O.F. Mossberg

O.F. Mossberg is an old name in American gun manufacturing. They've been making firearms of very stripe for a long time. Their model 500 pump shotgun is a basic, no frills, pump shotgun much loved of the people here in Louisiana. It's rugged, durable and can be had for a week's pay, which is a great motivator for a working man. For very little money he can put a shotgun on layaway, get pay it off "on time" and have a shotgun to enjoy the hills and swamps of our great state.

I see that Mossberg has been branching out into other firearms, most notably into bolt action and semiauto rifles. However, I was cruising a firearms forum and saw that they're producing a lever action .30-30 rifle as well. There's a lot to love in the .30-30 lever action rifle and readers of my scribblings know that it is a caliber that I've long admired. The iconic American deer rifle is the lever action rifle and with the demise of Winchester several years ago, the only choice left was Marlin. Marlin makes great rifles, but several years ago, Remington bought Marlin. Remington itself is owned by the Freedom Group, part of Cerebus Management, a large holding company, and reports of recent months indicate that when Remington closed the Marlin plant and moved production to New Ilion, some problems arose in quality control and manufacturing. This left room for another manufacturer to step to the plate and fill the niche.

It looks like Mossberg has done that. While I haven't had a change to look at the new rifle, it looks like it has some nifty features, like the ability to easily mount a scope even though the rifle ejects from the top, probably like the old Angle Eject Winchester rifles. Wood stocked, traditional, it should fill a niche and if it is as robust and durable as other Mossberg firearms, it should be a great seller. It seems to have a tang safety, which is a feature that some folks will like, and the receiver is drilled and tapped.

However, with innovation comes the ability to make changes that leave some folks scratching their heads. I'm fairly traditional in my tastes, but I'm smart enough to realize that some folks like the Modern Rifle concept. Rails, collapsible stocks, flash hiders, all those things have a place in the gun world. If it's tactical, it sells and the business of a gun manufacturer is to sell firearms. I get it. However, this particular model leaves me chuckling. The Mossberg SPX Lever Action Rifle.

Hehehe. Collapsible stock, rail forend, flash hider, it's all there. It's got me scratching my head and chuckling, but I hope they sell a boatload of them. Really, I do. Lots of folks think that the .30-30 cartridge is fuddy-duddy when the truth of the matter is that it is still useful for 90% of whitetail deer hunting in the wooded states. Perfectly capable of taking a deer out to 150 yards or so with the newer ammunition. Handloaders find it extremely versatile with both jacketed and cast bullets, you can load it from mild to wild with bullets from 110 to 170 grains or so. The .30-30 is a magnificent cartridge and one suited to a lever action firearm. Mossberg may have a winner on their hands.