Mossberg MVP, good or bad ?

Tigerzclaw

Tigerzclaw

Member
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hi everyone,

Lately I've been looking at various options for a .223 bolt action rifle, preferably with detachable box magazine, I had between 500 and 1000$ in mind and I looked to see what Savage or Tika had to offer, I looked for a Remington 700 and...a Mossberg MVP.

Now...I while ago I bought a Mossberg .22 and it was awful, that gun was a waist of money and decided I would not to buy a Mossberg ever again...But, years have passed and already having several AR mags makes me reconsider my position.
Especially when I saw the prices of others rifles mags...Yeah, looking at you, 80$ Remington 700 mag D:

I searched this forum and I've read many comments elsewhere and reviews and YouTube video. It seems to be a good gun overall. I get that the MVP's mag well is...not the best to say the least, I believe I can fix this with some ingenuity.
Is there's something I missed, some comments I've read here where not stellar about Mossberg rifles in general ( their shotguns are fine though )

Does anybody have something to say that will change my mind, other suggestions, or just that it's going to work just fine ?

Thanks
 
Had one. Fed really rough. Need to briskly work the bolt. The dropdown facing on the bolt feels quite flimsy. Accurate as any other bolt .223 I've owned.
I would definately recommend you handle one first before you buy. Kind of heavy also, so more of a stationary kind of gun rather than a walking around with gun. Your mileage may vary.
 
Tigerzclaw said:
Hi everyone,

Lately I've been looking at various options for a .223 bolt action rifle, preferably with detachable box magazine, I had between 500 and 1000$ in mind and I looked to see what Savage or Tika had to offer, I looked for a Remington 700 and...a Mossberg MVP.
Click to expand...

The Mossberg and Tikka should not be uttered in the same sentence unless your comparing 2 opposing ends of the spectrum.

What do you want it for exactly?

A Savage heavy barrel 223, like a Model 12 is an extremely sharp shooting gun for the $$$, MVP cannot compete.

Certainly the Rem 700 has a cult following and is no slouch.

The Mossberg "looks" kinda cool, but simply isn't in the same league. Great design, well thought out magazine compatibility, but fit/finish and overall performance is inconsistent and lackluster in my opinion.
 
Ruger just released their Ruger Ranch, 16.12" barrel in .223/5.56 that will accept AR mags at Shot Show this year. I am holding out for that myself.
 
I scoped one and sighted it in for a friend. I found that it would shoot MOA, or dang close with bulk AE. It fed reliably from all the mags that I tried. Bolt seemed a little sloppy. Trigger was okay - a lot like the accu-trigger, but not quite as nice. Stock was comfortable enough. It did seem a little long/heavy, but I can't say that it didn't shoot.

They packed a lot of options into a budget gun. As a result they aren't maybe as well done as a a more expensive model, but they are all there. In my opinion it's very similar to what Ruger has done with the RPR. They are a good value for what you are getting, but if you're expecting Sako or Steyr you'll be disappointed.
 
I would chose Savage way before mossberg any day.
Even Savage before rem 700.

Savage base gun is cheap $$$ and performs moa out of the box (accustock/accutrigger)
Savage has aftermarket parts in good availability, and you can even swap barrels yourself without a smith with some ease.

My vote goes to savage 100%

Don't know how tika made a list amongst rem 700, savage, mossberg...
I'd still rock a savage before a tika, but that's just personal/unpopular preference and me being sold to the savage headspacing/floating bolt head/barrel nut system.
 
I have a MVP in 223 that I bought for the wife. It is the varminter model with an 18" threaded barrel. It does need the bolt to be worked briskly as Sgt.rock mentioned. It feeds reliably from any mag we've used and is as accurate as my Savage model 10 with a heavy barrel. The trigger seems every bit as good as the Accu Trigger IMO and the wife has no trouble keeping 10 shots inside an inch. She loves it as it fits her very well and is quite a bit lighter than the Savage. I think it is a pretty decent rifle for the money.
 
is it your first bolt action rifle? Are you looking for hunting, long range precision , or carry around for plinking in the bush?

I got a MVP Varmint in 223 for PR shooting, mainly because I had been doing PR with 223 semi autos and wanted to stay with that calibre and try a bolt action. And use my 10 round LAR mags.

I was happy with the accuracy, I was on target at 600m within a basket ball size area when there was no wind, and definitely better than the semi autos I had used previously.

Problems though like others said, the bolt and mag well are a bit sloppy, which I am ok with, but regardless of how I ran the thing, firmly / hard / holding the bolt up a bit while running it forward, making sure the mag was fully seated and etc..., it would occasionally not catch the round and close on an empty chamber, that's a real pain in a competition when you have a 10 second window to get off 2 shots. It happened with all my mags, I don't think it was them.

Also I had problems with the firing pin. I was mostly using military surplus ammo, various lots of IVI and XM855. With my 10+yr old XM855, no problem with my recently bought XM855 I was getting approx 1 in 20 FTF. some of those rounds did fire later in my AR-15, some did not, (I did not keep track of how many though). Maybe light primer strikes? I'm not sure, could also have been the ammo.

Another problem with the IVI, older lots the primers must have been thin because they were cratering, (newer lots were fine), and approx 1 in 20 would puncture, and of those that punctured, maybe a quarter of them a bit of the primer would jam up the firing pin channel and prevented it from moving forward. I got real good at disassembling / reassembling the bolt, the little bit of brass would drop right out and everything was fine after that. But not good when you go to shoot in a timed competition and the firing pin does not snap forward. The same ammo would work fine in my AR so not sure what was happening there, might have been loaded hot. I had the same problem with some S&B 69 gr.match ammo, the primers must have been thin because they punctured not only in the MVP but also one of my semi autos, Swiss PE-90. In my H&K SL8 they were fine.

