The New .22 Mossberg 464 Levergun

[Pete44ru]

I had a chance to coonfinger a new Mossberg Model 464 .22LR lever-action carbine today, when I was in a local funshop, and thought I'd give my impression.

My impression was that I'm impressed.

Seriously, though - I looked it over pretty good.

When I first spotted it, I thought it was a standard H001 Henry (which I have) - due to the painted-looking receiver - but then noticed that the Henry receiver cover screws were missing, and it sported a true exposed receiver, probably made of some aluminum alloy ( I didn't have a magnet with me).

It looked to have about a 20" bbl, with a like-length mag tube, secured with both a forend/bbl band and a forward bbl band around the mag tube just at the front sight.

The wood/metal fit seemed acceptable, with no glaring oops' that stood out, and the wood grain, while not fancy, was decent IMO - as was the satin stock finish.

There was a terrible/crude-looking tang safety, and an equally crude-looking rear barrel sight that was made of stamped blued sheet metal (steel ?).

When I levered it open, ASAP I got it in my paws, the bare/white aluminum carrier casting/feed assembly could be seen inside the EJ port - exposing an orange-colored plastic tube mag follower.

The lever worked smoothly, as did the inner mag tube.

I didn't buy it.......That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.


.

[gamekeeper]

Is this model made in the USA or are Mossberg importing it from Brazil?

[Pete44ru]

I didn't inspect all the markings closely, but AFAIK they are made in the USA, just like the centerfire Model 464's.

.

[gamekeeper]

I asked the same question on Rimfirecentral and someone posted photos of the gun complete with "Made in the USA" sticker on the stock and "Made in the USA" stamped on the barrel.

[OJ]

I'm not usually pessimistic but check the past threads on the Mossberg 464 in 30-30.

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... =1&t=21787

Mossberg has clearly been deaf to problems their customers had and, with the most failures reported being with less than the 6 rounds in the magazine, it seems crystal clear to me that NO test firing was done - or - that they didn't care about their customers safety as well as satisfaction with one of their guns.

There are plenty of high quality 22 lever guns available - such as my Browning BL22 -

[Pete44ru]

I wasn't advocating the Mossy .22 - just reporting my first impression of it/one, for those here that mightn't chanced upon one as yet.

Like I posted, I didn't buy it.

Besides, I already own four other different brands of .22 leverguns (Win9422/Marlin39a/Henry001/Browning BL22-FLD).

.

[jnyork]

I have to admit total ignorance. WTH is "coonfingered" ?

[Hagler]

Pete,

It looks like Mossberg took some plays from Henry's book:

http://v2.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewIte ... =149211802

While doesn't have the Henry's 4 screws, the Mossberg has 2 receiver cover screws:





...and there are joint lines where the receiver cover meets the receiver proper:

Bottom:



Right side:



Left side:



For those that asked about point of origin:





While the official Mosberg litterature says that it has an 18" barrel, this sticker says otherwise:



I gotta coonfinger one of them.

Shawn

[ab4ka]

I haven't run across one yet...what are the going for?

[Bigahh]

Pete,

Thanks for the report! I am also interested to hear what the price tag was.

[mescalero1]

Thanks Pete,
Will wait for .22 Mag. version.

[Pete44ru]

The Mossy I pawed over had much darker-looking stock wood than the one pictured on that auction site - AND, it was priceless ! (no price tag)

Although I can say that I examined it, I can't say I was really interested - ergo the lack of some details on my part.

While I was looking it over, I was mentally comparing it to my Henry H001 standard - I would think it's nearest quality & price level competition - and thought that I would easily buy a Henry standard over this Mossy 464, because of the tang safety on the Mossy, disregarding the other small details I found lacking.

What really trumps the 464 is that big box stores like Dick's Sporting Goods had the Henry on sale Black Friday for $199.

.

[GabbyHaze]

.

There are plenty of high quality 22 lever guns available - such as my Browning BL22 -

We just purchased a Browning BL-22 for my wife. Although it's a good shooting gun I was disapointed to bring the gun home from the store and find out that is says "Made in japan" on the barrel. I always thought Browning was an American Gun Company.

