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Mossberg MVP Patrol 7.62mm NATO
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Mossberg’s MVP Patrol is ready for addition of accessories, like suppressors.
Buy one on GunsAmerica: /Mossberg Patrol
Check out Mossberg’s site: https://www.mossberg.com/Patrol
Having caught the suppressor bug, I’ve wanted to check out a bolt-action .308 that’s compact enough to handle the extra length and weight of a silencer, yet still remain portable and handy. That’s what peaked my interest in the Mossberg MVP Patrol.
The MVP Patrol is also available with a tan-colored stock.
The MVP Patrol is a 7 ½ pound rifle (not including optic) that, as the name implies, is short, light and handy enough to tote around in a car or pack. The 16 ¼ inch barrel is capped by a standard birdcage flash hider, which means that threading for suppressor attachment is already there. The stock is composite and the forend is thick and sturdy. The Patrol is a hard use rifle, not a svelte and trim hunter model, although there’s no reason it wouldn’t serve as a great field rifle.
The model tested was the 7.62mm NATO and it was stamped accordingly on the barrel. The barrel itself features a 1:10 twist rate and is finished with a matte blueing. The synthetic stock is all business with molded texture in the grip and forend. The rifle is available with your choice of black or tan stocks. Two sling swivel attachments round out the stock itself. End to end, including the flash hider and recoil pad, the rifle measures 37 ½ inches and length of pull is 13 ¼ inches.
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I really liked the placement and operation of the safety.
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The bolt release is equally simple, and mounted opposite the bolt handle.
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The MVP Patrol tested is part of a small family. Mossberg offers the MVP Patrol in .223/5.56mm and .308/7.62mm chambers, and each caliber offering is available as an “iron sights” configuration or with a pre-mounted and bore-sighted 3-9x32mm optic. The version tested was a standard model, but all models include a six-inch Picatinny rail, so adding an optic was easy.
Controls
Admittedly, placement and operation of things like safeties and bolt release mechanisms are a personal preference issue. I’m not sure there are hard and fast right and wrong answers. With that said, I really like how the Mossberg MVP Patrol works.
The safety is a lever placed just behind the bolt handle on the right side. It’s topped by knurled knob that you operate with your firing hand thumb. Pull it backward when the bolt is cocked or open and it will move into safe mode. Push forward, exposing a red dot underneath and the rifle is ready to fire. I found I could operate this easily without any change whatsoever to my firing grip – just rotate my thumb over the receiver and push or pull. Operation is very positive so there is no doubt about operating this by feel alone. I really like it.
The bolt release is also about as intuitive as it gets. Just opposite the bolt handle is a small push lever with a textured surface. Hold this down with your support hand thumb while pulling the bolt back and it will glide right out of the receiver. Easy and un-finicky. This came in really handy for brief cleanings while doing accuracy and velocity testing.
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When the bolt is uncocked, it will look like this.
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When the bolt is cocked and ready, it will look like this.
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While technically not a control, I should mention the cocked status indicator here. You’ll notice a polished stainless steel cylinder visible in the rear of the bolt. If it’s flush with the back of the bolt, the rifle is cocked and ready to fire. If it’s inset about ⅜ of an inch, the bolt is not cocked. You can easily tell by looking, or you can run a finger or thumb over the rear of the bolt to determine the status.
Lightning Bolt Action Trigger
The MVP Patrol uses Mossberg’s Lightning Bolt Action Trigger system.
Some Mossberg rifles include the Lightning Bolt Action Trigger system. It’s easy to tell if you have it as you’ll see a lightning bolt cut into the trigger insert leaf. By the way, as one would expect, the trigger insert needs to be deliberately depressed in order for the trigger to operate.
I measured the trigger (factory default adjustment) at exactly two pounds of pull weight. There is the slightest bit of ever-so-slightly rough take up, followed by a crisp break at exactly two pounds every time. Of course, your finger feels a bit of makeup from the trigger insert before your finger contacts the actual trigger face.
