Mossberg Mvp Flex Bolt Action Rifle 556 Review

Mossberg is making its mark on the rifle globe! Chris Parkin loved the compact build and machining quality on this Mossberg MVP Light Chassis in 5.56-223 Remington!

Mossberg MVP Light Chassis in five.56-223 Remington - Credit: Archant

MOSSBERG MVP Calorie-free CHASSIS IN 5.56-223 REMINGTON - BRIEF OVERVIEW

PROS: Compact burglarize perfectly scaled to the atomic five.56/223; vii" twist rate tin handle heavier bullets; Decent trigger experience; Superb machining standards for action/stock interface

CONS: Intermittent feed issues; Mucilaginous bolt operation

VERDICT: It's a shame the Mossberg was hampered by bolt and ammo feed bug because information technology is a very characterful and well-fabricated rifle in every other regard. The barrel shows intrinsic adequacy but beware of velocity drib, if that'southward important to yous.

The chassis is beautifully machined with superb finishing standards that remained solid during the review period - Credit: Archant

TECH SPECS: Mossberg MVP Low-cal Chassis in 5.56-223 Remington

Barrel: 16"/410mm Button Rifled, Fluted (Twist Rate: 1 in seven")

Overall Length: 36"/925 mm (at total extension)

Length of Pull: 11-14.25"/279-362mm

Overall Weight: 7.4lbs/three.four kg

Magazine capacity: x+1

Stock Textile: Aluminium Chassis

CONTACT: Viking Arms

Price: £ane,124.64

The stock and activeness interface is perfect and one of the best designs I have seen in a mill rifle, superbly executed with zero bedding stress applied - Credit: Archant

MOSSBERG MVP Light CHASSIS IN 5.56-223 REMINGTON - DETAILED Examination & REVIEW

Mossberg is a proper name that nigh people acquaintance with shotguns, but the MVP range of budget centrefire rifles offers some interesting options to shooters looking to save some greenbacks. I have used the MVP laminate in the past and now Viking Artillery have supplied me with the LC (or Light Chassis) rifle built into an aluminium frame. It closely resembles the MDT with an AR-15-style buffer tube and underslung grip, making it uniform with a plethora of shooting accessories for customisation.

The rifle starts with a short sixteen.25"/410mm button-rifled barrel with the 1 in 7" twist nigh suited to bullets in the 69+gr weight range. Given the chambering is designated as 5.56 NATO, as well as the more common sporting .223, information technology ensures that pressure and pharynx/pb differences in the two similar chamberings cannot cause any safety bug when used with military surplus ammunition.

The cage is neatly crowned and threaded ½" UNEF beneath a knurled threadcap with six flutes running but 120mm rearward, certainly more for looks than whatever great technical benefit. The butt and receiver sport a matt blackness cease that seems to avoid gathering pare or dust and has so far shrugged off bumps and grinds during 24-hour interval-to-day testing.

The diameter swells from 19mm at the cage to 25mm at the reinforce/tenon inbound the receiver. It uses a barrel nut associates to control headspacing and sandwich the recoil lug with a single gas escape port to the left side of the activity adjacent to the bolt abutments inside. The receiver is scaled to the minimalist 5.56 cartridge with a 55mm ejection port between the twin action bridges to which the included Picatinny track is bolted. The bolt carries more useful fluting to aid dispersal of debris in dirty environments with an 88mm stroke length to cycle the action. The 67mm handle is appropriately proportioned to use correct leverage without stuttering when feeding rounds.

The right side of the bolt shroud carries a 2-position safety grab with no bolt-locking facility. The shroud itself shows the action'due south condition with the rear section of the firing pin either flush or recessed. Flip to the left to notice a unproblematic commodities-release push button. The push button-button magazine release sits on the lower correct side of the chassis below the ejection port, with unproblematic functioning allowing it to fall into your waiting hand.

AR-fifteen magazine compatibility is offered with a polymer P-mag supplied, capable of holding 10 rounds in 2 staggered columns feeding from either side, AR-15 manner. The mag can be loaded from the top with a unproblematic printing-downwardly addition or rounds in or out of the rifle and spares are hands available and inexpensive.

The rifle's bolt is a push-feed unit with sprung-ejector plunger in the lower left side to fling spent cases articulate with ease, only although it's seemingly scaled to the cartridge, the recessed bolt face carries a natural language-like lower flap on the underside of the nose to assistance engage rounds from the generic AR-15 magazine.