Also the varmint thin fluted barrel is not suited for sustained competition firing as it heats up too fast and the POI changes. This is the same for all rifles, not just the MVP. Ideally a thick heavy bull barrel would be better. Not a problem if you are able to take your time shooting and let it cool, it would be a good gun. But for my purposes, the unreliable loading, the problem with the firing pin, (and also, the effect the wind has on the light weight 223 bullet), I ended up getting a Remington 700 .308 heavy barrel.
 
I've been told that those MVP rifles are not good at accuracy. For the price point, you may want to get a Tikka T3 lite, depends on your application. I have a Ruger American Predator in .223, excellent rifle, I replaced the factory stock with a MDT chassis, got 0.8" 5 shot group at 200m with 53gr hand load.
 
I have the MVP and like it but I like to plink at the range, it seems to digest everything I put through it.
I also have a Remington 700 in .223 and like it but its fussy with ammo. It likes commercial and hand loads.
For hunting I use a Sako A1 223.
If you want a gun that will shoot anything on a budget and you like AR-15s the MVP works.
If you want a tack driver and are willing to put time into reloading dig deeper into your pocket book.
 
I have an MVP scout and a t3x CTR. Not only are they not in the same ballpark, it's not even the same sport. the Tikka shoots cloverleafs at 300m.

The scout is a different beast. It does about 3 moa @ 100m with factory ammo. Reloads are better but nothing less than 2 moa with the 18.5" barrel. Not super bad but not great. It does go bang, is nice to handle, the trigger is nice, has a great recoil pad and I love the fact it takes m14 and magpul magazines. The action is rough and the scope rail from the factory is messed up (the holes for it have been drilled weirdly - as in the tried twice in slightly different spots) and the screws are too long and do not keep the rail from floating up and down. Fixed easily enough but the lack of QC is concerning. I won't be buying another mossberg rifle anytime in the future.
 
I’m trying out an MVP-LR model in 5.56.
It has the adjustable comb cheek riser and the 1:7 twist to spin the heavier projectiles.

As mentioned by others, action isn’t the smoothest but cycles fine. Have a preliminary load with 75gr HPBT giving 3/4MOA at 100 yards.
Wasn’t impressed with the front sling swivels only being screwed into the stock. When attaching the bipod the stud pulled right out due to the leverage. Had to get them drilled through and use a backing nut. Now it’s no issue.

The shorter 20” barrel is nice and with the adjustable comb make for a nice offhand shooter.

The Tikka T3x TAC (not the A1) has the similar set up with the adjustable cheek piece and pic rail but is $2,000.
Would be a sweet rifle but was outside my budget.
 
A friend of mine picked one up - the precision model with the aluminum chassis. This was his first "serious" rifle. Out of the box, it shot poorly (6+ moa with various types of ammo). To boot, the gun was shooting well outside the range of scope elevation. Needless to say, he was dis-appointed, given the amount of money he spent. Being aware of the lack-lustre warranty performance in Canada, I suggested he let me have a look at the rifle. I noticed the front action screw was binding as it was snugged in the stock - you could see thread grooves in the aluminum stock from the mis-alignment. This was corrected with a little machining and the rifle now shoots much better, and the scope alignment was improved substantially.
Feeding and overall machining was rough... I wouldn't buy one for half the money.
 
MartyK2500 said:
I would chose Savage way before mossberg any day.
Even Savage before rem 700.

Savage base gun is cheap $$$ and performs moa out of the box (accustock/accutrigger)
Savage has aftermarket parts in good availability, and you can even swap barrels yourself without a smith with some ease.

My vote goes to savage 100%

Don't know how tika made a list amongst rem 700, savage, mossberg...
I'd still rock a savage before a tika, but that's just personal/unpopular preference and me being sold to the savage headspacing/floating bolt head/barrel nut system.
Click to expand...
I would do the same..they are pretty decent rifles for what you spend
 
I have no experience with Savage rifles, but the Savage 110 Scout has caught my eye, are the 110 Series rifles any good?

Edit I see the 110 series is quite new. Like SHOT 2018 new?
 
Last edited:
cmdrmonkey said:
I have an MVP scout and a t3x CTR. Not only are they not in the same ballpark, it's not even the same sport. the Tikka shoots cloverleafs at 300m.

The scout is a different beast. It does about 3 moa @ 100m with factory ammo. Reloads are better but nothing less than 2 moa with the 18.5" barrel. Not super bad but not great. It does go bang, is nice to handle, the trigger is nice, has a great recoil pad and I love the fact it takes m14 and magpul magazines. The action is rough and the scope rail from the factory is messed up (the holes for it have been drilled weirdly - as in the tried twice in slightly different spots) and the screws are too long and do not keep the rail from floating up and down. Fixed easily enough but the lack of QC is concerning. I won't be buying another mossberg rifle anytime in the future.
Click to expand...

I second that. my ctr shot wayyyy better than my moss. The moss bolt was disgusting and I still cannot figure out how it was allowed to leave the factory. Proudly made in us my @$$. I dumped the moss. probably will never get another.
 
Look at a Savage 10 series, any of the law enforcement line will be an excellent rifle. I have a 10tr is 308, and a 10 fcpk in 223. Both are MOA or better shooting rifles(better), there are a ton of aftermarket parts to build up the guns. Barrel changes are simple if you decide to change barrels or calibres. All in all, best "value" gun for the market.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom