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Mossberg 464 Lever Action Reviews...

464 SPX Initial Review

Picked up my SPX from the FFL today. Haven't shot it yet but in reality I'm sure it shoots about the same as any other 464 other than how it feels in your hands because of the stocks.

One reason I wasn't afraid of buying this gun is that it's obvious that the factory wood stocks will fit this gun just fine. The flash suppressor and fiber optic sights would be the only real difference otherwise as far as I can tell.

Overall it's about what I expected, your typical Winchester 94 top ejection style .30-.30 lever action rifle in essence. So on to the stocks which is what this really boils down to.

First, here is what you get in the box in addition to the normal paperwork.

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You get some rubber rail covers to make things a little easier on your hands, however, either Mossberg needs to make these one notch longer or shorter as it's short on one end and long on the other. A sharp pair of scissors or a blade can easily shorten them to at least make it symmetric.

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Second, the forestock seems to be made of wood, haven't removed the rails yet but instead of simply installing inserts in the wood alone they also (I assume) use the normal holes in the barrel clamps which may need some very thin spacers to give a more level mounting surface. If you replace the stock you will probably want to replace the clamp as it may get a rub spot on it from the rails... my assumption again. This creates a problem as you are bolting flat rails to a very uneven surface and the rails are slightly curved because of this. Might make installing a mount difficult, haven't tried just yet. Also, the forestock is a bit uneven side to side in thickness so it makes things worse. Mossberg needs to think this through a little better.

A little thin on this side and has some scarring in the wood prior to staining/paint.
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Honestly, what am I going to mount up front? Probably a light if anything and that's it. My instinct is to mount it underneath so keep scope glare down. More on that in a minute.

Flash suppressor. Looks like your Type 1 Mod 0 plain jane AR suppressor to me, no welds or pins, takes a 3/4 wrench but I need an extra set of hand to crank down it but I'm sure it screws off. Want to add a suppressor? I'm sure you can. Load you up some subsonic rounds and go harass some pigs or whatever...

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Ok, the adjustable stock is an ATI piece just like what they offer for most of their other replacement stocks and the same as my 500A Scorpion I just installed.

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One thing I found interesting is this:
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A bit odd to have this plastered on a gun stock.

My bet is that ATI has filed for a patent and you will be able to order this piece for your 464 then add any adjustable M4 style stock you want.

Collapsing the stock makes it pretty easy to transport/store, not quite a take down but camp rifle like although I doubt I'd try to shoot it like that.

I haven't decided what kind of scope I'll mount on this, I have a few sitting around but will obviously need to order up a mount for it first.
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The hammer already has a hole for an extension, 464's may all have this I don't know but at least it's there regardless.
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Anyway. Maybe this will answer a few questions and give some a better view of the SPX. I'm glad I bought it and will certainly add/subtract/customize it over time.

It will go well with my newly refinished 15 year old 500A.
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Re: 464 SPX Initial Review

Thanks for the quick review.

The way you wrote this it did not sound (read) so "Tactical" as many have cried...

Let us know how it goes at the range.... :p


Lateck,
 
Re: 464 SPX Initial Review

Well... you know, nowadays if it has rails to mount lots of stuff on, a flash suppressor and some sort of adjustable stock then it's 'tactical'... which IMHO is a very overused term.

The gun will go boom and do it X amount of times just like any other 464 but with the SPX I can mount a couple of extra pounds of gadgets on it while doing so.

Example.

I've also had the bug lately for 'simple' guns, Harrington & Richardson (H&R)'s single shot guns and Stoeger's Double Defense guns. Considering their DD O/U to keep in a custom scabbard on a MPAC rack in my FJ. Stores well as it's narrow and is very hidden...until someone breaks in.

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So, does this qualify as a 'tactical' gun?
 
So has anyone done a review on the 464 22 cal? I'm not talking about the ATI Zombi model but the one that's identical to the 30-30. I just bought mine and love it but I'd like to hear more about it especially from others who own one. Thanks, Ronnie
 
I just wanted to offer a video I just did of how to disassemble and reassemble the 464 on youtube

Here's the link

Or you can just type in "How to disassemble a Mossberg 464" and it's by tommydreamer70 - There may be an issue with trying to view it on your phone so just use an actual computer if you're checking it out.

