MOA Mossberg
Mossberg’s Patriot line comes in formats to appeal to most tastes.
Let me be bluntly honest. Mossberg firearms weren’t exactly the cream of the crop when I was growing up. Heck, they weren’t all that hot 20 years ago.
But they are cutting a swath these days. This all-American gun maker was recently awarded a host of Retailer Choice Awards. I’ll confess I don’t know much about those Awards, but the press release from Mossberg (below) spells things out.
An early iteration of the Patriot in 7mm Rem. Mag. accounted for this New Mexico mule deer during a hunt with my good friend Steve Jones of http://www.backcountryhunts.com/. The borrowed rifle was shooting MOA with Nosler 162-grain Accubonds. I’d have preferred the rifle had a 24-inch barrel, but the buck didn’t seem to mind the shortage.
What I’ve noticed is that Mossberg has been trying and succeeding in designing and building affordable shotguns, rifles, and handguns that appeal to us “average” Americans. They seem to be focused on performance, practicality, and durability. This started with their “military grade” shotguns and have progressed through their bolt-action rifles. I noticed the rifle improvements about a dozen years ago when one of my TV shows was sponsored by Mossberg. At the time I thought their 4x4 rifles were among the homeliest on the market, but when I applied them to their assigned tasks, they usually clustered 3 consecutive bullets MOA or tighter. Then they redesigned the stocks to a more classic shape (Patriot series) and the metamorphosis was remarkable.
Monte Carlo hump, sway belly, and vented fore-end accentuated with a swelling laminated wood figure on the Mossberg 4x4 (top) inspired me to order a replacement Boyd’s stock with cleaner lines. The 4x4’s lines did help it stand out in a crowd, I’ll give it that.
Accuracy was problematic at times, leading to phrases like “minute of Mossberg,” but that steadily improved until MOA now seems to be standard stuff. You Tuber Who-tee-Who recently tested a new Mossberg Predator in 7mm PRC and punched 1/2 MOA groups. Consistently.
The newly designed Mossberg Patriot combined sleeker, classic stock lines with some surprisingly nice, figured walnut in the Revere model. Cosmetically it stands up well even to some high-end custom rifles like the Hill Country Rifles on top.
This is not just good news for Mossberg, it’s employees, and us customers, but for the USA. As recent product shortages and threatening posturing by China suggests, our country, our people, need to return to self-sufficiency as much as we can and as quickly as we can. Obviously we need raw materials and even many finished goods from other parts of the globe, but the more we can source and build here, the less we’ll suffer shortages and worse. Mossberg is to be commended for building more and better and in-country.
On a 3-day waterfowl hunt with outfitter Tyler Mann of https://saskgooseco.com/, I found the Mossberg 940 Pro Waterfowler 12 gauge to be a perfectly balanced, smooth swinging, smooth shooting, reliably shootable goose getter.
If you’re a Holland and Holland or Perazzi gun buyer, Mossberg might not be your style. But if you’re looking for solid, functional, durable guns at more-then-fair prices, you might want to give Mossberg a look.
Mossberg® Wins Multiple Retailer Choice Awards
NORTH HAVEN, CT - O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc., a leading American firearms manufacturer, has been awarded top honors in five categories of the 2022 Retailer Choice Awards presented by Shooting Sports Retailer and Tactical Retailer and voted upon by independent retailers. Shooting Sports Retailer and Tactical Retailer are two of the industry’s longest-standing and highly-respected B2B publications. Each year, these publications ask their readers to share their thoughts on the best brands and products in the industry. Based on the readers’ votes, winners are honored with Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards in an array of categories that include firearms, ammunition, and accessories.
The 2022 Shooting Sports Retailer Gold Choice Award for the Shotgun Category and the 2022 Tactical Retailer Gold Choice Award for the Shotgun Category were both awarded to Mossberg. As the oldest family-owned firearms manufacturer in America, Mossberg is known for its pump-action and autoloading shotguns. With the company’s flagship 500®/590®/590A1™ platform, celebrating over 12 million in production and having served in all five branches of the military, these durable, versatile and reliable pump-actions stand above the competition. Joining the venerable pump-action line is Mossberg’s family of 940® Pro, 930® and 935™ Magnum autoloaders. With clean-running, gas-operated systems and premium finishes, these shotguns are rich in features and function.
The 2022 Tactical Retailer Gold Choice Award for Favorite New Product recognizes Mossberg’s 940 JM Pro autoloading competition shotgun. Designed in conjunction with world-renowned shooter, Jerry Miculek, the 940 Pro is fast-cycling, feature-rich, and ready to compete, right out-of-the-box. Inside is a durable gas system, special finishes and coating on internal parts and on the outside, the 940 Pro features an adjustable stock and streamlined forend combined with competition-level features.
The 2022 Tactical Retailer Gold Choice Award for the Bolt-Action Rifle Category goes to Mossberg. Since introducing the Patriot™ and MVP® Series of bolt-action rifles, Mossberg has made a name for itself in the bolt-action category. At the core of these rifles are modern innovations and traditional styling with a focus on accuracy and performance in the field.
The 2022 Tactical Retailer Gold Choice Award for Shotgun Choke Tube was awarded to Mossberg. Providing added versatility to their shotgun platforms, Mossberg offers AccuChoke™ and AccuMag™-compatible barrels on many of their Field and Security shotguns. Chokes are available for Lead, Steel and other non-toxic shot and for a variety of hunting, recreational and security applications. Each choke is precision-engineered to provide consistent patterns and performance.
“Mossberg is honored to receive these multiple awards from the readers of Shooting Sports Retailer and Tactical Retailer,” commented John MacLellan, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Our goal is to provide our customers with the highest quality and most innovative products in the market today, and to serve the needs of our independent retail partners. Feedback from customers, in receipt of these awards, is humbling and appreciated by our entire team.”
About O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc.
Founded in 1919, O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc., is the oldest family-owned firearms manufacturer in America, and is the largest pump-action shotgun manufacturer in the world. Celebrating 100 years of innovation, Mossberg leads the industry with over 100 design and utility patents to its credit and stands as the first ISO 9001 Certified long-gun manufacturer. Complete information on commercial, special purpose, law enforcement and military shotguns, rifles, handguns and accessories are available at mossberg.com or by calling 1-800-363-3555. Mossberg can also be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.