Hey guys~confession time. In the past, whenever I hear the word "Mossberg" I'd almost instantly lose interest. The rimfires I'd seen seemed overly bulky for what they were, heard good things about the "Chuckster" in .22WMR but could never bring myself to buy one. (in spite of the great reputation for accuracy) A buddy of mine out west likes Mossberg 22s and swears by them, but they were still never any temptation. This past summer, I got some trigger time with a model 500 shotgun, and was struck with how light it was, and easy to cycle compared to my 870. Got me thinking a little more about Mossberg..which brings me around to the model 152.
On August 3, I lost my closest hunting/fishing buddy to pancreatic cancer an in the wake of that (long story short)...ended-up with his Mossberg 152 until his widow's PAL came through. Old gun that had belonged to his dad, but to the best of my knowledge...my buddy had only mounted a scope on it...but not shot it since he was a kid himself~some 40 years ago. A couple of weeks back, she asked me if I'd take her out shooting when time allows, so I thought I'd better give, or try to give this old 152 the once over. I feel a strong sense of obligation to make sure it's clean/safe...and understand it's operation before showing someone else how to shoot it. Especially her.
An extremely brief stint on YouTube gave me all the confidence I needed to open this gun up, and wow was I impressed at how it came apart. I'm a Marlin 795 fan for everything they are/aren't, but comparing what it takes to fully clean one vs. this Mossberg~wow. I'm about 100% sure I just spent 2 hours cleaning a couple of decades of crud out of this thing, but I'm pretty handy with the dental picks and little surgical tools~pretty much required with this particular rifle, at least in this state of neglect. Far cry from having to take the barrelled action out of a Marlin 795 for a full spa treatment though!
Anyhow, I have a photo to share but photobucket is giving me some grief. It's a typical 152 only with no iron sights, most of it's blueing gone...and a brand new Bass Pro scope sitting on it. Nothing overly remarkable, but I'm now anxious to see it shoot. (which I'll do first, and in advance of taking her out) I even had a look in the EE to see if there was one there...just because.
I'd be very curious to hear from anyone who has one, has trigger time with one, your impressions, etc. If you have photos to share~even better. The function of the gun seems very simple/robust and with the bolt assembly dropping out in 1 piece like it does from the rear, cleaning the bore is as easy as cleaning the bore on a bolt gun.
Feels a little personal to be saying this, but I feel like I did my buddy a nice favour tonight. Heck, I made no effort to even do it quickly.
On August 3, I lost my closest hunting/fishing buddy to pancreatic cancer an in the wake of that (long story short)...ended-up with his Mossberg 152 until his widow's PAL came through. Old gun that had belonged to his dad, but to the best of my knowledge...my buddy had only mounted a scope on it...but not shot it since he was a kid himself~some 40 years ago. A couple of weeks back, she asked me if I'd take her out shooting when time allows, so I thought I'd better give, or try to give this old 152 the once over. I feel a strong sense of obligation to make sure it's clean/safe...and understand it's operation before showing someone else how to shoot it. Especially her.
An extremely brief stint on YouTube gave me all the confidence I needed to open this gun up, and wow was I impressed at how it came apart. I'm a Marlin 795 fan for everything they are/aren't, but comparing what it takes to fully clean one vs. this Mossberg~wow. I'm about 100% sure I just spent 2 hours cleaning a couple of decades of crud out of this thing, but I'm pretty handy with the dental picks and little surgical tools~pretty much required with this particular rifle, at least in this state of neglect. Far cry from having to take the barrelled action out of a Marlin 795 for a full spa treatment though!
Anyhow, I have a photo to share but photobucket is giving me some grief. It's a typical 152 only with no iron sights, most of it's blueing gone...and a brand new Bass Pro scope sitting on it. Nothing overly remarkable, but I'm now anxious to see it shoot. (which I'll do first, and in advance of taking her out) I even had a look in the EE to see if there was one there...just because.
I'd be very curious to hear from anyone who has one, has trigger time with one, your impressions, etc. If you have photos to share~even better. The function of the gun seems very simple/robust and with the bolt assembly dropping out in 1 piece like it does from the rear, cleaning the bore is as easy as cleaning the bore on a bolt gun.Feels a little personal to be saying this, but I feel like I did my buddy a nice favour tonight. Heck, I made no effort to even do it quickly.
