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Mossberg MVP Bolt Action Reviews

Just picked up an MVP Patrol - NATO, 16 1/2" barrel, UTG 3-9-40 AO scope. Cleaned it up and got it to the range for a first trial. Shot 4/ cleaned, shot another 4/cleaned. Came home and moved the scope back to the last rail cog and put on a new polyester cheek riser. Gives a nicer sight picture and a solid cheek weld. Next outing should be better. Three shots got it close to a 2" bulls eye at 50 yds. Of next 5 shots - 4 were inside (2 overlapping and close to the center) and 1 was just outside. Sweet shooter and fine for now as this was with lower end Win 55 FMJ.

Other thoughts on purchase - but not deal breakers.

No manual was enclosed for the scope so had to run one off the net. The scope has a red/green reticle adjustment but no battery was included. Manual says battery can be any one of three CRs (not impressed as not helpful and more money).

The mag is a sloppy fit - mostly back to front and doesn't give much confidence re feeding properly - and it didn't. Perhaps part of this was me. At most, I put 2 rounds in the mag. One time it jammed on the next round on the way in to chamber. The second time I cycled the bolt - aim, fire, and ....click. No bullet had loaded. Perhaps I didn't draw the bolt fully back before going ahead. Fussy ???? Not impressed with this either but more range time is needed. Being from Canada, the 10 shot mag is pinned to five so one is paying for the "cool factor" (but that is o.k.).
It looks like more money for another mag.

The "cheek riser" out of the box is not really a cheek riser. It has the sleeve but there is no foam piece that fits under the sleeve to do the rising. Bass Pro has the kit listed at $25. To me, the sleeve by itself is worth nothing so - more money.

There was no thread protector in the box - in case one wants the flash suppressor taken off. Not sure if it is part of the muzzle attachment for the flash - to be determined.

The trigger was fine. Not as smooth as my Savage accu-triggers but o.k.

All things considered - a neat little rifle

Has anyone tried the LAR-15 mag in an MVP? Designed for Rock River Arms LAR-15 pistol so this makes it a legal 10 round mag in Canada.
 
I tried two 10 round pistol mags - an AT-15 and an LAR-15. Since these are pistol mags, they are legal in Canada. The LAR seems to work fine, but the AT-15 does not.

Mossberg CA (ON) offered to replace the stock mag, however Canada Post wanted $17 to ship it so I decided to work on it instead. Gently lifted the front and back lips a slight bit with pliers and it seems to load and feed much better. Next range outing will tell. I put a layer of JB Weld on the back end of the mag ( about 1 3/8" just below the follower) and let it harden overnight. Gently sanded it down so that the mag fits snugly in the mag well, clicks into place, and releases with the button and just a slight tug. Very little rocking motion left in the mag now.

Mossberg CA is also going to send me some of what I think were the missing items from the box at time of purchase.

So, all is looking up and time to hit the range.
 
Put 25 rounds through my Patrol today and groupings were very good at 50 yards off a bench/rest. Once very close to zeroed, 4/6 were in the 10 (1" diameter) and 2 were in the 9 so for me, it is a shooter. Used Rem UMS 55 FMJ. Let the barrel cool down between most shots - 3 fairly close together was enough to get the barrel warm so stayed away from this.

After tweaking the stock mag, it fed much better but still not 100% reliable. It would jam (tip up) - particularly when cycling the first round. Backing the bolt off about 1/2" and then cycling forward put the round into battery. Not good. The LAR-15 mag functioned 100%.
 
I emptied my bank account and got a patrol in 7.62 from a citizen here in GA. $600 even. It came with a red/green reticle scope, one Mossberg and two pmags. I think the pmags are superior to the stock mag. Also a nice elasticized sling. Got to wait on pay-day for some range time. I like the over all size of this rifle. The only comparison I can make is to the M16 I had in the Army. I look forward to making some smoke with this bad boy!
 

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That's a good looking rifle, the sights remind me of those on my Savage.
 
Went into the outback and ran 100 rounds through the patrol. Got a short pic of my son firing without the scope. I was pleasantly surprised with how accurate the iron sights are on this rifle. The fiber optic front sight picks up very well and I am extremely happy with the performance of my Mossberg. The 308 cartridge packs a heavy punch, I could feel the round hitting the steel almost as good as I could hear it. :)

I found out that this website is picky about file extensions. It won't accept my mp4 video clip.

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Mossberg told me, based on my serial number of MVP0529.. that my patrol was manufactured in "early 2015". Given that they were provided the exact serial number, I do not know why the date is so generalized and not specific. But, that does not make me like it any less. I wanted to know when it was made because I was trying to find out when they switched from the painted wood stock to the polymer. I am thankful that the patrol that I purchased has the polymer stock, because at the time of my purchase, I didn't know there was a difference.

