Memories: One of my first rifles was a Mossberg
In 1935, the world had a momentous event as I was born on Halloween of that year. Angels wept and my aunts and uncles all celebrated my birthday with a few drinks.
According to legend that was quite an event. The best birthday present I remember ever receiving was a Mossberg .22 on my 11th or 12th birthday. There was less celebrating by the adults and more celebrating by me. At that period of time, Mossberg made many models chambered for the .22 Rimfire. This rifle was an inexpensive model, but I fell in love on the spot.
I remember tossing and turning one Christmas eve and wondering what I would get for Christmas that year. The feeling I got when I opened that present and saw the Mossberg is one I can still remember.
I was taught how to shoot and safety by my father and had earned the right to have the gun. Back then, ammo was cheap. You could buy it anywhere and I would take the gun out frequently to shoot. Interestingly, I could buy ammo at the local grocery store, and no one would raise an eyebrow at me buying it. This gun had a trapdoor in the butt plate to carry an extra magazine. For years I was happy and content with my old Mossberg and sometimes now I wonder what happened to it. With this gun, I would go rat hunting at the local garbage dump. Bottles and rabbits were fair game back then.
Today, things have changed a bit. After languishing for some time, the Mossberg has reappeared on the center fire market. I was talking to my friend, Tom Bloom of Wellsburg, W.Va., and he told me he has retired his Winchester Model 70 in .308. Because he bought a Mossberg Patriot in .308 and found it to be extremely accurate in the field of centerfire instead of .22. The best way to describe the appearance of the Mossberg Patriot is to say that it resembles a Remington Mountain Rifle. It is a good-looking gun.
The Mossberg was brought to this country in the 1800s from Germany. As time goes by, we hunters who tend to be extremely conservative and don’t like change, notice the big changes in gun manufacturers when looking at the catalogs. It is nice to see the old Mossberg still doing well.
The Mossberg is manufactured here in the United States in North Haven, Ct., where they have been since 1919. While they are not the powerhouse that Winchester or Remington are, they are now a force in gun manufacturing. They are really a nice rifle.
I remember tossing and turning that Christmas eve and wondering what I would get for Christmas. The feeling I got when I opened that present and saw the Mossberg is one I can still remember.