The idea behind the Lightning Bolt Action Trigger system is that it’s easily adjustable be the user. If you remove the receiver from the stock, you’ll see a nylon-covered flat head screw on the front side of the trigger assembly. Rotate that to adjust the trigger pull weight from the factory default of two pounds all the way up to about seven pounds. Depending on your anticipated use of the rifle, you may want to take advantage of this. For short range home defense situations, why not add a little weight to make the trigger press more intentional?
Sights
The MVP Patrol comes right out of the box with serviceable “iron” sights. A fiber optic front and notched “V” sight on the back are both mounted directly on the barrel. Since the barrel is short for this type of rifle, the sight radius is only about ten inches depending on the position of the rear sight. The rear sight is adjustable for windage and elevation using small flathead screws. The windage adjustment allows the rear sight to slide back and forth on an angled ramp. Markings allow you to identify and replicate settings for known distances.
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The front sight features a highly visible fiber optic tube. You can easily remove the whole assembly if you like.
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The rear sight is adjustable for windage and elevation, or, like the front sight, you can remove the whole thing.
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The six inch Picatinny rail has a deep groove down the center allowing you to easily see the iron sights up front.
The MVP Patrol also comes equipped with a receiver mounted Picatinny rail. This rail has a groove cut that allows you to see the iron sights mounted forward on the barrel. It was here that I had a little glitch with my first sample of the MVP Patrol. Somewhere in the production process, the Picatinny rail and front sights got out of whack. Looking down the rail groove showed me a picture of the left side of the iron sights. If you envision a clock face looking down the rifle, the rail was at 12 (as it should be) while the front sights were lined up at the 12:15 position. I’m totally guessing as to the cause, but I might think the front sight holes were drilled into the barrel before it was mounted on the receiver. Upon screwing the barrel in and setting proper headspace, things didn’t line up quite right. I called Mossberg, and like most gun companies, they responded immediately to the problem. They had a replacement rifle on the way within a day or so. I finished the rest of the evaluation with the replacement rifle, and on that sample, everything was perfect.
Magazine flexibility
The Mossberg MVP Patrol includes a 10-round box magazine. As the production of MVP rifles continues to ramp up, I would expect you’ll be able to buy more Mossberg MVP magazines from dealers. But you really don’t need to. The Mossberg folks designed the MVP magazine well with two magazine latches, both operated by the same magazine release button. One in the front of the magazine well grabs that notch in standard M14 / M1A magazines, while the latch on the side off the well also grabs a cutout on the side of MVP magazine. If that’s not enough, you can also use LR-308/SR-25 style magazines. If you just gotta have your Magpul P-Mags, you’re good to go. Those use the side latch.
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You can use M1A / M14 magazines like the 20-rounder on the left or 5-rounder on the right.
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Use of a 5-round M1A magazine makes for a low profile.
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The supplied 10-round magazine in place.
I didn’t have any LR-208/SR-25 style magazines handy, but I did have a pile of M14/M1A magazines to try. So I did. You’ll notice a couple of things. With the M1A, you have to kind of “rock” the magazine into place. Not so when using M14/M1A magazines with the MVP Patrol. Just push it straight in until you hear the click. The other thing I noticed is that an empty magazine doesn’t lock the bolt back with the magazine follower with the factory supplied MVP Patrol magazine, but M14/M1A magazines do lock the bolt back. A simple press downward on the follower allows the bolt to travel forward. This isn’t good or bad, it’s just an observation of how different magazines behave in this rifle. I shot the MVP Patrol with five and twenty round M14/M1A magazines with no trouble at all. As a side note, the five round magazine presents a nice and trim profile which would be great for hunting applications. It’s not flush with the stock, but only about ½-inch is exposed.
Shooting and handling
The first thing I have to mention is that the felt recoil was shockingly mild. I say “shockingly” because we’re talking about a small and light rifle here, and the .308 cartridge isn’t exactly a .223. I attribute the light shooting feel to the exceptionally effective recoil pad. It’s concave in shape, but averages about one-inch in thickness. More importantly, it’s not solid – the center portion feels like a soft underlying frame covered with a thin layer of rubber. This results in a lot of give. I did a fair bit of prone shooting, which for me places the buttstock into the bonier portion of my shoulder and high-volume shooting was a complete non-issue. This is a very comfortable rifle to shoot, especially considering it’s lightweight feel.
