Here is my review of my new Mossberg 100ATR rifle in .270WIN:
I'm a new shooter (just over a year) and I wanted to get my first deer hunting rifle and I needed to keep the cost low. I decided on a bolt action chambered in either .270WIN or 30-'06. After a lot of internet searching and talking with people it seemed that my option was to choose a new budget-priced model or look for a decent used rifle. I prefered a synthetic stock because I wanted the ruggedness and simple maintenance. This eliminated a lot of used possibilities because most older rifles have wood stocks. I really wanted something new anyway, so I focused there.
There are a number of options, but after all the pros and cons were weighed I took a bit of a chance and chose the Mossberg 100ATR. There isn't a lot of info on them yet, but what has been written is generally positive. I like to find bargains that deliver good quality at a low price (usually due to lack of market prescence). I was hoping that this was Mossberg's case.
I wanted to buy locally but nobody has them except S.I.R. in Winnipeg. They had at least 10 in stock when I called. The total cost including a set of Uncle Mike's swivels, freight and taxes was about $345. It took 8 days from order to delivery at my house.
Initial thoughts:
Upon first inspection I was very pleased. The stock is a black synthetic (polyester, I think - like the Butler Creek stocks) classic style with a cheekpiece. The metal is a true matte black finish (possibly Parkerized . . ?) which I prefer over the Stevens 200 matte blued finish. The finish of the stock is clean with no sign of burrs. The forestock is stiffer than the Stevens 200. The trigger guard and sling swivel studs are moulded into the stock and appear to be strong. The barrel is free-floated and is threaded into the receiver, not press-fit. The receiver is solid machined steel with a blind mag well that holds 4 cartridges. The bolt is a basic 2-lug push feed, but nice. Lock-up is tight. It slides reasonably smooth, but not as nice as the new Tikka T3 or Weatherby Vanguard that I looked at. The trigger is basic, not at all adjustable. It might be a bit heavy for some people's liking, but it's OK for me (I don't have the experience to compare with).
Here are pics of the rifle out of the box:
The scope ring bases are factory installed!
Here's some pics with the scope that I mounted. It's cheap, but it'll do to start with until I can invest in truly good optics. In fact, I bought this scope as kind of an impulse off ebay (almost as a joke). It cost me $38.57 total including shipping from Hong kong! It's a brand new 3-9x40 with illuminated reticle. It came with the rings, covers and a spare battery. It says "tasco" on it but it's a different print style than on the Tasco scopes in North America.
Here's the scope package contents . . .
and the reticle . . .
So . . . the rifle looks very nice for the price . . . but how does it shoot?
After bore-sighting at home, I was able to get out to the PCDHFC range on Friday. I decided to try regular factory ammo because I wanted to establish a starting point for accuracy based on what is most easily available. Eventually I'll probably try premium factory ammo after I've gone through a few more boxes of the regular grade. I brought some Federal Power-Shok and Winchester Super-X 130 grain soft points.
The weather was good (about 10 deg., light overcast with little wind) and it didn't take me long to get zeroed. At least I think I got it zeroed - I've never done it before
. After zeroing at 100 yds I tried to get some good 5-shot groups with the Federal ammo, then with the Winchester. The Winchester ammo seemed to work better. Maybe it was just me getting more used to the gun. I sort of wasn't prepared for the recoil and almost got scope-kissed a few times 
. I settled in eventually and could focus on my target sighting properly.
Here's some of the 100 yd results:
Well, not quite MOA, but I think pretty good for a beginner with a new, cheap rifle.
In conclusion, I'm very happy with this rifle. I think it's everything it needs to be for a basic deer rifle. I recommend it without any hesitation. About the only thing I wish that Mossberg offered was a detachable mag option. Loading cartridges into the blind mag is a bit tedious when a scope is mounted.
By the way - the scope performed well at the range. It stayed in place (I used blue thread-locker when installing) and I determined that 1 reticle dash equals 5" at 100 yds when on 9x power setting. I'll be trying to translate that to real-world field use somehow. If anyone is interested in knowing whom I bought the scope from on ebay just PM me. As I stated, it came from Hong Kong so there is no US firearm export ban to worry about.