The magazine release button aslope the double stack x shot magazine - Credit: Archant

small-scale minus

This flap is gratuitous to ascent and drop under its ain weight without any kind of bound assistance and seems to be a slightly weak element of the rifle equally it occasionally failed to strip and cycle the ammo, specifically from the right-side column of the magazine.

Regardless of ammo length or confirmation of mag placement, information technology continued to show a lilliputian inconsistent. A friend of mine has a like Mossberg in .308 which shows similar build way, but without this underside assistant on the bolt confront, and that never misses a beat out, so personally I have to question its employ.

If information technology was fitted with a jump to assist its extension, I might feel a piddling more sympathetic, merely information technology seems risky to me to trust it to repeatedly lower nether its own miniscule weight. At that place were no manufacturing faults or wrong tolerances regarding magazine placement or plumbing equipment, then I was left a niggling blank.

The second slight badgerer on an otherwise cracking burglarize is also in relation to the bolt. When lifted, the lugs tend to catch on the innards of the abutments somewhere, and so afterward lifting the bolt you have to release upward force per unit area before information technology tin can exist fatigued smoothly rearward. During my examination, I easily overcame both these issues by simply single-loading the burglarize and being suitably fragile with the bolt handle.

I cleaned the barrel on receipt of the burglarize and a subsequent borescope inspection impressed me, which was later to be proven on examination. An internal blade safety trigger is featured, with the trigger itself breaking with ninety% crisp feel and breaking predictably at 1,220gr, so no complaints at that place.

Reach to the blade felt skilful, with what appeared a slight extension built into the grip's position on the aluminium chassis, with 75mm reach from the grip to the blade. The supplied grip is a firm, rubberised, slightly stippled Magpul unit, which I found elementary but comfortable from either hand, and complemented the residuum of the chassis' ambidextrous layout with its pleasing buff/coyote baked finish.

Upward shut on the commodities handle. The sticky operation was i of the few letdowns with the MVP - Credit: Archant

The stop seemed to avoid any unwanted marks on exam, yet I know such guns often look a little cooler with a fleck of boxing-scarred patina. Magpul too supply the rear cease attached to the buffer tube with length of pull adjustment from 14.25"/362mm down to 11"/279mm, giving the stock corking versatility and a comfortable fit. Magpul are subtly better than the cheaper imitators – a sturdier locking mechanism and less wobble and rattle.

The polymer carries a similar subtle stippling with a quick-release lever for LOP adjustment and a locking catch to lock everything into position, without the demand for any additional tools. Quick-release anchor points are present for sling fitting and the rearmost butt pad is adjustable with a slim 5mm thickness, ideal for the calibre's level of recoil.

The butt pad is nicely proportioned and merely soft enough to anchor the rifle in position without affecting gun mounting speed or security. The standard CTR variant seems to take an boosted rummage raiser clipped in position. From what I can find, information technology doesn't suit but does requite decent levels of additional top for a bolt-action rifle, rather than straight AR-xv derivative, and the 45mm width with a radiused upper felt comfy.

The rest of the stock is well machined and smoothly finished with a slim forend to balance the proportions with the brusque butt.

A fully free-floating butt is guaranteed by the spacious fit of the stock, with ventilation slots for airflow and drainage or additional accessories. A standard stud is fitted for a bipod for what is a really compact and well-balanced burglarize, perfect for play a trick on and vermin command, peculiarly if shooting from a vehicle.

The upper side carries threaded mountings in the machined aluminium for forward mounted optics, but a notation of caution: a compact burglarize like this doesn't offer huge amounts of infinite if a long optic is used. The mag well and boxy yet spacious trigger guard are part of the stock with twin activeness screws belongings chassis to receiver. At that place is no barricade finish, with a more than swooping shape shown at the front of the mag well.

Digging into the guts of the rifle, Mossberg's inlet, just like the butt, gave me huge conviction. Releasing the forepart action spiral revealed absolutely zilch vertical or lateral barrel move in the stock and that is a key analogy of well-matched activeness to stock inletting. Information technology's all very well boasting CNC this and CNC that, but if tolerances are ignored information technology doesn't add up to much. Not so the Mossy, the inlet shows a spacious pocket for the sizable recoil lug to slot into with full contact to transfer firing forces.

