Gave the Mossberg 464 a work out today -- 52 rounds

[handyrandyrc]

Made a good little pile of brass up today! Guess I should get some more loaded up asap -- this is a fun little rifle!



I used 1.90cc of Trail Boss with a Ranch Dog 30-30 boolit on top. I dip them in Alox, Ranch Dog style, and pushed these through a .309" Lee boolit sizing die. They sound just like a .22 LR -- hit the bank with a thunk, more authority than the .22. However, velocity on these should be around 1000-1100 fps max, so around same velocity as a .22 LR. But it's about 170 grains of .30 caliber boolit hitting the dirt bank.

I had a riot. Danced some plastic bottles around that someone had left behind. Shot a few at 25 yards to see where the sights were as well.



5 out of 7 nearly can touch a quarter. Perfect for me! I'll move it out next time -- this trip was more to test function and make sure the extractor is holding up. I'm much more confident in it now -- I don't believe I'll have any problems. I certainly wasn't ginger with it -- I wanted to make sure it would hold up to rough-n-tumble working of the lever.

Feed function is perfect now. They had replaced the carrier at the repair depot, and I think this corrected my problems big time. I no longer am getting the heavy scratches on the brass that I was before they replaced the carrier.

OJ, you gonna consider taking yours out for a spin? Break an extractor, (if yours is still the 'old' one) they'll send a new one free of charge, and it is a piece of cake to replace. This is my first and only lever, and I was able to get it apart without much trouble, using Junior Doughty's Win 94 disassembly instructions.

[piller]

Glad to see that your .30-30 is working. That makes me not quite so worried about whether a Mossberg is worth buying or not.

[iceman]

Glad to hear it is working well for you. Sounds like you had a good time. Any time spent making empty brass is a good time.

[claybob86]

Thanks for the range report and glad the extractor trouble is taken care of.

[Jaguarundi]

Congrats,nice post.Keep us posted.

[Mutt]

I too hope you'll keep us posted..................Thanks..............Mutt...............

[Borregos]

Thanks for posting, interesting to read a report on the Mossberg

[RIHMFIRE]

Nice report and glad to see the mossberg shooting
that good...How is the fit and finish on your gun?
I had a chance to handle one at Gander mountain...
and that particular rifle did not impress me at all...
Some of the gaps between wood and metal were
really bad...and the wood was average....
but it handled well

[OJ]

Glad to hear that - up 'till now, the only positive reports I'd heard were from the "experts" writing for magazines. I did mount an XS ghost ring on mine - guess I'll have to give it another try -

[Griff]

Glad you got 'er runnin'. Look forward to a report on some factory or equivalent ammo... hint... hint!

[handyrandyrc]

You mean some full house stuff? Yup, I'll get it covered. Hornady factory Lever rounds, Winchester factory rounds, and some of my own heavy loads. I want to see how hard these Ranch Dog boolits can be pushed -- some say just around 2000 fps, but I am wondering if they will hold up to that speed in the 1 in 10" twist. We shall see!

Fit and finish is average. I can't really say that wood to steel fit is perfect, there are certainly gaps here and there. I've had it completely apart, and it looks as if these stocks are not hand-fitted. Likely run through a mill and the computer makes them all "close enough".

I must say, the rifle is VERY utilitarian. But that's the way I like mine -- it's going to get carried a lot, get dinged, scratched, etc. Working on it is very easy, it's just like a 94. Not as easy as the Marlins, from what I understand, but still quite workable to me.

More pictures and news coming as I take it out more...

[Griff]

If you're castin' 'em outta wheel weights they oughta shine at those speeds. I shoot a gas-checked boolit outta a Lyman mold at around 2190fps and they hold together just fine... no leading and accuracy thats as good as I can shoot with iron sights.

[handyrandyrc]

You running them in a 1 in 10, or 1 in 12" twist barrel?

[nemhed]

Glad to hear the positive report! Now, continue to shoot the heck out of that thing and report back to us from time to time.

[Griff]

You running them in a 1 in 10, or 1 in 12" twist barrel?

Dern technical questions! Believe it's 1 in 10" Older Numrich full octagon 26" barrel, but it's been a long time since I looked, and don't have my data here.

