and a lot of fun. Over the course of the morning we were there I managed to get nine ’chucks … and felt pretty good about that number. The new Mossberg MVP rifl e, Leupold scope, and Double- tap ammo all performed quite satisfac- torily, making an excellent long-range combo. Then, unfortunately, it was time to return home and catch up at the offi ce. A few weeks later I joined writ-
One version of the 702 Plinkster Semi-Automatic comes with a black composite stock and a muzzle brake.
It has factory-installed Weaver-style bases, sling swivel studs, and the bolt is helically fl uted. The metalwork features a matte blue fi nish. The crisp, creep- free trigger is adjustable from 2 to 7 pounds. The benchrest-style stock is a gray laminate with an ergonomically- designed pistol grip with palm swell and is pillar bedded. Suggested retail price is $649.00. The rifl e was topped with a Leupold 4.5-14x scope. With the new MVP rifl e in hand,
three of us traveled to an area where a rocky bluff extended left and right for a mile or more … and rockchucks like rocky areas. We parked 300 yards from the bluff, measured with my Leupold
RX-1000i TBR rangefi nder, and set up to shoot with McNett’s Doubletap Ammu- nition, loaded with 55-grain Nosler Bal- listic Tip bullets. I began glassing with my Leupold Golden Ring 10x42mm HD binocular. I don’t live in rockchuck terri- tory so I was not used to spotting them in their environment, and I didn’t fi nd them all that easy to locate. But in time I began to spot one here and another there. Then began the process of trying to hit them with a crosswind from right to left. But once I got the scope adjusted for elevation and doped out the hold off for wind, I began to hit. This is not the high volume shooting that prairie dogs can provide but it was challenging …
ers Jon Sundra, L.P. Brezny, and Jim Shepherd for another varmint hunt with Mossberg rifl es, this time in Wyoming. And this time with Swarovski scopes. This hunt was put together by Kody and Jordan Glause, a young husband and wife team operating Heart Spear Outfitters. Kody’s father, Kelly, also helped with the driving and setting up shooting benches. We stayed in the town of Wright at the Wright Hotel, an excellent facility with the equally excel- lent Open Range Steakhouse attached. The Mossberg rifl es we had avail-
able were the same models I’d used in Oregon, though now equipped with Swarovski scopes. One rimfire Mossberg rifl e I wanted to fi eld test in Wyoming was the 702 Plinkster Semi- Automatic with Muzzlebrake, which had on it a Swarovski Z3 3-10x42 with a 4A reticle. The 464 Rimfi re Lever-Action Rifl e had only the factory open sights. The 702 Plinkster Semi-Automatic
Page 14
An AR-15 lookalike in .22 LR is new in the Mossberg lineup. October — December 2011
is available in ten variations, with both wood and synthetic stocks, standard and thumbhole grips, different col- ors, 18" or 21" barrels, and blued or brushed chrome fi nish, and two with Tipdown forends. Weight varies from 4 to 5¼ pounds. The Mossberg catalog says the integrated muzzlebrake on the 702 rifl e “…vents gas charge away from the muzzle, for faster recovery on follow-up shots.” Considering the nearly nonexistent recoil of a .22 Long Rifl e, I’m not sure if this is a big deal … but the “cool factor” is there. Plus, the brake can be easily removed if you want to. I wandered about the prairie shooting off-hand at prairie dogs within rimfire range and found there is no muzzle jump with this model. Would there be much difference in this regard if I removed the brake? I didn’t have an allen wrench with me so I don’t know. That aside, I liked the rifl e. It’s always seemed to me that having an immedi- ate follow-up shot with a rimfi re rifl e was quite satisfying. The weight is very
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