Just for kicks during accuracy testing, I mounted the Hawke Optics Sidewinder IR Tactical 10x Scope. It’s huge, so I had to remove the rear sight leaf!
Accuracy and velocity
The MVP Patrol turned in pretty respectable accuracy with this broadly available American Eagle M1A ammo.
This handy patrol-style rifle is really made for shorter range applications. I know that because it even has the word “patrol” right in the name. Given that, I decided to shoot it at 50 yards for some informal accuracy testing. I used a variety of common .308 ammunition with projectiles of varying weights, just to get a feel for what ammo types this rifle prefers.
To get a more precise sight picture than that offered by the included iron (actually fiber optic) sights, I mounted a Hawke Optics Sidewinder Tactical IR optic. With a fixed magnification of 10x and a mil-dot reticle, it offers more than enough aiming precision at 50 to 100 yards.
I did 5-shot group accuracy testing with five different loads with projectile weights ranging from 147 to 168 grains. I had smaller quantities of three other loads – enough to get velocity numbers, but not enough for proper accuracy testing.
For a lightweight rifle with a short barrel, I was pleasantly surprised with the five-shot groups.
One additional surprise was the relative consistency with different types of ammo. As a “patrol” rifle, I wasn’t expecting this to match precise accuracy of a longer and heavier .308. What did surprise me was that common and inexpensive ammunition performed as well as some of the match stuff. The American Eagle M1A ammo turned in groups less than an inch at 50 yards – plenty of accuracy for plinking and short range defense scenarios. As with any rifle, do a little experimenting to see what it likes. You might just be surprised and find some inexpensive stuff that shoots just fine.
The magazine release lever is inset just forward of the magazine well.
I did some informal velocity comparison to a rifle with a 22-inch barrel and observed a much lower “velocity loss” from the Mossberg’s 16 1/4 inch barrel than I expected. Most loads were about 100 to 150 feet per second slower from the shorter barrel of the Mossberg, and more than a couple were within 50 feet per second.
Closing thoughts
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with the Mossberg MVP Patrol. Yes, they need to figure out the root cause of the initial sight alignment issue, but to their credit, the problem was resolved immediately. If I end up keeping this one, I will be tempted to maintain its iron sight configuration, perhaps even removing the Picatinny rail segment for an even simpler sight picture. While I added a high-power Hawke optic for accuracy testing, my choice of optics for this rifle would be a simple red dot or perhaps a low power scope, maybe even something with fixed power like a Trijicon ACOG. Given the stock profile, a low mount option would work really well.
The retail price on the Mossberg MVP Patrol is $748 without an optic and I found some priced in the $550 range on the street. The 3-9x scoped model retails for $889, but if you shop around, you should be able to find one for about $700 give or take a few bucks.
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Ps please send me a magazine m
How much would a 5 round magazine cost. And please could you send me a magazine.
Reasons for getting this in Canada is because the 7.62x51mm ammo is dirt cheap, you can buy Norinco cases of 1000 rounds for CAD$550 or so, making this CAD$0.50 per round to shoot. Even Federal boxes are $19 are so for 20. You can also affix AR-10 style cheap magazines to it so have a 25-round magazine.
The second version of the Scope they designed for CAD$220 or so is pretty good, and it sits far forward on the rifle so you can use both eyes and aim to see everything around you while aiming.
The Rangers here looked at this as a replacement to the Enfield (but went with the Sako T3 CTR instead as it works better in -50deg+ weather)
I purchased an MVP in .223 and it is NON firing right out of the box………great ! sent it back to Mossberg 8 weeks ago , just called and it will be several more weeks as they are “swamped with repairs and low on parts” well ! that is reassuring ……I will be selling it on return, will never trust it again.
