Mossberg 46b target accuracy

Grizzlypeg

Grizzlypeg

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I recently gave my son in law a 46b rifle that I owned. I hadn't shot it a lot, but using the peep sights I thought I was getting very good accuracy at 50 yards. Now that it is his, we fitted it with a 3-9x40 scope and its shooting pretty unspectacularly. We aren't using target grade ammo, but I'm shooting groups in the 1.5" range and he is shooting worse.

What sort of accuracy should we expect from this rifle? I'd have thought it would be shooting 1" groups or better at 50 yards with the same ammo I shoot through my cz452. The crown seems perfect. We haven't done any extensive cleaning of the barrel.

I'm ready to try a different and better scope on the rifle, just in case that is the problem.
 
You say you're not using "target grade ammo". What ammo are you using? This might be a key factor.

You say you "haven't done any extensive cleaning of the barrel". A very dirty barrel, seldom if ever cleaned, will do nothing to promote accuracy.
 
grauhanen said:
You say you're not using "target grade ammo". What ammo are you using? This might be a key factor.

You say you "haven't done any extensive cleaning of the barrel". A very dirty barrel, seldom if ever cleaned, will do nothing to promote accuracy.
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I've tried American Eagle 40 grain and 36 grain hypervelocity, both of which shoot really well through my Cz452, and will print 3/4" groups at 50 yards most of the time. I wasn't expecting 1.5" groups for me, and 2.5" groups for him with this gun.

We will give the barrel a good cleaning with a bronze brush -perhaps there is lead in there- and shoot it with some SK and RWS target ammo and see if it prints better. My 10/22 and Cz452 currently shoot much better groups than it, half the size, even with Federal bulk 525 ammo.
 
I have just gone through ammo testing in some of my Mossbergs. My surprise this morning was 25yd 3/4" string with Federal ammo. All others were my usual1 1/4"-1 1/2". I had one flyer with CCI Stinger but the others were a 1/2" string. Center-X was just over an inch and then 1 1/2". Canadian Match and Win Wildcat were similar.
 
Grizzlypeg said:
I've tried American Eagle 40 grain and 36 grain hypervelocity, both of which shoot really well through my Cz452, and will print 3/4" groups at 50 yards most of the time. I wasn't expecting 1.5" groups for me, and 2.5" groups for him with this gun.

We will give the barrel a good cleaning with a bronze brush -perhaps there is lead in there- and shoot it with some SK and RWS target ammo and see if it prints better. My 10/22 and Cz452 currently shoot much better groups than it, half the size, even with Federal bulk 525 ammo.
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Different rifles may shoot the same ammo differently. Five shot groups with AE at 50 that are about 1.5" isn't necessarily a surprise.
Try CCI SV for more affordable standard velocity ammo that may offer better performance than high velocity ammo.
 
I have a 46 and a 46ba, they shoot everything pretty well, definitely not target rifles. The accuracy you are getting is pretty normal.
 
I have a 46ba also with an old Weaver K4 and it shoots pretty good out to 30 yards (1-1-1/2 ) with standard velocity S&B and CCI The SK brand is better quality but at twice the price it is not twice as good.
Dave G
 
i have many older Mossberg 22's,including some 46B's,,they all shoot regular velocity stuff the best,seems to prefer plain lead bullets,
i have a couple of the target 144 LSB's than will shoot a 1/2" group or less with regular Remington thunderbolts,box stuff,not bulk,a bullet lots of people say is crap,seems to work excellent in my Mossbergs,in my 1022's,not so much,bottom line,these old Mossbergs shoot,and shoot very well.not a lot of new 22's today that will shoot with them out of the box,
 
I have a 46b, a 46ba and a 146b. I scoped 2 and the second 46 has the peeps. I have never gotten smaller than 3/4" groups with either of them. My average is usually 1.25" with bulk ammo. I mainly use the 555 Winchester 36gr and that get me 5 shots at 1.25-1.5" @ 50 with the scope on 10x. I have never shot "good match or target ammo" as supply is expensive and spotty. My 3/4" groups came with the Winchester M55 ammo (which I think is discontinued) BUT, I just got 1000rds of it off a friend so I'm happy. Next summer I will bite the bullet and get some good ammo to try like Eley etc.
 
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