Thanks for sitting through this long presentation . . . any questions?
I'm a new shooter (just over a year) and I wanted to get my first deer hunting rifle and I needed to keep the cost low. I decided on a bolt action chambered in either .270WIN or 30-'06. After a lot of internet searching and talking with people it seemed that my option was to choose a new budget-priced model or look for a decent used rifle. I prefered a synthetic stock because I wanted the ruggedness and simple maintenance. This eliminated a lot of used possibilities because most older rifles have wood stocks. I really wanted something new anyway, so I focused there.
There are a number of options, but after all the pros and cons were weighed I took a bit of a chance and chose the Mossberg 100ATR. There isn't a lot of info on them yet, but what has been written is generally positive. I like to find bargains that deliver good quality at a low price (usually due to lack of market prescence). I was hoping that this was Mossberg's case.
I wanted to buy locally but nobody has them except S.I.R. in Winnipeg. They had at least 10 in stock when I called. The total cost including a set of Uncle Mike's swivels, freight and taxes was about $345. It took 8 days from order to delivery at my house.
Initial thoughts:
Upon first inspection I was very pleased. The stock is a black synthetic (polyester, I think - like the Butler Creek stocks) classic style with a cheekpiece. The metal is a true matte black finish (possibly Parkerized . . ?) which I prefer over the Stevens 200 matte blued finish. The finish of the stock is clean with no sign of burrs. The forestock is stiffer than the Stevens 200. The trigger guard and sling swivel studs are moulded into the stock and appear to be strong. The barrel is free-floated and is threaded into the receiver, not press-fit. The receiver is solid machined steel with a blind mag well that holds 4 cartridges. The bolt is a basic 2-lug push feed, but nice. Lock-up is tight. It slides reasonably smooth, but not as nice as the new Tikka T3 or Weatherby Vanguard that I looked at. The trigger is basic, not at all adjustable. It might be a bit heavy for some people's liking, but it's OK for me (I don't have the experience to compare with).
Here are pics of the rifle out of the box:
The scope ring bases are factory installed!
Here's some pics with the scope that I mounted. It's cheap, but it'll do to start with until I can invest in truly good optics. In fact, I bought this scope as kind of an impulse off ebay (almost as a joke). It cost me $38.57 total including shipping from Hong kong! It's a brand new 3-9x40 with illuminated reticle. It came with the rings, covers and a spare battery. It says "tasco" on it but it's a different print style than on the Tasco scopes in North America.
Here's the scope package contents . . .
and the reticle . . .
So . . . the rifle looks very nice for the price . . . but how does it shoot?
After bore-sighting at home, I was able to get out to the PCDHFC range on Friday. I decided to try regular factory ammo because I wanted to establish a starting point for accuracy based on what is most easily available. Eventually I'll probably try premium factory ammo after I've gone through a few more boxes of the regular grade. I brought some Federal Power-Shok and Winchester Super-X 130 grain soft points.
The weather was good (about 10 deg., light overcast with little wind) and it didn't take me long to get zeroed. At least I think I got it zeroed - I've never done it before
. After zeroing at 100 yds I tried to get some good 5-shot groups with the Federal ammo, then with the Winchester. The Winchester ammo seemed to work better. Maybe it was just me getting more used to the gun. I sort of wasn't prepared for the recoil and almost got scope-kissed a few times . I settled in eventually and could focus on my target sighting properly.
Here's some of the 100 yd results:
Well, not quite MOA, but I think pretty good for a beginner with a new, cheap rifle
.In conclusion, I'm very happy with this rifle. I think it's everything it needs to be for a basic deer rifle. I recommend it without any hesitation. About the only thing I wish that Mossberg offered was a detachable mag option. Loading cartridges into the blind mag is a bit tedious when a scope is mounted.
By the way - the scope performed well at the range. It stayed in place (I used blue thread-locker when installing) and I determined that 1 reticle dash equals 5" at 100 yds when on 9x power setting. I'll be trying to translate that to real-world field use somehow. If anyone is interested in knowing whom I bought the scope from on ebay just PM me. As I stated, it came from Hong Kong so there is no US firearm export ban to worry about.
Thanks for sitting through this long presentation . . . any questions?
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