Does anyone here know when they actually started shipping with plastic instead of painted wood stocks?

Knowing this won't really change my opinion about what I have, but it would satisfy my curiosity. And, if I decide to buy another patrol, then I would be better informed for my purchase. Yes, I like the patrol that I have now enough to want another one. Why have one when you can have two. Isn't that the fundamental base of Japanese spending? I do know a couple of Japanese words, so it's ok...


Anyhow, if anybody has any info on this, I would sincerely appreciate the input.
 
The MVP I'm interested in is this one...Mossberg MVP®-LC (Light Chassis). I feel confident that this rifle will be a fine precision shooter.
It's on my wish list.

View attachment 11455

I've got an MVP LC, and its OK.... its had about 200 rds through it so far, and i keep hoping it will settle down and get consistant, but not yet. Of course it could always be me, but even at 25yds, (the only distance I've tried it so far) I'll put 3 of a 5 shot group all touching, but the other 2 will be flyers, a little bit out. On the attached pic, the left and right top targets are good examples.. group of 3, then 2 flyers. (ignore the .22 holes.. :))

(The red bulls are 1/2 inch diameter)


Actually, looking at this pic i see the flyers are always in the same direction, so it probably IS me.. :oops:

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Generally the rifle works well, feels ok to shoot with the attached muzzle brake, although the ports were not exactly horizontal, a few degrees out, and i didn't know if that was causing the rifle to tend to jump left when fired. I tried to remove the muzzle brake but it was very tightly screwed on.. i had to take a gas torch to it to get it to move.
I'll try it without the brake for a while... I felt very antisocial using the brake on the range anyway, it tends to blow other peoples stuff around, even several feet away!! When i put the brake back on, i'll try to shim it to make it horizontal.

The bolt feels a bit loose and sloppy in operation, but locks up solidly.

I've been feeding it GGG nato ammo so far, its actually cheaper than i can reload it, but I'm sure i'll start reloading when my current supply of GGG runs out just to see if i can improve accuracy.

Edit: Just some more details...
I forgot to say its the .308 flavor and its scoped with a Hawke Sidewinder 6.5-20x42.
All shots are fired sitting at a concrete bench, using the supplied bipod, no rear bag, just supported in the shoulder by my left hand.

Daryll
 
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Don't forget to disassemble it and clean all the preservative oil and gunk out especially under the scope bases ! Man does Mossy do a good job pickling the metal in preservative oil. A shot of break clean to de grease the scope base screws holes and screw threads and a drop of blue lock tight on the threads will keep those scopbe bases from vibrating loose.

Post pics when ya get it.
 
The MVP I'm interested in is this one...Mossberg MVP®-LC (Light Chassis). I feel confident that this rifle will be a fine precision shooter.
It's on my wish list.

View attachment 11455



I tip my hat to MDT for taking the plunge to make the chassis and to the fellas on TOS that wrung it out. The combination was a success and Mossberg took notice. Whoda thunk it would end up becoming a catalog standard ? :)
 
I am embarrassed to say that I put my Patrol up for sale. Fortunately, I had an epiphany, and I pulled the add before it actually became serious. I have bought and sold a lot of guns, but this one I just don't believe that I can let go of. I have never really been into rifles, but now that I have owned the Patrol, for a few months, I don't think that I will ever be without one again. And, I also believe that the Patrol is the best rifle I could have ever settled on.
 
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I have been watching a few youtube reviews on the MVP. I hear a lot of stuff repeated but the one thing that I don't hear anyone discuss is how the action/bolt compares to other rifles, of similar type. Is there a specific reason or benefit to how it is made over another brand? Why is a Ruger American rifle fitted with a smooth, tight fitting bolt assembly and the Mossberg is very loose? I can see that the Mossberg bolt/action will benefit in that it will probably handle dirt and trash better than a tighter fitting assembly, but I have not owned many rifles so I really can't form an opinion.

What do you guys think about that?
 
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ok, I think the problem on my MVP LC was the ammo.... ( never blame the shooter !! :p).

I tried my first ever batch of .308 handloads today and the results were amazing... to me anyway...

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None of the flyers that I was seeing before, and much tighter groups. These were using GGG cases, Sierra 155gn HPBT, and 41.0, 41.5 and 42.0 gn of H335 (the only suitable powder I had...) All shot from a bench at 25m, so still some work to do at longer ranges, but I'm happy with those!!

Edit: One thing I have just realised, is that the GGG cases are NATO spec, and therefore probably have reduced case space. So the 42.0 loads were probably getting close to max, although there were no signs of high pressure.

But maybe I'll back it down a couple of grains...
 
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