Mossberg Patriot

[KnotRight]

Was thinking about getting a Ruger American rifle or Savage Axis in 308. Having a hard time finding an Axis II. A friend mentioned that the Mossberg Patriot has gotten some great reviews. Not really a fan of Mossberg or Savage to be honest but thing do change.


I do not plan to hunt with the rifle. Just want a 308 to play around with and looking for an entry level gun.


Anybody shot a Mossberg or know anyone that has?

[koger]

Ok, I used to be a die hard Ruger/Winchester man. Savage always shot the lights out, were poorly finished and ugly. Now I have 11savages, 6 I custom built myself on savage actions. In Gun Tests, for 11 years, Savage has outshot everyone, factory rifles, period! They are the reason Marlin, Remington, and Ruger, now have entry level rifles with a barrel nut. You cant go wrong with either Savage Axis, 1 or 2, an Ruger American. I have 25+years experience as a gunsmith, ran a full time shop for over a decade, here are some reasons, form a mechanical point of view.
1. Barrel nut acts as an extension of the receiver, stiffening up the barrel support, hence more accurate, similar to older style finish free rifles, Mauser actions with extra long actions where the barrel threads are.
2. Great triggers and safe!
3. Good straight barrels, Ruger American is smoother than the savage, both shoot great, have put scopes on and line up over 20 of them combined.,
4. They both have higher action sides/tops, more metal overall, making them stiffer, similar to benchrest actions.
5. They have the Sako/Tikka type recoil lugs, front and back, so does the TC Icon! This is two points to kill recoil/barrel/action harmonics and vibration.
6. I think this is the most important. Instead of short chambering a barrel and then installing it, and then finish chambering it, give or take 3 thousands of an inch headspace, You can thread a barrel, chamber it completely, and screw the nut on the barrel, drop in a go headspace gauge, close the bolt and screw the barrel on till it stops, snug the nut up, and you have about 1 thousandth's of an inch headspace. I screw mine in till the bolt handle is snugging up on the last bit of handle closure, and you have ultra close tolerance headspace, as good as our bench rifles were a few years ago.

I have a cousin who recently bought a pink camo axis package gun, .243, cheap bushnell scope and rings, shot 3/4" groups out of the box! Her husband went back and bought a Axis .308, same deal, 1 inch and under with Rem. core lokts, 3/4" with Federal Gold medal, 175's I think he said. Another close friend bought a Ruger .243. We cleaned the grease out of the barrel, opened up the stock so barrel was floated, adjusted the trigger an put on a 3x9x40 Nikon Pro Sport, dialed it in, and with my 85 Sierra Gameking load my wife hunts with, shot 4 shots, into .450 of an inch from the get go. I would not hesitate to buy either, and another guy I know has the Rem 783, 30/06, 1 inch gun all day, 3 shot groups factory ammo. I have Axis Stainless .223 I bought used, cleaned it good and it shoots anything under an inch, most way better, it is my 4 wheeler and truck gun here in KY. Hope this helps and I have not been to long winded, just trying to enlighten folks as to why these shoot great. Also Boyds has a drop in laminate stock for the Axis, the stock is not tough, only weak link in the chain as I see it.

[vmathias]

I have the Ruger American. Though its not a Weatherby, Winchester M70 or Sako they are reliable and accurate for the price. I have done a lot of research on the bargain rifles. If you have another 150 to spend over the standard $300 to $350 go with the Weatherby. If your looking in the budget range I would look at the American, Marlin X7 or the Patriot. They are all fine rifles. I like savage rifles but am not a fan of the axis. My buddy owns one and says their bolt can be a little finicky and move out of place riding up before a shot. He has missed a few coyotes due to this happening.

[Frank46]

Bunch of years ago I bought a savage 110Fp in 308 and proceeded to shoot a ten round group with some Lake City 7.62 nato match. Never could quite get that small a group again. Shoots better than my 700 heavy barrel in the same caliber. Paid if I remember right about $275 and don't regret it. Frank

[vmathias]

Bunch of years ago I bought a savage 110Fp in 308 and proceeded to shoot a ten round group with some Lake City 7.62 nato match. Never could quite get that small a group again. Shoots better than my 700 heavy barrel in the same caliber. Paid if I remember right about $275 and don't regret it. Frank

Yes I have owned a few savage rifles. They arent pretty but they are tough as nails and more accurate than 90% of the production rifles made. My savage 22lr bolt will shoot 1.5" groups easily at 100ards. Not bad for a $180.00 rifle.

[KnotRight]

Today i went to get the Mossberg Patriot just because I could not find a Ruger American or Savage Axis II. Right before I paid for the Mossberg I had them check again on the Savage with a scope and one of their suppliers just got a couple in. Put down a couple hundred dollars and asked them to get one for me. It should be here in 2 or 3 days.


Now waiting on the reloading supplies for the 308.

