New gun tinkerins'

A

Al Nyhus

"It'll never work!"
I'd been thinking of putting together a compact rifle that could do double duty as a calling gun and for shooting prairie dogs 'Western style', as Randy Robinett would say. I didn't want to spend a bunch and the latest off the shelf Remington 700's have been disappointing as to barrel quality.

I was wandering through the gun area in my local Scheels and spotted this white camo stocked rifle tucked back in the rack with a 'Sale' tag on it of $279. I mean...how good could that piece of junk be? Well, a couple of minutes later I was walking out with my latest 'deal' and contemplating P.T. Barnum's quote about fools and their money.

It's a Mossberg, gawd forbid. But a pretty slick Mossberg. The action is like a round 700, it has a fluted bolt, sliding plate extractor, floating bolt head and a barrel nut like a Savage, albeit much nicer looking. It's got a detachable box magazine that latches into a plastic reciever that fits between the action and the stock. This makes the bedding situation a bit herky but that can be addressed with some ProBed and some pillars. The trigger is adjustable and has the Savage style blade.

It's chambered 22-250, the barrel is 22" and nicely fluted with a decent looking crown. I JB'd the beejeezus out of the barrel, brushed and patched it until clean, then set about checking the seating depth. Fully expecting any bullet I tried to fall out the end of the case neck before contacting the lands, I started with a Nosler 40gr. BTip, just for the heck of it. Amazingly, it touched the lands with .100 of the shank still in the case neck. :eek: The 40 gr. BTips have long been a favorite of mine, plus I have over 4,000 of them. ;) Hey...this thing might not be too bad, after all. I slugged the barrel and it felt even all the way up.

With a 20 oz. 6.5-20 in Talley rings, it weighs 7lbs, 2 oz. and is pretty well balanced. A smaller fixed 6X for calling could drop another half pound from it.

If the weather continues to hang in there, I'll hopefully have a range report.

 
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tim said:
Hey.....you got the wrong camo for them leaves and dead grass.
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duhhh......Big Al's way ahead of you! He did it that way on purpose so's you could see the gun!


I remember when these came out I looked at them and thought "that's a well thought out agglomeration of components, kinda' borrowed stuff from everybody, should work!"

Now I guess we'll find out.

Keep us posted



al
 
At the worst

you're only out a new barrel if this one won't cut it. Pretty hard to find a stocked action for $279. , eh? Heading out your way Tuesday morning early. Driving with a friend and two Shorthairs. Going to Yankton for 5 days.

Pete
 
Pete Wass said:
you're only out a new barrel if this one won't cut it. Pretty hard to find a stocked action for $279. , eh? Heading out your way Tuesday morning early. Driving with a friend and two Shorthairs. Going to Yankton for 5 days. Pete
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Good luck on your pheasant hunting, Pete....highs will be mid-upper 50's and it's pretty dry out here so the dogs will need a fair amount of water to keep their sense of smell up. Most of the corn and beans are out down there so the hunting should be good if you get on good ground. Try Charlie's Pizza in Yankton...good stuff. The staff can be a bit surly but being from the Northeast that's nothing you haven't dealt with before. ;) Might still be a goodly amount of bald eagles on the South side of the dam for viewing. You'll be hard on the Nebraska border so keep your guard up.

If you run into any trouble, give me a shout. Three big smoke rings followed by two short ones is the Forbidden Zone universal signal for help, or W.T.F. (Waiting To be Freed).

If'n I can get the boys out of the bar and sobered up, I'll saddle up a posse and head your way.... -Al
 
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Al

how'd that 22-250 barrel borescope for wear? I bought an old Winchester post 64 M70 HB in 22-250 a while ago. Looked mint - out but it had been shot some. Obvious wear in the barrel ahead of the chamber but the darn thing still shoots bug holes with 52 gr. Gentners. Good luck with yours. --Greg
 
Well see but

Al Nyhus said:
Good luck on your pheasant hunting, Pete....highs will be mid-upper 50's and it's pretty dry out here so the dogs will need a fair amount of water to keep their sense of smell up. Most of the corn and beans are out down there so the hunting should be good if you get on good ground. Try Charlie's Pizza in Yankton...good stuff. The staff can be a bit surly but being from the Northeast that's nothing you haven't dealt with before. ;) Might still be a goodly amount of bald eagles on the South side of the dam for viewing. You'll be hard on the Nebraska border so keep your guard up.

If you run into any trouble, give me a shout. Three big smoke rings followed by two short ones is the Forbidden Zone universal signal for help, or W.T.F. (Waiting To be Freed).

If'n I can get the boys out of the bar and sobered up, I'll saddle up a posse and head your way.... -Al
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I am going with a friend who has a friend there who has a place on the river and has his own ground to hunt sooooo - - . He told me they have come up with a new food plot mix that has enhanced their flocks dramatically. I was out two years ago and the week was planned ahead so no free time. We'll see. If I were alone, I would, for sure, put up the smoke. The finale is a Downeast Lobster Bake in the biggest Man Cave I was ever in. Still the plan for this year. I'll report later on how it's going. In my wildest, I would have never imagined I would be able to be involved in anything like this, back when I was still in the "Working World" but dang, here we is. Ain't life sometimes great? And me on a "fixed Income". :)

Pete
 
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On our way home:

We have had a nice trip. We delivered two participants to the airport this am and then headed east. we had a good trip with good weather and fair shooting. Bird numbers are down due to a wet nesting season and late harvest they say. Our group shot 41 birds over two full and two part days.

The most enjoyable thing for me was watching our host's 5 months old Wirehair Pointing Griffon learn the entire Hunting deal over the 4 days. He is a charmer and learned to retrieve first, hunt second and point birds third. I have been around bird dogs for around 3 decades and never have seen a dog learn so fast or one with so much natural instinct at such a young age, yes, it made me want one ?.

We hope to be able to make it home to Maine tomorrow. Great trip and one to remember, for sure. Our hosts love company and look forward to hosting the Maine contingent each year. I am pleased to have been included this year and hope it won't be the last.

Pet
 
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We didn't make it:

We only made it to Albany,NY by 10 PM so we hove too for the night and should be @ my place by noon tomorra. My driver only sleeps 4 or 5 hours per night so we'll be quite far accross I 90 when McDonalds opens for breakfast.

Pete
 
Pete, thanks for the report.:)

Al, with global warming blanketing the Forbidden Zone since your initial post, you surely made it to the range with the ReSavBerg - how'd that go?
Have you been unable to access the SGR site?:confused:
Dogs were scarce - plague and poison taking their toll still a few here and there. No BIG towns. :( RG
 
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