The Mossberg MVP 7.62 Patrol tested
My son knocked out some AP courses his senior year, and decided to go to a nearby state junior college to start and will have his AS in Engineering degree at the end of the semester. He will knock out some more courses next semester and transfer to finish his BS after that.
He has saved a ton of money to me doing this.
(Unlike his national merit sister with a half dozen full scholarships she passed on to go to a school giving zero scholarship to her)
Anyways, over the years
I have gotten him set up with the basics.
An AR, a Beretta, a pump shotgun, and a SA shotgun.
And fam’d him on revolvers, Glocks, 1911s, 94/336, bolt action, etc.
He expressed an interest in a scout rifle.
I snagged the MVP based on price, mag compatibility, etc. and did not want to sink a fortune in a type of gun he may not end up being really into.
I grabbed some 18$ Leupold see through rings, a 129$ Vortex scope, threw them on, and headed to the range.
I mainly shoot for basic functional use. So this will not be a magazine article accuracy optimizing review.
It comes with an economy sling that will function for basic carry.
It has a flash hider. If he gets into it I can throw a phantom brake on there so we can use my YHM can.
Sights are rear ghost ring and FO front. It somes with one ten round PMAg and I grabbed another. I have a ton of larger ones on hand for a 7.62 AR I got about ten years ago.
The action feels a little gritty. The trigger is also a touch gritty, but with a short pull and light, crisp break.
Quality wise, sort of like a mid range Savage.
At the range I dropped in a round with no mag in. It is not quick and simple in the no mag scenario.
I threw it to my shoulder and clanged a 10 inch plate at 100 meters.
Then I did it again with a five round mag. Fine by me. I did not use the iron sights any further.
I threw down a mat and got prone and tried some different ammo.
No bench, vise, etc. obviously.
Top left is ball basic mil quality FMJ ammo. The type that gets linked up with tracers. It works fine.
Top right is steel cased brown bear 308 145gr FMJ. Works fine. Smells a little bad.
Middle left is Winchester 7.62 FMJ. This ammo is total shit. It comes in white boxes with red lettering. I picked up a thousand rounds ten years ago. When I was sighting in my AR I thought the scope was slipping in its rings. I pulled twenty rounds back then and don’t remember the weight differences between cases, powder, and bullets, but it was a huge range compared to what I expected.
Middle right is Tula 308 steel cased 150 grain FMJ. Shoots fine for the price. Smells a lot bad.
Bottom left is black hills Winchester March 168 gr hollow point. A waste of money for this gun shooting prone unsupported.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/f21j2grqfTyeo5iW2
Next photo has two more,
Top is steel cased Wolf.
Bottom is Hornady TAP.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/AMyjiKSfEea7nRaH3
I will probably grab some reasonably priced, mid range hunting ammo,
And go back tweak the zero for it on a bench shooting supported.
And maybe repeat the groups with the ammo already used.
I am not the honor grad of SOTIC or the Scout Sniper Instructor course like some of my colleagues have been over the years. I don’t plan to reload for hours coming up with the super grouping ammo fired from a vise with barrel swabs, cold shot dumps, and cooling periods to find the perfect round. I’m a middle aged guy laying on the ground shooting ammo straight from the boxes into the mag.
It is all broken in and ready to go to hand him for a graduation present for his associates. If he is really into it I can dump some money into a nicer rifle with some serious glass in a couple of years when he finishes his bachelors.
You can find a better hunting rifle, precision rifle, etc. for the price. For a 308 bolt gun with mag compatibility with your semi autos, that is an all around gun, it’s the least expensive option. Although, prone on the ground, it’s not like I was going to throw a 20 or 25 round mag in there.
The rest of each box of ammo was used on 10 inch steel plates with iron sights or the scope from standing, kneeling, seated, and more prone. With the exemption of the Winchester ammo, which was 9 for 15, all other ammo rang it 15 for 15.
Dropping something at 100m with the scope or iron sights unsupported is fine for this gun.
If you need to tag a brain stem at 300m you are not looking at this gun anyway.
The action and trigger feel smoother after just 150 rounds.
The trigger can be adjusted.
