story is Mossberg offers something in rimfi re rifl es for just about everybody. If you are considering the purchase of a rimfi re rifl e, you really need to obtain a Mossberg catalog and peruse it carefully. Obviously, I wasn’t going to have time to check out all
these models while on a three-day ground squirrel hunt. But that was all right. Mossberg wasn’t going to ship all these models across the country anyway. However, I was able to fi eld test four. First up was the Tactical .22 with quad rail, carry handle,
and black synthetic stock. Barrel length is 18 inches and the magazine holds 25 rounds of .22 Long Rifl e ammunition. A 10-round capacity magazine also is available. Basically, what Mossberg came up with in this model is the look and feel of the ever-so-popular AR platforms … but in an affordable, lightweight, and fun-to-shoot rimfi re rifl e package. One version of this model has an adjustable stock and another version has a fi xed-length stock. Personally, I would suggest getting the adjustable stock model to accommodate shooters of various ages and sizes, and to have the rifl e remain read- ily usable as children grow. These rifl es are built around Mossberg’s proven and dependable .22 LR autoloader action. The AR-style carry handle allows the mounting of scopes or other optics, and the separate top rail can be removed from the carry handle simply by turning out a screw. The Picatinny quad rail forend provides for the mounting of a large range of accessories, such as lights. I couldn’t resist. I picked up one of the available Tacti-
cal .22s and joined Ron Spomer for a walkabout through a nearby pasture that was mostly sagebrush. We saw, and shot at, a number of ground squirrels, many of them on the run. I’ve never claimed to be much good at hitting moving targets with a rifl e, though. I did manage to get a ground squirrel that made the mistake of pausing to look at me no more than 10 yards away. Nonmoving target. Big mistake! Personally, I think anyone with an AR-15 style center-
fi re rifl e would do well to get one of these rimfi re versions to use for practice (much lower priced ammo) and to let others (such as family members) try out and get used to handling this style of rifl e. For children learning to handle such a rifl e, the lower weight of this rimfi re version would be a big plus. And the fun factor is high. Suggested retail price is $276.00. Next up were the Mossberg bolt-action rimfi re rifl es,
available in 29 models and in .22 Long Rifl e and .17 HMR. We had with us on the Oregon trip a Mossberg Model 802 Plinkster Thumbhole Tipdown in brushed chrome barrel and a black composite thumbhole stock with Tipdown forearm. This one I had to try! Specifi cations for the Mossberg 802 Plinkster bolt-action
rimfi re rifl e are: .22 Long Rifl e caliber; magazine capacity of 10, plus one round in chamber; 21" barrel with 1:16" twist; adjustable rear sight; 40" overall length with 14¼" length of pull; and approximate weight of 4¼ pounds. Suggested retail price is $217.00. I grabbed my electronic earmuffs, stuffed a couple of
hundred-round boxes of .22 Long Rifl e ammo into my pock- ets, picked up the 802 Plinkster, and took a hike. Our group was shooting on an irrigated alfalfa circle with DOA Tactical rotating shooting benches, and that’s where I had been shoot- ing several rifl es. But now I wanted to try something a little
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different so I crossed a ranch road a couple of hundred yards behind where I had been shooting and I was in new territory. I had an entire irrigated alfalfa circle to myself … and by fol- lowing the sprinkler arm I would be shooting directly away from my companions. So I started at the center pivot post and slowly walked beside the sprinkler arm, watching for targets. And there were plenty! The framework of the huge sprinkler arm offered places where I could lean against and grasp part of the metalwork with my left hand while also holding the Tipdown forearm of the 802 Plinkster. There were plenty of squirrels at various distances out in the alfalfa and I was quite pleased with just how steady I could keep the scope’s cross hairs on the targets. Part of the fun, of course, was watching the hits in the scope … and the CCI Mini-Mags did their job. The vast majority of my shots fell into a range 20 or 30 yards out to 40 or 50 yards. However, I happened to have a Leupold RX-1000i TBR laser rangefi nder in my pocket so I checked several shots that appeared to be farther than most … and discovered I made several hits just beyond 60 yards. That was about as good as I could do without a shooting bench. On the last day of our hunt I had an opportunity to fi eld
test one more Mossberg rifl e model … the new centerfi re bolt-action MVP (Mossberg Varmint Predator) Series (the “plus” in the title). This rifl e has a unique feature in that the bolt is designed to accept and reliably feed from AR-15 style 10-round magazines, something new for bolt-action rifl es. This rifl e is chambered in .223 Remington (5.56 NATO) and the 24" button-rifl ed barrel has a 1:9 twist rate. It’s a medium weight bull barrel with a varmint-style crown and is fl uted.
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