tell me about mossberg 800m

B

bamaranger

New member
I stumbled up on a Mossberg 800M in .243 and since I seem to have a Mannlicher affliction lately, I bought same.

I had never heard of the rifle, much less seen one. I did the usual internet search and learned a bit, 1969-72 mfg, short action, L. Seecamp did the design (?). Competitor to the Rem 788 and 700. Mannlicher stock is less common.

Would like to hear from anybody with personal experience with the 800 series, especially the 800M.

Rifle came with a period Weaver V9-A scope and a Brownells Latigo sling.
 
nope

Hey Sap.

No, this is a 20" bbled Mannlicher (full length wood) "carbine". The stock is a bit boxy/blocky and not as sleek as something Euro or a Ruger, but it is different. Has a nifty psuedo spoon bolt handle too!

I've removed the honkin big Weaver V9 AO scope and clunky weaver rings, and put on a set of tidy Burris Zee's and a trim Leu 6x-36mm. Almost got to shoot today.....but bamaboy took sick and we made a run to town.

Kid gets healthy, maybe we can do pics.........I dunno.
 
The 800M is a rare beast. If you like it, take care of it.

My .243 Win Mossberg 800 was stamped as a "BSM", but all indicators (including inquiries with the Mossberg Historical Society) pointed to it being a factory prototype for the "Scoped Police" model, circa 1972-76.

It was an good rifle, and quite accurate. Although the action was very rough, internally, it didn't bother me much. It still functioned reliably. (I ended up using some rubbing compound to smooth out the action, anyway.)
What I had a problem with, and the reason I got rid of mine, was the safety. If the safety was not absolutely, positively locked into the detent, it could be pushed off by pulling the trigger. I could not live with that, and it was a design flaw - not a wear, failure, or misuse issue.

I know that proper, safe operation of the rifle means that the user ensures the safety has been put on properly, but my 800BSM was mainly intended for my wife and kids (and my brothers' kids) to use. I know, without a doubt, that they would forget at the worst possible time....
So having a glaring safety issue was the rifle's fatal flaw.
If the rifle had been for me, only, I would have kept it.

When I got it, it was painted in white/grey/black camo. As a joke, I repainted it in the pink and purple camo shown, and renamed it "The Flamer". Strangely, the paint job grew on me; and it remained in that state for 2-3 years. When it came time to sell it, I refinished the rifle. I think it came out looking pretty dang good for something that was originally a parts gun intended to be more of a factory "proof of concept", than an actual rifle. ;)
...and even better, when you know that it spent 28 years as a truck gun, bouncing around behind the seat of various farm trucks; and that is was then painted by two different idiot owners, before being refinished.

attachment.php

Pictures don't do justice for how good that "junk" stock ended up looking with 12+ hand-rubbed coats of Fromby's and tung oil on top of a 400-grit final sand.
They still don't bring out the detail you can see in person, but there are some more photos here: Pressed Checkering Full of Paint - Iron it out, Sand it off, or Both?
The first images are at the bottom of page 1. The (slightly) more interesting photos are on page 2.

Bottom line...?
They're good rifles, if you can live with the safety.
Like most rifles, it will probably be more accurate than the shooter. ;)
I'd love to see some photos of your 800M, if you can post them.
 
800m.jpgMy father bought this 800M .243 in 1970 and gave it to me in 1971 for my first commercial hunting rifle. He was not fond of the 20 inch barrel or the Mannlicher stock so he bought another 800 I think it is a B, also in 243, my oldest brother owns this rifle now.
I used this rifle for everything ,deer, elk (yes I did), coyotes ,prairie dogs...everything I shot at, was with this rifle. I had the same problem with the safety as Frankenmauser, my solution was to drill the detent out slightly and install a slightly larger ball with a stiffer spring. We have not had any problems with the safety since.
The stock on this little rifle is cut to 11 3/4 LOP, my wife used it for several years and needed it shortened , then my sons all used it for their first couple of hunting seasons . It has a cheap old Tasco World Class on it that is still holding zero even though its 25 or so years old.
Now it sits in the safe most of the time, I do take it out a couple of times a year for prairie dogs, coyotes or just to knock the cobwebs out of it. It still shoots 3/4 in groups, not as good as it used to , but still adequate , using a Speer 105 Spitzer over 43 gr IMR 4831, or Sierra 100 Sp. over the same powder
 
lookalike

Well, mine sort of looks like his, except it wears a black Brownells Latigo sling, and a Leupold 6x36mm fixed. The recoil pad is dried out and skewed, from setting in a corner, I may swap it out w/ a correct replacement. The rear sight is missing, (the Weaver AO was much bigger). I may simply put a dovetail filler in, but the correct rear sight is out there if I want to part with the $.

Zeroed the little rig the other day, 3 rds of Federal Premium 70 gr ballistic tip plunked into a tad over an inch on my 100 yd + (about 125) home range.
My reloads did not do so good. Nosler Partitions, with mixed cases, that I assembled in a hurry for another rifle.

I will bump bamaboy again re pics.
 
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