The 30.3mm cylindrical activeness was but that, truly cylindrical throughout, machined to shut tolerances and fitted into the stock on twin total length action rails. Add to that a V block for uniform linear support with rails assuasive the recoil lug to slot in position. The trigger hangs below, showing an adjustment spiral but threadlocked, then I left well alone, I can take the hint. Barrel tenon threads into the action and it looked similar the headspace control collar had been peened in position to ensure nobody fiddles with information technology, but long term, a barrel modify is not impossible.

Muzzle cleanly threaded ½" UNEF with neat crown detail - Credit: Archant

Field test - MOSSBERG MVP LIGHT CHASSIS IN v.56-223 REM

I starting time causeless the rifle would adopt heavier match bullets in the 7" twist and it shot OK, but nothing spectacular with 69gr HPBT ammunition – 1.5-two" (38-52mm) groups at my standard 100m test range.

Trigger control was good and the rifle was well balanced and stable with compact dimensions scaled perfectly for rest, coupled with the minimal recoil of a v.56/.223.

The gun had a nice light, snappy feel, with a recoil punch that was easily controlled and I had no want to use a moderator for a change.

All characteristics would be further subdued by a moderator (or if you must, a brake), merely 5.56/.223 is so modest – sometimes it'south good to experience a little unrestricted rifle recoil. I swapped over ammunition to Federal Varmint loads with 40gr and 53gr Hornady Five-Max bullets and the gun came alive.

Twist rates are hands measurable and rarely lie, but in this case the low-cal bullets, likely due to superior ammunition quality from Federal and Hornady, proved the gun's capability and reliability, which I have no doubt would have continued onto sixty-62gr running mill ammo.

I dearest the 69 and 77gr Sierra TMKs, but sadly my standard handloads were not suited to this burglarize's sixty.6mm/two.390" maximum magazine length, then I stayed with factory loads.

40gr Federal showed healthy 0.75" 3-round group averages with the slightly fussier bullet shape of the 53gr Five-Max scoring 0.9", well below MOA, given the 109-g test range.

The best group of the day was when I shot with the 55gr Hornady V-Max at 0.half-dozen". All were three-round groups – perhaps non as statistically reliable as a five-rounder or a 25-circular string in v groups, as benchrest is scored. What was of import for me was the consistency and lack of difficulty accessing the accurateness from the rifle.

The proof marks say 5.56 and 223, so both are prophylactic in the gun, the detail is in pressure rating and pharynx/lead dimensions that are uniform with both - Credit: Archant

The sixteen" barrel did decimate cage velocity though – printed velocity for the 40gr Federal was 3800 fps, which (although usually 100-150 afloat of about rifles) was restricted to 3072 fps. Similarly, the 53gr Federal suggested 3400 fps, which dropped to 2623 fps, and Hornady's 3240 Varmint Express produced 2702 average. Super brusque barrels have handling benefits at the price of velocity.

Information technology is such a shame the magazine feed problem and gluey bolt were present, because the overall compact feel and liveliness of the Mossberg was quite refreshing, with honest performance direct out of the box.

Afterward testing with some 69gr handloads prepared for a shorter 'cartridge overall length' (COL) than my rifle's usual ammo repeatedly beat the half-inch grouping threshold that's then often sacred to target shooters.

Although the magazine feed problems didn't help, I'chiliad pleased with the barrel quality, direct trigger and excellent stock/action internal fit, which all contributed to the gun's performance. The burglarize was elementary to set up, and the easy scope mounting and wide variety of accessories all add up to make this Mossberg a very customisable light chassis rifle.

I can't assist simply feel this lower lip needs bound tension to alleviate feed issues - Credit: Archant

I liked the prophylactic bract trigger, good feel, spacious guard and totally anticipated - Credit: Archant

Magpul stock components are a step above like looking just lower quality imitators - Credit: Archant

The anchor points are provided for forrad mounted NV or thermal tools - Credit: Archant

Similarly, the underside of the forend is fix for additional Picatinny rail etc - Credit: Archant

The commodities tended to snag when lifted fully so pressure had to be released earlier drawing it rearward - Credit: Archant

AR-15 derived magazines similar this P-Magazine are easily bachelor accessories and spares - Credit: Archant

All ammunition tested gave great results on paper, just velocities suffer significantly in the curt barrel - Credit: Archant

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Source: https://www.rifleshootermagazine.co.uk/rifle-tests/mossberg-mvp-light-chassis-in-5-56-223-tried-tested-6312352

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