[khmer6]

Ok.... so I'm goingo that be THAT guy that brings back a thread from the dead. Did you ever pick up your Savage in 308? I picked up one of those Axis II last year in 308 since I couldn't find an 06. Haven't shot it much. Was not impressed with the scope mount.
I've been looking at the Patriot line and damn do I want that 375 Ruger. Just can't seem to find one in stock in the warehouse or e-tailers. Then today I got an in stock notification
Too much gun? IDK we shall see

[jrap]

I have a ruger m77, rem 700, and savage axis. They're in 7mm rem mag, .308, and 223 respectively. If I had to pick one I'd take the river any day. It's the most accurate rifle I own and has done dime sized groups at 100 yards. Made in 1976 and it still has the Redfield scope it shipped with. That being said if go for the ruger and get a nice piece of glass for it. I personally like the Bushnell 10x scope with mil dots. Good luck

[khmer6]

I have a 700 in 7mm mag it shoots nice and clean crisp pull with factory x mark pro trigger. The savage with accutrigger in 308 kicks damn harder than the 7mm mag! That's comparing some plain Jane box 308 ammo to some hot loaded 7mm mag. Good grief. Almost better off keeping the 308 in the safe and using the 7mm from varmints to bear

[Four Fingers of Death]

I have a Ruger American Compact in 223. Absolutely brilliant little rifle and shoots 3/4" groups with Premium Federal Factory ammo.

I have just bought a 338WM Mossberg Patriot Walnut and am awaiting it to be shipped (bought from a friend who owns a gunshop in Queensland, the State North of me).

I have been trying to get a Ruger in 338WM to match my M77 Mk2 (Wood / blue, pre Hawkeye) in 300WM without success. The only 338WM bolt rifle that seem to be regularly available here are the Tikkas, but they are expensive, T3 Hunters are over $AU1300 (the M77s are about the same) and the Patriot is $AU695 + $AU50 shipping and insurance, a bit of a no brainer.

I'm looking forward to getting it.

My friend has a Savage Edge in 308Win that he wants to get rid of. Also tempting.

[donald duck]

I am thinking of purchasing a Mossberg Patriot in .22-250 and have it rebarrelled to .250 savage, want to shoot the Lyman 65 to 68 grain cast bullet with gas check. Does anyone have knowledge as to where to get a barrel. I do have a Savage Edge in .223 rebarreled to 7MM TCU Shilen barrel and it is a tack driver with 120 grain cast bullets with gas check. Barrel cost more than the Edge(Axis) The bolt is uglier than SIN. Email me dworley790@gmail.com

[Four Fingers of Death]

The Savage Edge certainly has the 'edge' on ugly, but they seem to work well. There is a young guy who comes to our range with a Savage Edge in 308Win. When he turned up the first time, it was fitted with a cheap package scope which I helped him zero in whilst I showed him how to run the barrel in. At one stage I gave him a shot of my Ruger American 223 and he was impressed with the 2.5-8X Vari X3 Leupold that was fitted to it. I pointed out that it was about $AU130 dearer than the rifle.

He turned up the next time with a Leupold fitted, haha. He doesn't hunt and is not interested in reloading so he just shoots a box of 20 premium factory ammo each visit and gives me the brass(He doesn't realise it, but I am putting them aside for him in case he has a change of heart later on). Now that he has bought a pair of good bench rests, he is regularly knocking out 1/2" groups. Amazing on such a cheap rifle.

[Four Fingers of Death]

My gundealer friend has my 338WM Patriot Walnut from the interstate gun shop and the registration is all fixed, but I'm waiting for him to get a bit of free time to pick it up. In the meantime, the local gun shop has a 308Win Mossberg Patriot Night Train 2 in stick in green. Niceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee looking rifle! My Remington SPS Tactical 308Win doesn't ever look like it will settle down and shoot decent groups, so it might be time to swap.

[Artful]

I have a 700 in 7mm mag it shoots nice and clean crisp pull with factory x mark pro trigger. The savage with accutrigger in 308 kicks damn harder than the 7mm mag! That's comparing some plain Jane box 308 ammo to some hot loaded 7mm mag. Good grief. Almost better off keeping the 308 in the safe and using the 7mm from varmints to bear

Amazing the difference in a rifle stock - I have a friend with a S&W / Howa with a stock that must have been designed by a dentist as it tried to remove your teeth everytime you shot that .30'06.

[Don Fischer]

Wish I had the money, I'd give a Mossberg a go. If for no other reason just to see how it shoot's. If that is, you can get it with a wooden stock! I just went and looked at one on the internet w/ wood stock. Nice looking rifle!

[Four Fingers of Death]

I had my Mossberg Patriot Walnut at the range today, fitted a scope and started to zero and run the barrel in, but only got three shots away before I ran out of light. It has a nice stock shape and good recoil pad, for a seven pound rifle, it soaked up the recoil of my 250Gn Barnes loads going full speed. I will be back at the range on Wednesday and will get a better idea of the accuracy potential.

[Brother_Love]

Good looking rifle! Mine came back to me Saturday as a 358 Winchester. I hope to start load devlopment this week but we are in 95+ degree days now. May have to put it off as it is hard to see through the scope with sweat running in your eyes.
Attachment 170118

[Four Fingers of Death]

That would be a nice cast boolit hunting rifle. The other cheapies such as the Savage Axis, Remington 783, etc seem to have gone out of their way to make them look ugly and life is too short to shoot ugly guns! The Ruger American looks ok, but the Patriot is as stylish as Win Model 70 or one of the fancy high dollar copies.

[robg]

I've got a savage116 in 308 pre acutrigger lefty ,shoots everything better than I can sub inch if I do my bit with lead or jkt boolits.adjusted the trigger to 3lbs.only thing I would like to replace is the plastic stock but I'm scared it would lose its ability to embarrass more expensive rifles.

[mmkt]

I don't own one but wasn't impressed with the one I saw at my LGS.