Filled the .308 hole!

osprey · Apr 28, 2020

Well over the years I have had a few 308 bolt guns come and go through my hands but somehow I never seem to keep one. Lately I have been loading a ton of 308 ammo for my Fal's and have been thinking of getting another 308 bolt gun to round out the crew. I have been perusing the classifieds here but all the good deals have been in other states. So, today I started looking at options for buying new. I was hoping to only spent $ 500 or so and did not have a lot of hope finding one with features I wanted. I was looking for a 20" barrel or so, threaded barrel, adjustable trigger, detachable box mag and preferably an optic rail. I was also hoping to keep it under 8.5 lbs full up as I would be hunting with it some as well as target shooting. Tall task right? Well I first concentrated on some savage offerings but couldn't quite find what I wanted for the money I was willing to spend. I briefly veered towards some ruger stuff when I stumbled onto the mossberg patriot line. I found this one with everything I wanted and all the reviews I read are mostly positive. For $460 out the door at my LGS, I decided to take a chance. Anybody have experience with mossberg's bolt guns? At that price I figure I can't get hurt too bad. I will update my thoughts after I receive it and shoot it.

Ura-Ki · Apr 28, 2020

Only thing I have ever heard is the Q.C has been hit and miss on their rifles, but the few I have looked at seemed fine! Hope it works out for you, will expect a range report as always!

DB is Here · Apr 28, 2020

I must admit I was tempted to get a 6.5 CM but selected a .308 since I have friends that have the recipe if I ever want to reload.

JustSomeGuy · Apr 28, 2020

osprey said:
Well over the years I have had a few 308 bolt guns come and go through my hands but somehow I never seem to keep one. Lately I have been loading a ton of 308 ammo for my Fal's and have been thinking of getting another 308 bolt gun to round out the crew. I have been perusing the classifieds here but all the good deals have been in other states. So, today I started looking at options for buying new. I was hoping to only spent $ 500 or so and did not have a lot of hope finding one with features I wanted. I was looking for a 20" barrel or so, threaded barrel, adjustable trigger, detachable box mag and preferably an optic rail. I was also hoping to keep it under 8.5 lbs full up as I would be hunting with it some as well as target shooting. Tall task right? Well I first concentrated on some savage offerings but couldn't quite find what I wanted for the money I was willing to spend. I briefly veered towards some ruger stuff when I stumbled onto the mossberg patriot line. I found this one with everything I wanted and all the reviews I read are mostly positive. For $460 out the door at my LGS, I decided to take a chance. Anybody have experience with mossberg's bolt guns? At that price I figure I can't get hurt too bad. I will update my thoughts after I receive it and shoot it.

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I've got one in 308 that I bought just to see if they were worth a hoot. 22" fluted barrel and all the metal is done in grey cerakote from the factory.

Trigger was a bit better than average for the price point, and good enough that I didn't feel the need to make any adjustments.

It's got a sloppy bolt to the point that running it with the heel of my hand on the end of the bolt knob would cause it to bind when closing. The best group I got out of it with factory ammo was just under an inch. I'm figuring it would do better if I took the time to work up a load it likes, but I wasn't impressed enough with it to invest the time to do that.

The usual caveat applies, it's a sample size of 1 and YMMV.

ETA: Pulled the paperwork on it and it shot a .98" group with Hornady Superformance 165Gr SST.

osprey · Apr 28, 2020

Bolt situation sounds a bit janky but under an inch with factory ammo sounds ok. Got my fingers crossed but not expecting the world.

osprey · May 18, 2020

Just a quick update. I really initially wanted a Savage but the Mossy was too hard to pass up. I got bored this weekend and saw Cabela's had the Savage 110 tactical hunter in 308 on sale. Appears to be a Cabelas/Bass pro exclusive model and with my club points it would come to about $375 otd. I broke my promise of never using Cabela's and their lame ffl transfer system. It will be here next week. In the meantime I called my lgs to see what the hold up was on the Mossy and possibly cancel the order. They inform me it has been there for a couple of weeks and they tried calling and emailing me. I got no such record of either

