Mossberg 464 on the way

[northmn]

When Teetop mentioned the 5th round flying I ran into a bit of that with mine. These barrel ring carbines can do that. I let mine cool down a bit before continuing. I have an old Marlin that has taken deer and it will start going South as the barrel heats up. AS its 4 shots for 4 deer I don't get excited about that. WE measure accuracy by 5 shot groups. With some rifles you may wan to rethink that. Down loading to get 5 shot groups may not be as wise as just trying 3 shot groups. Old saying, one shot we eat, two shots maybe, 3 shots nothing.

DP

[sparky45]

I have a Marlin 336 30-30 I purchased new in 1976. Shot her a few times (still have original partial box of ammo) and put her up. I got the gun out just last week and started tinkering with "down loading" some plinking ammo and I'm falling in love with it all over again. Loading cast 115gr flat nose plain base and she's a hoot to shoot.

[FergusonTO35]

.32-20 level loads in .30 WCF are just too much fun!!

[richhodg66]

For a while, they made a variant of these with a matte chrome finish and laminated stock with a very shor barrel and fiber optic sights. I'd like one of those.

[FergusonTO35]

That was the Marinecote version, wasn't it? Mossy also made a stainless version for awhile. The 464 seems to sell well enough to stay in the lineup but it's not setting any sales records. Strangely I have never seen a 464 in a big box store even though the 500 is a longtime staple.

[Texas by God]

I love my Williams 5D on my pre 64 94. I sometimes want to have a blade front sight for shooting groups- but that brass bead hunts good. Mossberg should get them out there in Wally and Academy etc. Best, Thomas.

[quilbilly]

I have been very happy with my 464 for years. It has shot every CB I have tried from 113 to 180 gr. very well. Recently I put on a Skinner sight and that sight really has made it shine with the long shank aperture. My fun load in it has been the Lyman plain base 130 gr boolit over Trail Boss (85% load fill) for 1300 fps which rings the gong at 200 and rolls coyotes at iron sight ranges. For a very short period Mossberg made a stainless 464 30/30 and if they brought it back or one in a 35 cal., I might own two 464's.

[FergusonTO35]

I just bought a Lyman 66 from another forum member to put on the 464. It fits the Winchester 94 and Marlin 336 but I see no reason why it wouldn't fit the Mossy if I get the receiver d&t'd.

[Treetop]

I just bought a Lyman 66 from another forum member to put on the 464. It fits the Winchester 94 and Marlin 336 but I see no reason why it wouldn't fit the Mossy if I get the receiver d&t'd.

It should work fine, FergusonTO35. Check out this thread from the Mossberg owner's forum. The poster is mounting a Williams Foolproof on his 464, Semper Fi. Treetop

http://mossbergowners.com/forum/inde...-464-spx.9004/

[FergusonTO35]

Thanks, that is what I am going to do except I will have the aperture holder over the locking block behind the rear bridge.

[Treetop]

Thanks, that is what I am going to do except I will have the aperture holder over the locking block behind the rear bridge.

Could you post a picture of your rifle with the Lyman 66 after you have it mounted? I would sure like to mount a receiver sight on mine someday! Thanks, Treetop

[richhodg66]

I bet Williams makes something real close that would work on the rear two scope mount holes. Anybody looked through their list to see what might be similar?

[FergusonTO35]

Williams does not make any receiver sight for the 464, I've called and asked. Currently they recommend the 12/37 which fits flat sided receivers and still requires d&t. Hopefully I can bail it out of layaway tonight and get the sight installed this week. Will post a pic when it is done.

[FergusonTO35]

Bailed out the 464 today. I put the Lyman 66 on the receiver and it looks like the rear contour of the receiver interferes with mounting it as far back as I would prefer. I could just have it mounted more forward so the sight is over the rear bridge but that is not what I want. So, I'm going to get the Williams 12/37 for it.

The rifle appears to be unfired or fired very little. I notice it also has a Williams rear sight and a fairly tall (around .550) front sight. Not sure why that is the case, unless that is what Mossberg is installing nowadays. Hopefully I can try out the rifle with some boolits here soon.

[FergusonTO35]

Turns out the Williams sight is factory, Mossberg used those and a more fancy one from Marble's on these rifles. I've always wanted to try the Marble's Bullseye rear sight so I went ahead and ordered one from Midway along with a .450 ivory bead front sight. Figger I'll try that out before I have the rifle drilled and tapped. If it gives me decent accuracy out to 75 yards I'll be happy.

[curioushooter]

I bought a NICE 464 (meaning walnut stock and checkered pistol grip) this fall for Deer hunting in Indiana, which now allows 30 Caliber (and 6mm for some reason) on private land. I think this may be my favorite long gun purchase of all time! These things are just so much better made than Rossi, Winchester, or Marlin. They rival new Henry rifles for quality, and are nearly half the price! When I received it, I took it apart and just marveled at how much better they are. Even part is well made, de-burred, and finished! After cleaning it of packing grease and applying a small but of high quality lube, I was amazed at how smooth cycling these are.

