Scoped my old Western Field 815 (Mossie 320)

[aarondhgraham]

I recently purchased a Western Field 815,,,
It's basically a Mossberg 320 made for Montgomery Wards.

This one was in very nice condition,,,
The Evil Pawn Shop Guy let me have it for $100.00 OTD.

It was missing the sight elevator,,,
But shot a dime sized group at 25 yards,,,
It was nowhere near the bullseye but grouped tightly.

Anyways, $8.00 for the part and shipping cured that,,,
Numrich had the correct elevator for it.

Then I got the urge to scope the rifle,,,
My 64 year old eyes need the help.

Regular mounts would not allow me to set a proper eye relief distance,,,
They placed the scope way to far forward on the action,,,
So I got a set of cantilever mounts from Havlin's.

The mounts were a bit pricey at $42.00 shipped,,,
But they worked perfectly as advertised.

The cantilever mounts allowed the scope to be set for a proper eye relief,,,
But it just didn't look "right" with a new modern design scope.

I was at a small gun show and found an "American Eagle" scope,,,
It is a simple 4X but had clear glass and the right look,,,
I got the scope for a flat $25.00.

So, 100 + 8 + 42 + 25,,,
Makes for a grand total of $175.00,,,
Even with a new $16.00 Plano case it's under 2-Bills.

It took about an hour to dial it in for 50 yards,,,
But off of a rest I was able to put 5 rounds touching a 1" dot,,,
I believe a better shooter could have hit a much tighter group than that.

I'm very happy with this set-up,,,
I'll enjoy shooting it at the range for a season,,,
Then it will probably be gifted to some young newbie shooter.

How did I do?

Aarond

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[big al hunter]

Aarond, I think you paid what I would have. Sometimes the most fun comes from the least expensive gun. I have some buddies that spent 2 or 3 times that for a gun that won't shoot that well. Congratulations. And I admire that you help new shooters that way. If more people had that attitude toward life this world would be a much better place to live.

 

[aarondhgraham]

Hello big al hunter,,,

Thanks for the good thoughts.

It's only in recent years that I've embraced these "vintage" guns,,,
I inherited a 60's Mossberg 340 KC that blew me away.

The precision of that old gal amazes me,,,
One would have to spend a lot of coin nowadays to equal her.

In my waning years my mission in life is to generate new shooters,,,
I work at a student computer lab at a major university,,,
So I have lots of candidates to work with.

Aarond

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[big al hunter]

I have also enjoyed the not so modern arms lately. My latest project is a Winchester 67a. It was my grandfather's rifle. When I inherited it from my father the extractor was broken. It took a few years to locate the part. It still needs a stock, the old one is cracked. I have only shot it on one trip out. It shoots as well as dad said it did. Some day it will be given to one of my 4 sons. My grandpa taught my Dad and uncles to shoot with it. I will teach my 3 youngest to shoot with it. It is only worth a little money, but to me it is priceless.