Mossberg Patriot accuraccy issue and fixes

Just wanted to add to the database a bit, regarding my experience with a brand new Patriot in 6.5 Creedmoor that I bought myself for Christmas. I wanted something inexpensive that I could tinker with, and boy did I get that - in spades.

Out of the box and brand new, the gun shot for crap...... I'm talking 3-4" groups at 100 yards. Just horrible. No problem, I wanted a project, and I got one. So, I took the rifle apart to see about bedding the action. Arghhhh...... the design of this rifle is horrible. The magazine well is a cheap plastic insert, and the action rests on a plastic pier in the rear and another in the front. There is a recoil lug insert between the barrel ring and the barrel, and it slides into a rectangular well in the stock. That's it. Almost nowhere to apply bedding.

I mixed up some compound anyway, and bedded the recoil lug area as well as the first two inches of the barrel. In addition, I filled in about four inches of the honeycomb fore-end, to try to stiffen up the flex. Also, I bedded the rear tang. The groups tightened up somewhat, but were still hovering at just under three inches. Ugh.

A couple of other problems reared their ugly head as well...

Problem 1: With the scope zeroed at 100 yards, I only had about 6 clicks of elevation before I reached the scopes upper limit. I tried a different set of rings and another scope, all to no avail. I called Mossberg tech support - they told me it was normal and to shim the scope. Hmmmmmm.............

Problem 2: Turns out, there is about 1/2" of space between the top of the mag well insert and the action. The rear action screw passes through this space and if you tighten the action screw a little too much, it cracks and distorts the magazine well and screws up magazine insertion/extraction (yeah - I did that). Another call to Mossberg - to their credit they sent me a new mag well insert and magazine. That was a very gracious thing to do, and I give them a lot of credit for helping me out.

So now I'm thinking pillar bedding. That turned out to be a very tricky proposition, as there is just no meat in the rear to glue the pillar to, and to make matters worse you have to notch the rear of the rear pillar to get the trigger housing (which is hanging in space) to seat fully in the action. Ok - so I was pointed to a thread describing a way to do it, dry fit the pieces, roughed up everything and epoxied everything in place. What a pain in the buttocks......

I had a chance to run up to the BLM land behind my house and get it zeroed. Then I shot some reloads just to see if I could put a group together. Praise the Lord, I've now got a sub-MOA gun (but not by much)

My advice? If you buy one, resign yourself that it is what it is - an inexpensive price-point truck gun. It is not worth the hassle of buying one to tinker with......sure, it was fun for awhile and now it shoots great, but I came close to tossing it in the pond a couple of times on the way to today. The main problem is that the way it is made just does not allow for bedding or adding pillars. The stock is the weak point, it truly is a cheap piece of junk. I suppose a Boyd's would improve things greatly, but why add $200 to a $250 gun? That would just be silly.

I thought I could get away with building a nice hunting rig on the cheap, but boy oh boy it was a rough road getting there. I learned a lot though, so I got that going for me.

I bought the Patriot Synthetic in 338 Win Mag with the 24" threaded barrel. I wanted a super light weight rifle for Elk and basically
it is all of that. I looked for something that had threads for a muzzle brake and this does except they are 11/16-24 and the barrel
is so thin that there is no real shoulder to a brake to seat against. After searching for a brake that would fit and not finding one anywhere,
I called a local gunsmith that makes custom breaks and will be taking the rifle up to him in a couple days to see what he can do with it.
I've shot the rifle off a bench and as expected, the recoil is pretty stiff using 230gr Hornady Precision Hunter ammo. I mounted a Leupold
compact Freedom 2-7x scope and basically this setup is pretty much what I was looking to have and if I can get a brake on it I think it
will fill the bill nicely. I asked Mossberg Tech support to point me towards a brake and they danced around the question and weren't
any help. Just my 2 cents worth on my first Mossberg rifle.

Did a bit more stock work, re-checked for zero. Not a lot of money into this gun, but WAAAAAY too many hours to get it to shoot right. I'll think twice before buying another Mossberg product. The fact that according to their tech support that is expected and that I need to shim a scope to make it right is bothersome, so say the least.

To be honest, maybe Mossberg should stick to shotguns... their rifles are pot-luck, and if you have a problem their customer service leaves a lot to be desired.

My .223 MVP Varmint is a keeper... a real tackdriver, despite having the same mag well issues as Uncle had above.
My .308 MVP LC was so-so, then i discovered a chamber problem and customer service (Mossberg's and the Uk importers) was not helpful.. I ended up getting rebarreled at my own cost.

A final solution to Problem 1 was found, that eliminated the need for a shim. I had shimmed the rear of the scope as the Mossberg tech suggested, to test-fix the issue. It worked but I wasn't happy about it, but I left it at that for the time being. A couple of weeks ago, I happened across a fellow that had a Leupold Vari-X IIc 3-9x50 that he didn't need. What he needed was bullets and primers, both of which I happen to have in mass quantities. So, I traded him some bullets I'll never use - 1,000 .45 200gr SWC and 500 158gr .38spl SWC for the scope and Leupold rings. Amazon happened to have a set of Leupold bases (Remington 700 mounts work here) in a damaged package for $10 delivered, so now the rifle is sporting bright, clear, quality glass on good rings and bases that are probably worth twice as much as it is. Already leveled, mounted, torqued and laser bore-sighted... waiting for a trip to the range and a final sight-in.

And the real reason for the follow-up post? A decent set of bases solved the whole elevation adjustment/shim issue. The scope now sits properly aligned where it is supposed to be, no shenanigans or shade tree engineering needed. Either Mossberg put the wrong bases on the rifle to begin with, or they just have piss-poor build specs for their price-point rifles. In either case, their tech support is pretty damn dismal.

Looking forward to hearing if this fixes your challenge. I myself finally am looking to put some rounds on paper, rather than steel.

Sent from my SM-A205U using Tapatalk

An interesting read. I have owned a couple of Mossberg shotguns and have been underwhelmed. I just ordered a Patriot Revere and am hoping for the best. Your history will help point me the the right direction should need arise.

I seems to be a straight shooter now. I just got back from Wyoming, and took a Pronghorn at 336 yards. While I was there though, I found a Kimber Montana in 25-06 for stupid cheap on a consignment rack. I haven't had it out yet, but if it shoots well the Mossberg gets sold. I don't need junk guns taking up space in my gun rack.

I used to be a huge Mossberg 500 shotgun fan, but the newer ones are but a shadow of the older vintage ones. I still have my older 500 in .410, but sold off the 12ga for an older Remington 870 Express. Yeah...... the Remington 870 Express is a better shotgun.

My 6.5 Creedmoor Patriot Bantam shoots extremely accurately...now. I happened upon a sale and $280 later I have a project rifle. I knew the buttstock would be the limiting factor the second I held it but I remembered the MDT had chassis that fit this action so I grabbed the deal. A few dollars later and I have something I'm quite happy with. I hope to find a deal on a threaded barrel version in the future as I would like to run a brake or can. Threading this barrel is also an option.