JT
P.S.
I just purchased a marlin 39A for myself and it shoots great !! I've already put about 3,000 rounds through it and didn't have any problems.

[Blaine]

I was perfectly satisified with Marlin 39s until I got a 9422M, and now I have a 9422 to go along with it, and might get another if they haven't gone the roof yet.

[GabbyHaze]

I was perfectly satisified with Marlin 39s until I got a 9422M, and now I have a 9422 to go along with it, and might get another if they haven't gone the roof yet.

Who makes a Lever action 9422M ?

JT

[GabbyHaze]

I was perfectly satisified with Marlin 39s until I got a 9422M, and now I have a 9422 to go along with it, and might get another if they haven't gone the roof yet.

Who makes a Lever action 9422M ?

JT

Never mind, I found it. Winchester will no longer make the 9422 http://www.winchesterguns.com/library/p ... asp?id=197 .
It also seems The Great American Winchester Arms company is now owned by Herstal, a Belgian owned company.

Decline and Fall
By the 60's the cost of skilled labor was making it increasingly difficult to produce Winchester's classic designs profitably, incorporating as they did considerable hand-work. In particular, Winchester's flagship Model 12 pump shotgun and Model 70 bolt-action rifle with their machined forgings could no longer compete in price with Remington's cast-and-stamped 870 and 700. Accordingly S. K. Janson formed a new Winchester design group to advance the use of "modern" engineering design methods and manufacturing principles in gun design. The result was a new line of guns which replaced most of the older products in 1963-64. Unfortunately the reaction of the shooting press and public was overwhelmingly negative: the popular verdict was that Winchester had sacrificed quality to the "cheapness experts,"[3] and market share continued to decline as Winchester was no longer considered to be a prestige brand. Gun collectors consider "post-64" Winchesters to be both less desirable and less valuable than their predecessors.

Labor costs continued to rise, and a prolonged and bitter strike in 1979-80 convinced Olin that firearms could no longer be produced profitably in New Haven. Therefore in December 1980 the plant was sold to its employees, incorporated as the U.S. Repeating Arms Company, together with a licence to make Winchester arms. Olin retained the Winchester ammunition business.

From 1981 until 2006, Winchester guns were made by the U.S. Repeating Arms Company. When U.S. Repeating Arms went bankrupt in 1989 it was acquired by a French holding company, then sold to an arms making cartel sponsored by the Belgian Herstal Group, which also owns gun makers Fabrique National (FN) and Browning.

[edit] The End of an Era
On January 16, 2006 U.S. Repeating Arms announced it was closing the New Haven, Connecticut, plant where Winchester rifles and shotguns were produced for 140 years.[1] Along with the closing of the plant, the Model 94 rifle (the descendant of the original Winchester rifle), Model 70 rifle and Model 1300 shotgun would be discontinued.

[edit] A New Era
On August 15, 2006, Olin Corporation, owner of the Winchester trademarks, announced that it had entered into a new license agreement with Browning to make Winchester brand rifles and shotguns, though not at the closed Winchester plant in New Haven. Browning, based in Morgan, Utah, and the former licensee, U.S. Repeating Arms Company, are both subsidiaries of FN Herstal. In 2008 FN Herstal announced that it would produce Model 70 rifles at its plant in Columbia, SC.

JT

[765x53]

.

There are plenty of high quality 22 lever guns available - such as my Browning BL22 -

We just purchased a Browning BL-22 for my wife. Although it's a good shooting gun I was disapointed to bring the gun home from the store and find out that is says "Made in japan" on the barrel. I always thought Browning was an American Gun Company.

JT
P.S.
I just purchased a marlin 39A for myself and it shoots great !! I've already put about 3,000 rounds through it and didn't have any problems.

As far as I know, with the exception of a few BLR's made in Utah in the '70's, Brownings have never been made in the U.S.A.

[OJ]

.

There are plenty of high quality 22 lever guns available - such as my Browning BL22 -

We just purchased a Browning BL-22 for my wife. Although it's a good shooting gun I was disapointed to bring the gun home from the store and find out that is says "Made in japan" on the barrel. I always thought Browning was an American Gun Company.