I purchased my rifle in .223 and mounted a Weaver K6 6X38 scope. After bore sighting at the house, I went to the range for zeroing in. I was shooting Monarch .55 grain hollow points. I started at 50 yards and after 6-7 rounds I was on the bullseye. I then went out to 100 yards and about 10 rounds later I was punching a 1 inch group. This is a fun weapon to shoot and its really a comfortable easy piece to handle and everything works perfectly. A few weeks later I took it deer hunting and dropped a large doe at 85 yards with no problem. She dropped in her tracks and never even kicked. The same Monarch hollow points I sighted in with did the job perfectly. Bottom line; “I love this little rifle” and my 14 year old granddaughter is gonna love it too.
For $700 street this bolt action SHOULD be expected to shoot 1 moa with good ammo. Why? because otherwise it defeats the purpose of using a bolt gun in the 1st place! Mossberg patriot can do it so why can’t the MVP patrol that costs twice as much and has a shorter barrel so it’s less likely to be affected by bedding issues?!
How do handmade rifle makers get 1 moa performance out of their rifles and CNC milled parts can do the same???!!!! Just sayin.
I have one and it does shoot 1 inch groups with pretty standard XM118LR loads. I always take gun rag shooting tests with a grain of salt because its not just the gun thats getting tested. The guy behind the trigger might be a lousy shot. In any case one issue I had with the Picattiny base was sloppy loose . I yanked it and replaced with with standard rings and pulled off the useless irons. With and without a SIG 762Ti silencer it maintains 1 inch or better grouping.
I’m looking into buying this Rifle in the near future.. is there a way to swap out the barrel for a longer one??
nope. But you can buy a savage scout model 11 and it has an 18″ barrel. IDK why mossberg didn’t add an 18″ barrel to this gun because that would definitely make it more powerful and not that much longer!
As a sniper for ten years I agree a 50 yd test run with a scoped rifle is not very telling. I am no longer on a sniper team and now a patrol officer and liked the length of this rifle for patrol use but not willing to put out that kind of money for a system that is over sub MOA at 50 yds. Need to see more testing. After all in my profession I’m not shooting deer.
What an assinine statement,
All this talk about 50 yards has me a little confused, I received my Mossberg 7.62 yesterday as a birthday present from my wife and mounted a CP 4×16 scope on it. As I did not have a laser I bore sighted the scope at 50 yards. when fine tuning the scope at 100 yards it took 8 rounds to get dialed in and the gun then placed a pattern of 4 rounds in an area the size of a quarter with the 5th round a 1/4 inch high and right “which I would attribute to operator error. This was done using standard Remington Core-Lokt 150 grain rounds. I find this to be a very nice shooter and am looking forward to getting to the long range and seeing how it performs at 500 yards. If your having trouble with this rifle at 100 yards than I would recommend looking in the mirror because I can assure you it is not this rifle causing you to be off.
I have one that is nice and accurate at 100 yards. Mind you, these were handloads with Sierra MK 168 HPBT. I was getting about an inch at 100 yards. Not bad for a snub rifle with a cheap scope! Plus I can use M1A mags and carry a whole box of ammo with one magazine. As PA doesn’t allow semi autos for deer hunting so I like this rifle just fine.
Did you see PA passed law yesterday allowing semi auto sporting rifles for hunting purpose.
Bought my MVP Patrol 308 in the spring of 2015-replaced the stock mag with one from MAGPUL(very smooth)-also replaced the factory wood composite stock with the latest plastic composite version for a much lighter total weight gun. This is a great tree stand gun in 308 – perfect for big game! Love this gun!
Hey guys,
I bought mine at the sports authority in Hilo Hi. Took it out yesterday got it sighted in using 165g non premium bullets. At 100 yards and was able to get a very desirable group. Reading some of these comments reminds me of toddlers that need there diapers changed. Wwwhhaaaaaaaa lol
Great gun!!!!!
Yet you don’t give us the group size or any other specific info. Questioning why a review of a scoped bolt action included only 50 yard results isn’t whining…it is what folks who are even slightly educated in the use of firearms know to ask. At 50 yards this rifle doesn’t group very well for the price. I have 300 dollar rifles that put this one to shame.
