Steyr factory shooter. He was like the fucking Terminator, I don't think I could have beat him on my birthday, with my dick in one hand and a six pack in the other.
The Mossbergs ability to take M14 mags as well as SR-25 mags is awesome, and I have a nice pile of old M14 mags as well as my Magpuls that work in this rifle and my .308 ARs, so that's a big plus. There were some fast, multi shot and reload courses that the Mossberg did well in based on the chunky barrel not stringing shots and the ease of reloading. The magazine release needs to be a tad longer and the bolt knob is too big, causing some inadvertent fail to fires with some shooters that had happy fingers. I didn't have that problem, but it needs to be refined, which Mossberg in in the process of doing. Steyr, Mossberg, and Ruger all sent factory reps and Steyr and Mossberg actually had engineers competing, so there is great factory support behind the platform.
All in all, I like it. It's not for everyone, and it's not a "go to war" gun, but for backwoods adventures and hunting out to 4-500 on moving targets, I really like it. It's going to kill some Javelina, that's for sure.
I shot the Mossberg and it did everything I needed it to do. It's a bit front heavy, and I don't love the stock, but after breaking the barrel in it holds sub MOA (real sub MOA, not media MOA) with both Federal 168 GMM and PRIME 175. Usually I don't do the whole barrel break in thing, but under the borescope, I wasn't thrilled with what I saw. It turns out that my rifle was a hastily thrown together "show sample", but it shot so well I kept it. The trigger adjusted down to 2.2 pounds and is very good. It had a weird hitch at first, right in the take up before the break, but after the barrel break in rounds it disappeared. The Vortex scout scope sucked balls compared to the Burris and Leupold scout scopes that I shot at the event, but at it's price point, it's not terrible. I'm sure the rifle will shoot even tighter with some good glass.
The Col. valued "handiness" above most everything and was a big proponent of the snap shot, or coming from ready position to on target quickly. His standard was a six inch circle at 50 yards in 1.5 seconds. Definitely doable with the Mossberg, but the Steyr stock makes it way faster. There was a competition on the fourth day, and I ended up taking fourth. As I pulled the gun out of the case that morning I noticed that the action screw had come loose (my fault, I should have blue loc-tited it when I adjusted the trigger). I tightened it back up, but it messed up my dope, costing me some shots wide right on the first UKD course of fire until I figured out my Kentucky windage. My fault completely, but I'm pretty sure I could have taken second. The guy that won the shoot was the Steyr factory shooter. He was like the fucking Terminator, I don't think I could have beat him on my birthday, with my dick in one hand and a six pack in the other.
The Mossbergs ability to take M14 mags as well as SR-25 mags is awesome, and I have a nice pile of old M14 mags as well as my Magpuls that work in this rifle and my .308 ARs, so that's a big plus. There were some fast, multi shot and reload courses that the Mossberg did well in based on the chunky barrel not stringing shots and the ease of reloading. The magazine release needs to be a tad longer and the bolt knob is too big, causing some inadvertent fail to fires with some shooters that had happy fingers. I didn't have that problem, but it needs to be refined, which Mossberg in in the process of doing. Steyr, Mossberg, and Ruger all sent factory reps and Steyr and Mossberg actually had engineers competing, so there is great factory support behind the platform.
All in all, I like it. It's not for everyone, and it's not a "go to war" gun, but for backwoods adventures and hunting out to 4-500 on moving targets, I really like it. It's going to kill some Javelina, that's for sure.