JT
P.S.
I just purchased a marlin 39A for myself and it shoots great !! I've already put about 3,000 rounds through it and didn't have any problems.

There was a time when "made in Japan" indicated inferior quality but, I think that time's not only in the distant past but now means just the opposite - Toyota problems notwithstanding - their cars have set quality standards for years and Miroku in particular manufactures guns of exceptional quality. My Winchester 95 30-06 my wife gave me for our 25th anniversary five years ago is not only great to look at, it shoots at least as good as it looks -





I predict you and your wife will love that BL22 - I sure do mine -

[GabbyHaze]

.

There are plenty of high quality 22 lever guns available - such as my Browning BL22 -

We just purchased a Browning BL-22 for my wife. Although it's a good shooting gun I was disapointed to bring the gun home from the store and find out that is says "Made in japan" on the barrel. I always thought Browning was an American Gun Company.

JT
P.S.
I just purchased a marlin 39A for myself and it shoots great !! I've already put about 3,000 rounds through it and didn't have any problems.

There was a time when "made in Japan" indicated inferior quality but, I think that time's not only in the distant past but now means just the opposite - Toyota problems notwithstanding - their cars have set quality standards for years and Miroku in particular manufactures guns of exceptional quality. My Winchester 95 30-06 my wife gave me for our 25th anniversary five years ago is not only great to look at, it shoots at least as good as it looks -





I predict you and your wife will love that BL22 - I sure do mine -

I'm sure they are great shooting guns, my wife's BL-22 is a great shooter. But lately ( especially in the economy we're in ) when I buy something new I try to buy American made.

JT

[bdhold]

my first firearm is a Mossberg 251C semiauto from my 12th Christmas.
Two plastic pieces that have always annoyed me on the rifle - the trigger guard which is not stiff enough to follow the contour of the stock and shows air between the finger grooves and the wood, and the breech plug.
Could have photographed this rifle for "we all own an ugly gun" thread.

[OJ]

I'm sure they are great shooting guns, my wife's BL-22 is a great shooter. But lately ( especially in the economy we're in ) when I buy something new I try to buy American made.

JT

_________________

Goldwings..Because if your gonna have something between your legs, it might as well be enormous and smooth. :O)

I understand and, to some extent, agree - HOWEVER - Japanese motorcycles really were the ones that really put motorcycling back in big business in the US in the early 1970s and their bikes ultimately resulted in HD recovery due to increased interest, IMO.

I've owned at least a dozen Japanese bikes (never had a bad one) - mostly, but not all Hondas and I guess you're a fan there also from your signature.





Safety first - encourage seat belt use !!

[GabbyHaze]

I'm sure they are great shooting guns, my wife's BL-22 is a great shooter. But lately ( especially in the economy we're in ) when I buy something new I try to buy American made.

JT

_________________

Goldwings..Because if your gonna have something between your legs, it might as well be enormous and smooth. :O)

I understand and, to some extent, agree - HOWEVER - Japanese motorcycles really were the ones that really put motorcycling back in big business in the US in the early 1970s and their bikes ultimately resulted in HD recovery due to increased interest, IMO.

I've owned at least a dozen Japanese bikes (never had a bad one) - mostly, but not all Hondas and I guess you're a fan there also from your signature.





Safety first - encourage seat belt use !!

I own and ride a 1998 Honda GL1500SE Goldwing. It's a great bike and very reliable. It was made in United States in Marrysville, OH by American workers. However, I didn't buy the bike new, I bought it used from a friend. As far as Harley's go, a lot of the parts on a Harley are now outsourced to China, they are not 100% American anymore. Victory is 18% more made in the USA than Harley.
Anyway, I'm not saying anything bad about guns that were made over seas, they put out some great rifles. I'm just trying to buy things made in the UsA now to try to help out our economy. Hope you understand.

JT
P.S.
One thing I never have to worry about with my Goldwing is breaking down, that thing runs like a dream. It has a CB Radio, AM / FM / Stereo with Cassette Deck , 6 Disk CD Player, Intercom System, Cruise Control, Reverse and more. It's so comfortable it's like riding my recliner down the highway.