And in a Winchester Trapper which has the 1-12".

But, then again, I'm not castin' them of straight wheel weights, I run 6 parts WW to 1 part lino.

[handyrandyrc]

Glad to hear that - up 'till now, the only positive reports I'd heard were from the "experts" writing for magazines. I did mount an XS ghost ring on mine - guess I'll have to give it another try -:

Any pictures of your setup? I sent an e-mail to XS Sights to see which set would work on a 464. I assume a 94 set would be correct, but am not sure. What did you use, OJ?

[Old Savage]

The last one I saw at The Gun Shop looked much better than the first. Fit of the stock was much better and it seem to function well.

[OJ]

Glad to hear that - up 'till now, the only positive reports I'd heard were from the "experts" writing for magazines. I did mount an XS ghost ring on mine - guess I'll have to give it another try -:

Any pictures of your setup? I sent an e-mail to XS Sights to see which set would work on a 464. I assume a 94 set would be correct, but am not sure. What did you use, OJ?

Uhhh - you caught me with my memory "down" - at age 82, it's not as good as it once was. It takes a little more than just the aperture - using the Weaver base the back is D/T for (can't remember the number)

The XS is their low mount Ghost Ring Backup Sight -GBU - PART #22-2069A-500-8. That not only required a taller front sight but a "spacer" for the 0.6" Williams white strip sight.

I really like aperture sights and ghost ring sights and this combo works great - as you can see, I had great expectations and went to considerable effort - zeroing only took five shots.

You caught me in a confessing mood - explaining why I was so disappointed in gun parts failing so soon. I'll get the digital camera out, get some shots and post them here.

[Chuck 100 yd]

Glad to hear that it is working for you!

Those Trail Boss loads are a HOOT. Did well in my Marlin .30-30
and the .308MX too.

[OJ]

Glad to hear that - up 'till now, the only positive reports I'd heard were from the "experts" writing for magazines. I did mount an XS ghost ring on mine - guess I'll have to give it another try -:

Any pictures of your setup? I sent an e-mail to XS Sights to see which set would work on a 464. I assume a 94 set would be correct, but am not sure. What did you use, OJ?

Uhhh - you caught me with my memory "down" - at age 82, it's not as good as it once was. It takes a little more than just the aperture - using the Weaver base the back is D/T for (can't remember the number)

The XS is their low mount Ghost Ring Backup Sight -GBU - PART #22-2069A-500-8. That not only required a taller front sight but a "spacer" for the 0.6" Williams white strip sight.

I really like aperture sights and ghost ring sights and this combo works great - as you can see, I had great expectations and went to considerable effort - zeroing only took five shots.

You caught me in a confessing mood - explaining why I was so disappointed in gun parts failing so soon. I'll get the digital camera out, get some shots and post them here.

As luck would have it, I'm better with guns than cameras - well, I started with rifles in 1932 when I got my first 22 single shot for my 6th birthday and, while I was trusted with the rifle, that trust didn't extend to the Kodak -

At any rate, I think these shots give a fair idea of what has turned out to satisfy me -

[444Hal]

Was thinking of getting one for the truck, but read somewhere that it doesn't have the "half cock" safty. That just seems unnatural for a lever.
Still may pick up a cheep, used one some day.

[OJ]

Was thinking of getting one for the truck, but read somewhere that it doesn't have the "half cock" safty. That just seems unnatural for a lever.
Still may pick up a cheep, used one some day.

I don't think any new ones have the "half cock" any more. This rifle, like most, if not all lever guns today, has the "hammer block" which prevents the hammer hitting the firing pin if your chamber is loaded and you decide not to fire and put it on safety. My Winchester 95 30-06 has that and I've put it to the test at the range and it works just fine.

This bothers some lever gunners but, given a choice, I like that system better than the cross bolt safety. I remember when the auto makers stopped putting the hole in the radiator for the crank because, with the 6 volt electrics used then, that crank came in handy. My current motorcycle is the first on I've ever had without a back-up kick starter and that worried me for a while but it's never been a problem.

Times change -

[OJ]

For anyone wanting to see my 464 with the XS Ghosst Ring Sights - go back to page #1.

My memory came back - the 464 is drilled & tapped for the Weaver 403 base mount.