I have this rifle and all I did was put a long range break and a bushnell elite 4x16x50.
the gun recoil alot with the short barrel so the new break works wonders for only $65. I shot .45 inch group at 100 yards and at 300 yards shot 2 inch group. I’m happy with that group and for a factory gun minus the break it a great gun and short so that y I like it in the woods
While it’s interesting to know that the groups from this rifle are like at 50 yards, it’s even more interesting to have to wait for a response to a comment to find out that the groups open out twice as wide at 100 yards. As Randall Humphries was good enough to point out in the response to the comment, Savage’s similar bolt-action shoots much tighter groups.
I’m also curious as to how a bolt-action rifle fits in the concept of a “patrol” rifle. British infantry were really the last folks who were both fast enough and accurate enough with a bolt-action rifle to carry it on patrol and be assured of prevailing in a fire fight. And this rifle is roughly the same size and caliber as the Short Model Lee-Enfield, but it’s the early 21st century. No one but an Afghan mujhaideen has carried a bolt-action rifle on military patrol for the past sixty years.
Sorry, you lost me at the “short range home defense” remark. Uh… bolt action in a home defense situation? Might as well break out the ol’ smoke pole muzzle loader. Thanks but I’ll stick to my pump shotgun which pack far more impact up close.
Interesting hog rifle with an effective suppressor though, I can see how the shorter length would be handy in the brush.
As for the guy that mentioned using the rifle as a home defense weapon you gotta remember there are a lot of people that cannot afford more than one gun so say this guy bought this rifle for bagging game primarily. If it is all he has, I am sure he would rather protect his family with his Mossberg Patrol rifle than he would using something like a baseball bat or fireplace poker. I admit, it wouldn’t be my first choice for a home defense firearm but if it were all I had I wouldn’t hesitate to use it for home defense for a single second. Hell, just the noise of the thing going off in the house would more than likely not only leave the poor home defender with permanent hearing loss but it would also make Mr.Intruder shat himself as he does his best to do a headfirst dive out the front window. My major concern is for who might be in the room behind where the predator happened to be standing…….or even in the room in the house next door to where the intruder was standing. Modern homes especially do not make great bullet stops for rounds of even the moderate power of the .308/7.62NATO.
Are they making a left hand version? Ruger’s model comes in LH and while a little more, addresses the needs of us poor folk who are left eye dominated and left handed!
I’ve had just as good results with the Spanish Mauser R-8 bored .308 with the exception of the straight bolt which could be solved by a competent Gun Smith!
how about a comparison between this , the new savage scout and the ruger synthetic stock scout rifle
New rifle ,old bolt design.
Slow and off target for every shot.
Why a bolt?
At least it have a fiber optic front sight, jeeeez.
Hey Mossberg, the year is 2015!
Not all rifles have to be black AR’s. Some states do not allow SA rifles for hunting, but this one covers 2 bases. My LEO buddies drool over mine because I can use a 10-20 round M1A magazine with a carbine length easy to maneuver in and out of a patrol car, yet, have decent bolt action accuracy with with M4 capacity. The heavy, short barrel is perfect for adding a sound reducing device or using the recoil suppressing device like mine. To be honest I love it for hog hunting.
First thing that I noticed was the Remington 700 safety and the Remington 700 bolt handle. I did a quick Google, and sure enough, Mossberg is in the Cerberus house now. No judgement in that statement, it is what it is, but it is not surprising to see mix and match parts on firearms nowadays. Speaking of recoil, I am convinced after many years of owning various rifles, that “felt” recoil is very dependent on stock design. I recall a Savage model 10 Scout I owned in the mid ’90’s. The 308 shouldn’t be a kicker, but that little rifle was as nasty a recoiler as my grandpa’s old Remington model 8. It had to go. My 7 1/2 lb Kimber Montana in 270 WSM is a pleasant shooter. Some rifles have it, some don’t. Barrel mounted sights not lining up with the receiver is just crappy assembly on Mossberg’s part; it should never have left the factory like that. Shame on them, and shame on you for giving them such an easy pass on it. I just bought a new Ruger American, it wouldn’t extract fired cases right out of the box. It is at Ruger, as I type this. It should never have left the factory. I understand the concept of inexpensive firearms, but inexpensive doesn’t mean dysfunctional.
