I didn't see any real world review of these rifles so I decided to write one, Lets introduce the Rifle. It is a Mossberg MVP Varmint 7.62x51 caliber, 24" fluted medium bull barrel 1:10 twist. Optic is a Bushnell Trophy XLT 4-2x40.
First impressions were good, the fit and finish on the rifle was good for a budget tactical rifle. The magazine release worked well without a lot of effort and you can easily access the mag release with a gloved hand. The Trigger pull was factory set at 2.5 lbs and broke cleanly. The small tang safety on the trigger does not hinder the trigger usage at all and is a nice safety feature. One thing I did notice, when the manual safety is in the fire position, and the trigger is depressed without depressing the tang safety on the front of the trigger, the trigger will click back and lock, locking both the safety and the trigger. To reset the trigger, the bolt handle has to be lifted. I attempted to fire a live round on the range without depressing the tang on the front of the trigger and could not get the rifle to fire even with the audible click and movement of the trigger.. Each time I tried this operation I needed to lift the bolt handle to reset the trigger. You need to be aware of this just in case something where to snag the trigger, you would have to manually reset it. I do not think there is a problem with the rifle but I am going to follow up with Mossberg to verify. The comb on the stock is as close to perfect height for me as it gets, and lines up to the scope very well. Finish on the stock is great, and I like the textured grip panels on the front and pistol grip of the stock. The Mossberg M is carved out in the fore end grip panel.. Bolt operation is smooth and positive. The bolt can be removed from the action without pulling the trigger via a button on the left rear of the action..The manual safety has a very noticeable click to engage or disengage. Overall I think the rifle fit and finish is great. I handled several other brands of rifle while looking for this one and thought this one offered the most bang for the buck.
First time out I shot a .75 inch group at 100 yards with hornady TAP FPD. 165 grain interbond ammo. I was Very impressed with the accuracy for the first time slinging lead downrange. I also ran some of my hand loads through it and ended up with a bad primer in one. After removing the cartridge I noticed a deep gouge in the soft point of the bullet. After an inspection I found some sharp edges on the feed ramp, so I polished them out with a very fine file and some emery cloth. The 2.5 pound trigger was a joy and keeps getting smoother the more I fire this rifle.. The magazine feed has been flawless IF you don't work the bolt like a girl. It feeds harder than a Ruger or Rem 700. Its not overly stiff but still needs some positive force to operate properly. Feeding from a fully loaded 20 rnd box mag makes a fun range day with this rifle. It will also accept 5,10,15,20,25 M1A or Dpms Lr-308/SR-25 mags, although the 20 and 25 rounders are a little long.
What everybody has been waiting for...How accurate is it........... First load workup was using 150 grain sierra soft point boat tail gamekings.. and blc-2. Two different kinds of brass. Best 2 groups were .43" at 100 Yards. Fired from the bipod at a shooting bench.. Here are some Pics.
47.5 Grain Blc-2 in LC case is .43 inches
48 grain Blc-3 in a PPU case is .43 inches.
I think these groups could be tightened up some with seating depth changes. I got some vertical stringing on a few groups so I may work up the top 3 loads using magnum primers too see if that helps.
The Next load workup is going to be 165 grain Sierra boat tail hollow point gamekings, using IMR4895 I have them loaded and need to get to the range to see what happens... In my experience these have been the closest to match bullets in a 1:10 twist rifle. Because this rifle will go hunting with me this year I will save the load workups with match bullets until after I have my chosen hunting loads ironed out..
Stay tuned for more This will be a long term test and range report...
Jason.
No comments:
Post a Comment