Mossberg Patriot bedding/action problems

S

Shadow9mm

New member
So I think I found a fix but I ran into some issues with my mossberg patriot and was curious to see if anyone else had these issues.

First of all, the gun has not been accurate or consistent. At 100yds the best it has been able to do is 1.16in with factory match ammo. With regular hunting ammo it is about 1.5-2in at 100yds. however with that said that is the exception to the rule and most groups of 4-5rnds would have 2 -3 filers.

Fist issue I ran into was the stock screws were no tight, front was finger tight and no torque specs in the manual. I contacted mossberg and they stated 25in lb. so I torqued it down and the bolt would not go back in. the rear action screw was protruding into the receiver just a little. A few passes with a fine file fixed the problem. I took it back out, group results were the same.

So I decided to bed the stock. in doing so I cleaned up the action bolts and removed the red lock-tite material that was on the threads. I thought this was off as, based on its placement it was not far enough up to engage the threads. I bedded the stock. It was a bit tricky based on their floating mag well but I believe I got an ok bedding job done.

I went to reassemble the gun and it felt like there was a lot more stress on the screws when torqued down like it was crushing the wood or plastic trigger guard. upon trying to insert the bolt it would not go in. I looked in the receiver the the rear action screw was protruding by about 1/8in. upon taking the trigger guard apart it had compressed the wood under the trigger guard, but not by enough to make that much difference.

My best guess if the lock tite was acting a stop to keep the action screws from the treading in too far. However if this is the case one cannot accurately torque the action into the stock. The front action screw also threads into the bottom of the receiver but is stopped by the barrel threading and does not have a lot of room to thread into the receiver. so I have no idea if the 25in lb is coming from the threads or it bottoming out in the hole.

my current plan involves building stand offs. the action screws are 1/4-28. I ordered some stainless bolts and couplers. I plan to make short screws to thread into the couplers and attach those to the action. then cut the couplers down to allow enough space to properly thread and torque the action screws while not bottoming out in or on the coupler

also while bedding the action. I found the factory bedding for the recoil lug to be, as near as I can tell, hot glue. It was slightly yellow and flexible when I pried it out. it is nor bedded properly

Also the factory bedding of the action relies on it being torqued against the floating mag well. so not exactly and ideal bedding for precision.

I am no engineer or machinist but a lot of this is really seeming poorly thought out, at best, to put it nicely. I am trying really hard not to use a LOT of bad words.
 
Shadow9mm said:
First of all, the gun has not been accurate or consistent. At 100yds the best it has been able to do is 1.16in with factory match ammo..
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Hey, if I could still hold steady enough to get inch-groups at 100 yards with any of my hardware, I'd be pretty happy :-)
 
Stagpanther and I have cussed and discussed Mossberg's plastic mag guide/action-gasket/stock-thingy.

His approach, and I salute his ingenuity, was to glass and pillar bed until he achieved the action-to-stock interface that satisfied his requirements.

My approach was to buy a torque screwdriver and torque my stock screws to the upper end of Mossberg's stated torque range for the rifle. I can tell you from experience that once you have done this, it requires a bit of shooting to 'settle in'; but when it does, it will shoot pretty good.
 
Sarge said:
Stagpanther and I have cussed and discussed Mossberg's plastic mag guide/action-gasket/stock-thingy.

His approach, and I salute his ingenuity, was to glass and pillar bed until he achieved the action-to-stock interface that satisfied his requirements.

My approach was to buy a torque screwdriver and torque my stock screws to the upper end of Mossberg's stated torque range for the rifle. I can tell you from experience that once you have done this, it requires a bit of shooting to 'settle in'; but when it does, it will shoot pretty good.
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I considdered pillar bedding, but the pillars I was looking at were out of stock no back order.

I tried the torque idea. problem is, I believe, the front action screw is bottoming out in the receiver. the the rear screw is protruding significantly at 25 in lb.

here is the rear action screw at 25 in lb. bolt will not go in.
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And my poor excuse for a bedding job. I want to go back and fill in the front portion up to the sides of the stock. I under estimated the space in there badly. going to rough it up with a dremill before adding the new bedding compound.
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ChasHam said:
Hey, if I could still hold steady enough to get inch-groups at 100 yards with any of my hardware, I'd be pretty happy :-)
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I was able to shoot my buddys $175 TC Compass 308 at 3/4in with the same match ammo, and 1.25in with the same hunting ammo on the same day....
 