Mossberg is not owned by Cerberus/Freedom Group/Remington. It’s still a privately held company.
I liked the review., but was wondering the same thing. Why where you shooting 50 yard targets with a scoped 7.62? How about a follow-up with 100 and 150 yards ??
Just a little vocabulary note. It’s “piqued my interest,” not “peaked my interest.” Love your reviews; very thorough and in-depth.
I bet you scour the internet to make that correction! Haha. J/K I did have to look up the word because I confess that I have been using it wrong my whole life. I feel much smarter now that I have been educated. With all sincerity, thank you.
50 yard groups from a bolt gun? Seriously? Sounds like a blatant attempt to disguise a horrible accuracy problem. Moss erg should be ashamed with 3-4+MOA out of a bolt gun with premium ammo. I like sr25/m1a mags in a bolt gun but the gun has to shoot too!
This sure does look like a good rifle to have. That and a small pile of M14 or M1A magazines and you should be pretty well set for deer and boar…and the run of the mill two-legged varmints.
Is Mossberg really making this rifle or not?? I have standard 308 Mossberg with the the same trigger as this one.
It is nothing more thsn A Savage rifle.
Great gun & very accurate. I have nothing against Savage, they are one of the Mose accurate rifles on the market.
Just wondering if mossberg is making this or getting Savage to make it for them??
John,
I own Savage’s nearest equivalent, the Hog Hunter. In overall set-up, it differs in barrel length, at 20″, mag choices (you have to do some changes to stock and mag well to get it to accept other types) and one big concern, price. But look at the final result. This interviewer is showing groups of .94 at 50 yards. At 100, what happens? Double that? Savage Hog Hunter easily gets sub MOA. They aren’t the same! Look at the end of the bolt. They aren’t the same! I assure you Mossberg has tons of factory capability to manufacture their own branded firearms.
I had a Hog Hunter but it was very Finicky with Ammo so I sold it for the Mossberg reviewed here…
NO ammo issues with the Mossberg & the P-Mags work great in it!
I have a 5 round Mag for Low Round/Low Profile Hunting applications.
The only Mag I don’t like in it is the 10 round Mossberg Factory supplied Mag…
I am confused. I figured 308 to shoot 200 yards easy. why 50 yards?
There is a forum devoted to the MVP rifle line. Link: http://www.mossbergmvp.com . There is a manufacturer there (Robert Lynch) runs a company Crosshair Precision Industry that is making aftermarket parts for the rough parts of the MVP line like an extended mag release (so far just the .223 version), metal trigger guard, and metal mag well. Nice bunch of guys. Great resource for those buying the MVP line looking for fast information on the rifle.
Yo
Just purchased this rifle from Cabellas before the weekend. I had the 223/5.56 model and loved it but sold to get the .308 model. Want out shooting during the weekend and put 40 rounds through it. Very pleased but the only issue I had was in the beginning was bolt worked very rough, think it just needed to be worked a little bit. Both the 23 and .308 models have a plastic mag well and on the 223 it broke, Mossberg was very good about sending a replacement immediately. Hope the .308 doesn’t have that problem. Plan on mounting the Nikon P-308 scope on mine in the future but no time soon! Overall I say it’s a great gun for a great value!
I’ve had just as good results with the Spanish Mauser R-8 bored .308 with the exception of the straight bolt which could be solved by a competent Gun Smith!
You evaluate a high powered rifle at “50”yards? I evaluate my model 19 at 100 yards at least half a box, every time, and hit a six inch target almost every round. “50 yards.” If you are evaluating a rifle at anything less than 100 yards, then it is not a rifle to hunt with unless it is a .22. And, I was the numbers, not good.