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303 Posts
From my posts last year, you know I bought this rifle new in September, 2017. It's an accurate rifle and handles very well in the woods- I did not get a shot at a deer with it last season, but we are getting closer to the new season every day.
I've had no feed/eject problems with this rifle at all. My only complaint has been the heavy trigger and relatively rough action. In another thread I talked about polishing the wear spots on the bolt, lever, and every other moving part I could remove from the rifle. That Marinecoat finish is tough, but it's mildly abrasive- but with felt wheels on my Dremel I was able to polish off the Marinecoat on those wear spots. I left the receiver alone, hoping that polishing would be enough.
It wasn't.
Though it was not fired in the woods at all, the rifle was loaded and unloaded quite a bit during the weekends I hunted with it, and at the end of the season, the improvement I noticed when I polished those parts was gone, and in fact it felt worse. Today I found out why. See the photos:
![Line Wood Door Steel Window]()
![Vehicle door Automotive exterior Rim Steel Metal]()
Notice where the Marinecoat is coming off at the edges where the bolt rides when it moves back and forth. Running a fingertip over them, those areas were rough as a cob. Another long session with felt wheels and jeweler's rouge removed most of the Marinecoat in those areas (that stuff is really tough and takes a while to polish off), though I was not able to remove it all before I ran out of felt wheels-- and it's 106 degrees at 2 pm, and I ain't running out to get more today, so I will leave it where it is for now. It's smooth again, for but how long?
I am a fan of this little rifle- it's a lot of fun. and if it were not accurate I'd already have traded it off or sold it. But I have to say coating the inside of the action and all the moving parts with Marinecoat was a pretty bad idea on Mossberg's part. Sure, it will help protect against rust and corrosion, but this will not likely ever be a smooth-functioning rifle. I don't know how many years of normal use it would take to smooth out, probably a very long time-- if at all.
At some point I may take it to a smith and have that trigger worked on- it's not a simple matter of replacing a spring as it is with a Marlin. But.... that has not been a priority, given the work I have put into sorting out my .30-30 Ackley Improved.
It's a great-looking rifle, sure enough:
![Shotgun Air gun Recreation Machete]()
But I wish Mossberg had thought this out a little more.
Rick
I've had no feed/eject problems with this rifle at all. My only complaint has been the heavy trigger and relatively rough action. In another thread I talked about polishing the wear spots on the bolt, lever, and every other moving part I could remove from the rifle. That Marinecoat finish is tough, but it's mildly abrasive- but with felt wheels on my Dremel I was able to polish off the Marinecoat on those wear spots. I left the receiver alone, hoping that polishing would be enough.
It wasn't.
Though it was not fired in the woods at all, the rifle was loaded and unloaded quite a bit during the weekends I hunted with it, and at the end of the season, the improvement I noticed when I polished those parts was gone, and in fact it felt worse. Today I found out why. See the photos:
Notice where the Marinecoat is coming off at the edges where the bolt rides when it moves back and forth. Running a fingertip over them, those areas were rough as a cob. Another long session with felt wheels and jeweler's rouge removed most of the Marinecoat in those areas (that stuff is really tough and takes a while to polish off), though I was not able to remove it all before I ran out of felt wheels-- and it's 106 degrees at 2 pm, and I ain't running out to get more today, so I will leave it where it is for now. It's smooth again, for but how long?
I am a fan of this little rifle- it's a lot of fun. and if it were not accurate I'd already have traded it off or sold it. But I have to say coating the inside of the action and all the moving parts with Marinecoat was a pretty bad idea on Mossberg's part. Sure, it will help protect against rust and corrosion, but this will not likely ever be a smooth-functioning rifle. I don't know how many years of normal use it would take to smooth out, probably a very long time-- if at all.
At some point I may take it to a smith and have that trigger worked on- it's not a simple matter of replacing a spring as it is with a Marlin. But.... that has not been a priority, given the work I have put into sorting out my .30-30 Ackley Improved.
It's a great-looking rifle, sure enough:
But I wish Mossberg had thought this out a little more.
Rick
