After 55 yrs on the planet Noah discovers Mossberg 22s

[Noah Zark]

Lost my Mossberg .22 rifle cherry this past weekend, and I'm wondering why it took this long. Got this MINT late-40s-vintage Mossberg Model 42M(c) at a gun club swap meet for $120:

It's wearing a Marlin front sight that I installed to replace the multi-post sheet metal front sight that came with the rifle; some of the four front posts are a little wobbly in the sight base, and I didn't want to fire the rifle with sights a little wobbly. I also removed the rear sight from the barrel for test firing purposes because it partially obstructed the view of the front sight from the peep.

After a good cleaning and lubing the 42M(c) went to the range and got warmed up with a box of Wolf match 22s and plain jane Minimags. The action is VERY smooth to manipulate. Using the receiver peep and the Marlin front sight, I had no problems busting claybirds on the 50 yd berm. The mag holds 7 rds, so I placed 14 orange discs on the berm. The first string I missed one, the second string I hit 7/7. I shot up the rest of the box of Wolf ammo by making the broken claybird bits smaller and smaller . . .

These things could become addictive . . .

Noah

 

[gunbunny]

The same thing happened to me a few years back; but with an old Winchester model 69 instead. You have to love the craftmanship that went into these rifles. I never worked on REAL walnut until I had to fix up the old backetcase model 69. REAL walnut is really hard and dense- it reminded me of a walnut shell, and smelled like one when I sanded it. The rifling is super crisp, even for a 50+ year old rifle. With a 6-24x scope, I can hit the 1/2 steel rods (holding 4" dia steel plates) all day long at 50 yards.

They knew how to make rifles back then.

I think that is why they are so addictive.

 

[mob]

i just picked up a marlin 60 and a stevens 87a from a local member here, if i told ya the price ya would fall over, but they are damn nice rifles that are gonna have a nice home in my safe

 

[OPinOKC]

Noah,

To really have a good time with one of these you have to shoot some 22 shorts.

Yours looks great, especially the "stock" stock. Mine lost its fore piece at some point, maybe when it was off in England under Lend Lease. And it's threaded at the muzzle, for some reason.

O.P.

 

[Hughjimbissel]

Had a couple of M44s, a year or two back but a buddy badgered me out of them-wanted to teach his grand kids to shoot and I figgered that was a worthy use. They really did shoot well with about any ammo.

 

[johnnywitt]

Man, that's a sweet rifle Noah. Nothing beats a good .22 for me. I always have the most fun shooting a RF for some reason.

 

[po]

Here is my 46M, a near twin to yours, in the hands of the third generation. Awesome fun!

-- po

 

[SubGunFan]

Lost my Mossberg .22 rifle cherry this past weekend, ............ <You SLUT> .....for $120: <DAMN, you charge too much... >

....................................

These things could become addictive . . .

Noah

With current ammo prices and availability........ 22 rimfire is looking much better to a lot of people...................


For years... some of my trips to the range included nothing but 22RF firearms. You got to love those little 22s...................

.

 

[ptrthgr8]

The older Mossberg .22s definitely are neat rifles - ridiculously complicated for all they are (though the Remington Sportmaster 512 is far more so), but they're all sweet shooters and have a lot of character. I got into them pretty good last year. Here's a few of mine:

Mossberg 46B with Mossberg No.M4D Scope

Mossberg 46B

Mossberg 51M(b)

Something like a Ruger 10/22 is far simpler in terms of operation, but a 10/22 will never have the same appeal as these old Mossbergs (IMHO).

Cheers,

~ Greg ~