Something--and I don't know what--is bad wrong for that rear screw to be protruding up into the bolt race.
 
Sarge said:
Something--and I don't know what--is bad wrong for that rear screw to be protruding up into the bolt race.
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Yes the rear action screw is way too far up. The bolt had red locktite on it that was apparently stopping it from going into the receiver too far. but that also meant I could not properly torque the action as it was stopping on the lock tite not because the torque was correct. I double checked the specs from mossberg 25 in lb.

Mossberg wants me to send it in. I'm really not trying to do that though. they advised I may have voided parts of my warranty by bedding the stock. apparently NO modification of any kind is allowed. Also I would have to pay to ship it. And finally they are talking a 6-8 week turn around.

Im going to stick with my plan to make some stand offs and bed the trigger area so I can properly torque it. If that does not work I will send her in. All the work is still to the stock, not the action, so that should still be under warranty at least.
 
I had heard of the mag well issues. Been on the lookout, but had not seen anything as of yet. I will double check later today
 
Mag well looks fine. its not cracked.

problem 1 the trigger guard and compressed wood under.
So I have decided on a simple plan going forward. I have bedded under the trigger guard. that should fix the issue of the compressed wood and add some addition support.

problem 2
the action screws are too long as best I can tell. While looking around apparently there are different action screws depending on whether it is a polymer or synthetic stock. I don't know the lengths. I purchased 4 new screws that are longer than both. I am going to cut them down and make custom screws, trial and error hand fitted.


Once that is done the gun will be back up and running and I can do some testing again and go from there.
 
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I considdered pillar bedding, but the pillars I was looking at were out of stock no back order.
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Almost any hardware store should have steel sleeves at about 1/10th the cost since they lack the fancy plastic bag and mystical aura of being shipped from a far-away city.;) Did you bed the stock without the plastic magwell thingy (the source of all evil)? It actually sets the action clearance from the stock.
Mossberg wants me to send it in. I'm really not trying to do that though. they advised I may have voided parts of my warranty by bedding the stock. apparently NO modification of any kind is allowed. Also I would have to pay to ship it. And finally they are talking a 6-8 week turn around.
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Tell em you left it out front of your house with a "free" sign on it and after 3 weeks still no takers.:D
 
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I bedded it in its proper configuration, so the mag well has a perfect seat. And the barrel nut is supported in the front. I still need to finish bedding that area so it has consistent contact
 
Update... I sold the rifle to a gun shop, got most of my money back. after all the work still would not shoot the way I wanted. I have a TC Compass in 30-06 that, out of the box, will do 1 1/2 moa with cheap factory ammo, and 0.75moa with my hand loads and budget hunting/match bullets.

I got the 308 because I got free brass for it, and it used the same powders, primers, bullets as my 30-06 and looked real pretty. The 308 brass was gifted to a good friend that gifted me 30-06 brass a while back. I love their shotguns, but I will never touch anything else from mossberg again.
 
I had considered a Mossberg “4x4” a few years back when I was looking to get a new hunting rifle. Eventually ended up going with thee Winchester Model 70 after reading some bad bad reviews about Mossberg rifles. Talking to a few friends back home, one had a Mossberg rifle, and was in process of trading it in on something more reliable.

But back to your original posts…. If you ever get into a situation where you want to pillar bed again, Brownell’s sells over length pillars that you can file or machine to size. I did it for my Franken-Mauser. Measured the distance from the bottom metal to the receiver, and faced the pillars down on a lathe to 0.001” long so the threads stretched properly and didn’t intrude on the bolt raceway in the rear, and not bottom out on the receiver ring in the front.

I have also read and heard garbage on the plastic bottom “metal” some manufacturers are going to. I can’t stand it, if I have a gun with plastic bottom material, I immediately take it off, chuck it, and get a metal replacement. Don’t feel like dealing with it ply and buckle and crush and crack. Leads to issues like you ran into where the screw went a thread or so into the raceway. Boyd’s stocks makes some aftermarket bottom metal that is metal for I think Mossberg and Savage. Maybe some others.

If you have an issue with your stock’s wood compressing, check into it, maybe go aftermarket for that, too. Some “hardwoods” aren’t all that hard or tough.
 
Patriot is garbage. You're lucky you got anything beyond $100 for it. Your rear screw probably had something to do with clearance of the trigger which they changed over at some point in production. My trigger simply went belly up and seized--and they make them so you cannot disassemble.
 
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