Hope this helps!
 
has there ever been any chatter about producing the 464 in any pistol caliber versions ? .357, 44mag, 45lc ?
 
Hey fellas...
New guy here , but a happy Mossberg .22 owner for 40 years now.

Anyhow last month I bought one of the Davidson's special .30-30 carbines with the marinecote finish and grey/black plywood stock. It's a lovely little gun too. I love the 3-dot fiber-optic sights too. This is my first lever gun BTW.

I'm not any great marksman but I've been shooting since 1965, and this gun was more accurate than I expected.
Unfortunately, the action was a bit balky, and after running 70 rounds through it (Super-X, Hornaday Whitetail, Lever-revolution, Rem CoreLok in 150~170 grain) the action has gotten much worse. I've sprayed the gun out with Rem oil & air, oiled it with Hoppes no. 9 & a dab of grease on strategic spots, & it seems better for a bit, but this rifle just gets worse.

It will tend to lock up when the lever is pressed all the way open, and when closing the lever, it catches right as the lock bar comes up behind the bolt.

I'm afraid this one is going back to Davidsons unless I can find some advice here to solve this issue.
 
Damn the torpedoes!
I stripped the bolt out tonight and guess what? Rough as a cob! :(

They painted the gun with this marvelous electrostatic aluminizing stuff, but they didn't rub it out.
Ever paint a car & then rub it out? This gun needed it.

I rubbed the bolt down well with scotchbrite for about 10 minutes by hand, dressed off the high corner of the hammer and polished it with scotchbrite, hit the rails with scotchbrite (which was where I saw visible flaking of the excess finish initially) and filed off the grip safety tangs which were stamped with a dull die and rough as hell. It was scaring the lever and trigger as well.

There were minor sharp edges under the "bridge' and i polished those off too.

I blew it out with air & rem oil and it's slick as a whistle now. :)

I'm no gunsmith, but I am a 60 year old shooter with a background in manufacturing engineering. After seeing the video, this was easy as heck and requires almost no tools. It took me 3 hours because I spent 1.5 hours watching youtube videos about the gun and it's assembly.

Anyhow, I turned a balky 464 into a slick shooter, and I can't wait to go blow off some ammo at the range.

This gun is an accurate shooter, but the action was so bad out of the box, and just got worse as the metal bolt dug into the painted rails.
Now it's the equal of a $1000 gun IMO, with just a bit of effort.

The only hard part is where the video shows to put in the last pin, which holds lever to bolt. There's a tiny ball-lock on the bolt which engages a detent on that pin. LUBE the ball! Then line up the three holes by eye, drop the pin in and tap it. It goes right in if you don't wiggle the gun.

All in all the quality of the parts looks great. Very well finished except for the safety tang mentioned. Looks like everything is CNC machined and tumble de-burred.

They just need to polish out the paint job where it matters and cast that tang instead of stamping, or at least sharpen the die.:confused:
 
My review continues.

I have maybe 160 rounds through this gun and it's had some more issues with ammo length. It seems to like the ammo about .030 short overall.

It was still scraping all the oil from the bolt but runs if you oil it.

I also lightened the mainspring by bending the link. Please see my latest on the 464 Troubleshooting thread for photos.
 
I have been planning to get an MMR with my tax money but I saw the 464 3030's and now I want one...instead of the MMR. I will get one of those soon enough, but after I sold my Marlin I been pinin for another 30-30. I liked the Marlin but it was not hard for me to sell. I like the 464 looks way better than the Marlin. I hope it shoots as good as the Marlin did. It was exceptional with my handloads. I will post pics of rifle and targets as soon as I am able.
 
It looks like it's built well enough. The only knock I have is the tang safety. Can't put a tang peep sight on it. I wonder if Mossberg will come out with other calibers? I currently have a Marlin 444, a 1982 model, so no safety really, which is ok with me. I also have a Mark X Mauser in .30-06. Since Remington bought Marlin, I've heard the quality has gone down and they've gotten rid of the 444. It would be nice if Mossberg made a big bore version of the 464.
 