. At any rate I will pick it up this week and this thread may turn into a two rifle comparison. So I will go from owning no 308 bolt guns to owning 2 in short order.

osprey · Jun 21, 2020

I have been tied up at work and doing a bit of halibut and shrimp fishing on the weekends, so this project got back burnered. I did however manage to mount some scopes up a couple of weeks ago and actually got out and shot these two 308's today. So initial impressions after putting about 30rds through each is, they both are worthy for the cash investment. They both seem to be far from finicky as I shot 5 different handloads through each that were developed for my Fal's, yet they all grouped under 1.5" at 100 yds. The Mossy has a light profile barrel and it shows on longer shot strings. It's best group of the day was a 3 shot group at 7/8". Another 5 shot group was about 1 1/4". The Savage with its heavier profile barrel had several groups sub 1" including the last one of the day which was 5 shots into 5/8" with a fairly warm barrel. Some other interesting observations, despite being 1# 5oz heavier than the Mossy, the savage kicks like a mule comparatively. Not sure what that is about but I suspect it is stock design. If I keep it, another stock will be in order. Both functioned well but the Mossy has much more fluid bolt operation and preferred the feel of the action overall. The triggers are very good on both. The Mossy came 2 5\8#'s out of the box and I did not touch it. It does have a very slight amount of creep. The Savage came closer to 4#'s from the factory and I adjusted it down to a touch under 3. Slight edge to the Savage as there is no perceptible creep. I will keep putting them through the paces and may sell one in the end but then again maybe not.

11Charlie · Jun 21, 2020

DB is Here said:
I have friends

That might be stretching it a little :s0140:

osprey · Jun 21, 2020

Well I got me some good friends but just like Garth mine are all in low places.

PaulB47 · Jun 28, 2020

despite being 1# 5oz heavier than the Mossy, the savage kicks like a mule comparatively. Not sure what that is about but I suspect it is stock design.

Accustock, right? One possibility is that the aluminum internal frame being so rigid, it transmits recoil better than an all plastic stock does. Check the differences of the recoil pad too.

I've got several .308s and never was bothered by recoil in any of them. Yeah it can be a little stout with 180gr bullets but not enough to induce flinch. My softest shooting .308 is my FNAR...

osprey · Jun 29, 2020

I have owned and still own several rifles that mathematically produce much more free recoil than this Savage .308. For example, I have a Kimber montana in 280 ai. It weighs less than 7lbs full up and spits a 160 gr bullet out at 2975 yet it is far more controllable at the bench. I am still a bit amazed an over 9# 308 shooting a 150 gr bullet at 2750ish can generate that much perceived recoil. The recoil pad on it is quite soft also. I am thinking stock design is allowing more muzzle rise and adding to the perceived recoil. It will either go down the road or get restocked if I keep it. It is showing to be quite accurate so I will have a hard time letting it out of the stable.

Ura-Ki · Jun 29, 2020

osprey said:
I have owned and still own several rifles that mathematically produce much more free recoil than this Savage .308. For example, I have a Kimber montana in 280 ai. It weighs less than 7lbs full up and spits a 160 gr bullet out at 2975 yet it is far more controllable at the bench. I am still a bit amazed an over 9# 308 shooting a 150 gr bullet at 2750ish can generate that much perceived recoil. The recoil pad on it is quite soft also. I am thinking stock design is allowing more muzzle rise and adding to the perceived recoil. It will either go down the road or get restocked if I keep it. It is showing to be quite accurate so I will have a hard time letting it out of the stable.

I replaced my Accu Stock on my 10 FCP, as the felt recoil was more then a 1903 shooting 180gr! Shoots like a champ now and got a little more weight up front which ballences nicely!