O.F. Mossberg Goes AR-15 L.P. Brezny
MMR Tact 30 rd./ full tactical rifle sights, rail, six position stock, and add-on fore-end system.
idsummer 2011 found me well inside the state line of Wyoming near the small mining town of Wright. The local hotel was the jump off point for the testing of a brand new entry into the black gun market, and this time a gun was being offered by a company well-known for many years as a small caliber rimfire and shotgun manufacturer. Mossberg, like others in the indus- try today, was taking a gamble on a to- tally new direction in firearms market- ing. With their own solid manufacturing capabilities right here in the United States, and carrying a background in many types of firearms design over a long period of time, Mossberg had started to move toward centerfire rifles already. But the turn to the AR-15 pat- tern rifle was indeed something quite
M
different for Mossberg.
Test rifles were all but total pro- totype in that these were the very first off the line and into writers’ hands. The ARs were black, had no bird cage muzzle attachment, and were designed without cartridge assist plungers or dust covers. Making use of a slimmed down fore-end tube that was one-piece aluminum, and a grip designed by Stark that was integrated with the trig- ger guard housing, the gun had a very solid and balanced feel to it. Controls, as in safety, magazine release, and bolt release levers, were all standard AR- 15/M-16 style types, but the charging handle had a very nice extended flip-out extension on the left side of the T bar. This made actuating the bolt easy and quite fast. Magazines were all five-round
capacity, though 20-round standard AR types are fully interchangeable with any and all other AR-15 rifles designed with the common magazine well system. During the test shooting, which covered three days and a good deal of ammo, I never observed or found the magazine to function less than perfectly each and every reloading. In fact, I can say that when compared to some of my own ARs that find use here in South Dakota, the Mossberg’s function out-performed several of them hands down. The am- munition used for the entire test series was Hornady Superformance Varmint 35-gr. NTX (non-toxic) and the bullets were pointed with a plastic tip con- struction.
In the sighting department the flat top receiver with the Weaver rail mounted a Safari Land base / ring setup
Author bench rest shooting Mossberg on prairie dog town in Wyoming. (Photo by John Anderson)
The MMR has a very dependable sight mounting system (rail) and also makes use of the standard controls, less the dust cover and forward assist. Dust cover still pending final design for market.
www.varminthunter.org Page 81
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