Then I took it to the range. I broke it un using Hornady (American Whitetail) 150 grain roundnose factory loads. Three shots to put the scope on. Then some hoppe's, then some Hornady first firing (which speeds the break-in supposedly). Then another three shots. It took 24 before I was satisfied. This is good ammo, but expensive, and the Mossbergs shot well with it, but with the short OAL of these, there were some sticky attempts at closing the action. The Mossberg definitely prefers oversized OAL (2.665 I found works best) loads. I had no problems feeding when I was using 33-36 grains of BL(C)-2 under a Speer Hot-Cor 170 grain flat point (which is an excellent bullet) loaded to 2.665. I noticed that these bullets, because they are pointy and longer always are directed into the chamber instead of pushing up against the shoulder of the barrel below the chamber like the Hornady factory loads do. Accuracy was better than what I would consider practical for hunting. My best group was a 1 inch 4-shot group at 50 yards. This of course was done with a scope off a rest. At 100 yards, it opened up to a 2.5 inches. This was with the Hornady factory loads. The Speer bullets will be my future hunting load.

Now that I have the barrel smoothed up some, I plan on trying cast bullets in it for some fun. There are so many great ones to choose from, and I am looking forward to the narrow land 6 groove barrel instead of Microgroove barrels or the junk they attach to Rossis. You wouldn't believe the look on my brother-in-law's face when I told him what I paid for the Mossberg ($403, new, off Bud's). He's hasn't been able to get his Rossi to shoot for a year now, and paid more than $400 for it.

I must say, after only hunting deer with 12 gauge slugs (Ithaca 37 deerslayer) or a 44 Mag (Marlin 1894) rifle for a long time, a real intermediate rifle-cartridge is a vast improvement. Much better effective range, kicks less, and is has about the perfect balance of power and minimum meat damage. Yea, I could have gone out there with a 30 caliber high-powered rifle, and honestly considered hunting with some ancient US Krag this year, but these Mossbergs are lighter (6.7 lbs. with scope), handier, and readily mount scopes or sights (mine has 2 threaded holes in both receiver bridge and ring). The mount I used was the Warne M827 with Weaver Grand Slam Medium Steel Rings. I think any Weaver-style steel ring would work that is the right height. The screws that the M827 comes with are really not as long as they should be. They don't go as deep into the factory drilled holes as they should. I've told Warne about this. I hope they fix it, because the bases are very good, and the only steel ones out there. I see that Skinner makes some really nice sights that mount to the same holes, even ones with ears on them. To me, this is vastly better than those Williams sights (semi-buckhorns) that come with it, or the Williams Receiver sights that mount on the the side.

Some bad things about it. 1) I think it would have been nice to put swivel studs on it at the factory. 2) The forend checkering job could have been a lot better. The butt stock was done well. 3) When will lever action rifles actually come with sights that don't stink? Why is it necessary to buy sights or an optical sight? 4) Unlike Henrys, the bolt is not easily removed from these. It requires removing two screws and drifting two pins, so I think it is worth getting an OTIS pull-through type cleaning cable. The 30 caliber rifle kit is perfect for this, and it is $13.

4) The sight bases admit no movement of the rings. They are in a fixed position, so you must find a scope that will fit it. I have found that the best fitting scopes are small, have small ocular bells, straight tube-width optical lenses, and are of low magnification. The Leupold FX-II 2.5x20 Ultralight works well, but I think the VX-I 1-4x20 works better and offers 4x for long shots. They heavy duplex reticle in this scope is great for dark woods, too. The VX-1 2-7x does not fit with eye relief and the bell interferes with the rear sight. 5) I appreciate the visibility offered by a florescent orange magazine follower, but it is plastic. It is the only plastic on the rifle (they even use a real brass bead for the front sight). But it is plastic, and I think plastic has no place on a rifle.

Things I really like about it vs. the competition. 1) The TANG safety. Really, all long-gun safeties should be this way. They are ambidextrous (did I mention I shoot lefty), fast, secure, and allow you to cycle the action with them applied. These are great for in field unloading. Put the safety on, point it at the ground, and unload. 2) the passive safety lever system. Some of you seem to not like this, but when you let go of the lever, it springs out and the firing pin is blocked. This makes it drop safe. With it and the tang safety, you can walk around "cocked and locked" safely. You can do this with the cross-bolt safeties but they are right-handed. 3) The tigger. While the trigger is on the heavy side, it has no creep. It is a nice clean break, and is broad and long (and NOT gold plated). With some concentration and practice I was able to learn to control it well despite its slightly excessive weight (in my opinion).

One inch squares there.

[FergusonTO35]

Excellent, glad to hear it. My 464 is way nicer in terms of build quality than the awful 2002 Winchester 94 I used to have. Like most of the Marlin model 30's the 464 is an inexpensive but quality rifle. I'm looking forward to trying my favorite .30 WCF boolit load of 28 grains IMR 4895/Lee C309-150-RF. My Marlin 336 shoots it really well despite the tight throated microgroove barrel.

[shoot-n-lead]

I was thinking of trying one...but I keep coming across nice, clean 94's...my a favorite lever gun...so I guess I will hold off for a while.

[FergusonTO35]

No clean 94's to be had around here, at least not under $400.00. Heck, awful ones from the 70's are always over $300.00. For $300.00 I'm quite happy with my 464.

[curioushooter]

I honestly think the best Winchester 94 Angle Eject isn't as good as a Mossberg 464, and it is because of the design. The solid rear receiver bridge, the round bolt, and smoother action, the tang safety, the trough-the-buttstock bolt--these are all improvements. There may be Winchesters with nicer triggers out there. But that is about the only advantage they may have, and I think that if one wanted to could improve the Mossberg's. The Marlin 336s I sold weighed a pound a half more and isn't made as well.