Since it has grip safety you can do without a tang safety.

Keep one finger under the lever while walking around with it loaded and cocked, and it still cannot shoot unless you trip the grip safety closed.
 
I have been planning to get an MMR with my tax money but I saw the 464 3030's and now I want one...instead of the MMR. I will get one of those soon enough, but after I sold my Marlin I been pinin for another 30-30. I liked the Marlin but it was not hard for me to sell. I like the 464 looks way better than the Marlin. I hope it shoots as good as the Marlin did. It was exceptional with my handloads. I will post pics of rifle and targets as soon as I am able.

I use 265 grain hornady flat points in the marlin over a generous heaping of IMR 4198. Velocity is probably close to 2300 at the muzzle. It will shoot from .75" to 1" groups from the bench at 100 yards and those are 5 shot groups. I can't get my .30-06 to shoot that well.
 
Wow! Mine is the carbine and you can maybe get a 2" group at 100 yds.

That was with American Whitetails.
I might do better with Lever Revolution rounds.
 
Wow! Mine is the carbine and you can maybe get a 2" group at 100 yds.

That was with American Whitetails.
I might do better with Lever Revolution rounds.


Hornady makes good stuff and I've heard it's relatively hot. I'd have a hard time matching their loads velocity wise. From what I understand they had custom powder made to optimize their rounds. From an accuracy standpoint, I don't know. I hadn't shot my 444 in 17 years and when I took it out with handloads that old, it hit the bull at 100 yards on the first shot. I love that rifle. It's poison on whitetails and with the right load, it'll take just about anything. Some 444 owners use hard cast lead bullets to get similar velocities I get with a 265 grain bullet with 330-335 grain bullets. Energies are approaching 4000 ft/lbs at the muzzle. That'll kill anything that walks today.
 
Has anyone used Speer 125 gr TNT bullets in their lever gun? I know they are too pointed to use in the tube but loading one in the chamber and then one in the tube makes them usable. I know I would probably never be able to get more than 2 shots down range at a coyote or g-hog before they disappeared so having more in the chamber would not help a lot.

I am just wondering if anyone has used these TNT bullets in their lever gun. I will be trying the Hornady next. I want to see if they get the velocity advertised using Leverevolution powder. But they will be a separate inquiry later IF I decide to use them.
 
I will be trying the Hornady next. I want to see if they get the velocity advertised using Leverevolution powder. But they will be a separate inquiry later IF I decide to use them.

Those velocity results will be interesting. Here in Oz, they have told me not to bother with LVR as the extra 100 fps is not worth it(they say). Of course, everything here is much dearer than in the US, so I was pretty easily talked out of it.
YMMV:)
 
..."I sometimes wonder how many good products take a hit from careless and uniformed comments made on message boards. I've seen the Mossberg 464™ attributed with issues that suggest the author had never seen a Model 464™ much less actually shot one. That's a shame, because we all love firearms and we are all always looking for the next good one. Based on this first hand exposure, the Mossberg Model 464™ could very well be the woods rifle you've been looking for.

If you miss the classic lever action rifle in its fast handling 30-30 WCF form, stop whining and check out Mossberg's Model 464™, first hand, and form your own opinions.

The product's quality is first class, the derivative design is excellent and the consistency of fit and finish is that of a much more expensive firearm. Best of all, the Mossberg Model 464™ is an accurate and reliable hunting rifle at a more than fair price."
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Great article. But I did not see mentioned anywhere about heat when fired multiple ties and how long the barrel should cool after 2-5 shots. I believe my rifle may have some heat related problems and I have read a few posts that indicate the shooters may have similar problems.

I have fired, opened the breech, stood it on the butt and waited 2-3 minutes. Cold shots are sometimes ok sometimes not. Dirty first shots are better than clean first cold shots. No, I have not tried open sights nor tried a different scope. That is on the list. BUT, I have to start all over because my memory does not seem to jibe with the records. My posts say I am happy. I do not remember it that way. Maybe I have a memory problem. If so, I will be hiding my own Easter Eggs soon.
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