Mossberg 151M-C?

[DW357]

My dad bought this Mossberg 151M-C along with a couple other rifles from a friend. Paid $150 for it. Seems like a good deal to me.
It’s got some surface rust in spots which could probably clean up with steel wool and CLP.

Came with the factory peep sight and an old Bushnell 3-8X scope.

Neat rifle rifle but haven’t had a chance to shoot it yet. I didn’t even know how to load the damn thing until I realized it’s loaded through a tube in the buttstock

Anyone have one of these?

Look forward to shooting it.

 

[Admin]

Can't wait to see a range report. Make sure you try a few different brands/types of rounds.

 

[DW357]

Can't wait to see a range report. Make sure you try a few different brands/types of rounds.

I’ve got everything from Aguila colibri’s to CCI stingers! I’m thinking CCI SV will probably shoot well or maybe mini mags. We shall see...

 

[KBCraig]

Standard velocity should give you itty-bitty groups all day.

 

[413dan]

neat männlicher stock. and a cool design loading thru the buttstock. kinda like the old Spencer rifle. enjoy your new rifle looks like it'll clean up very well.

 

[smokey-seven]

It’s got some surface rust in spots which could probably clean up with steel wool and CLP.

Bronze wool please. Steel wool can remove bluing.

 

[DW357]

Bronze wool please. Steel wool can remove bluing.

Oh shit, roger that. Thanks for the tip!

 

[DW357]

Standard velocity should give you itty-bitty groups all day.

That’s what I’m thinking. SV was very accurate in my bull barrel 10/22 so I’m hoping the same results for this Mossberg.

 

[DW357]

@mac1911 must have one of these or at least heard of them?...

 

[413dan]

the finger groves from the trigger guard that flow into the stock are really neat. didn't notice that the first time I looked.

 

[PL-52]

Nice acquisition, One of my 1st scatter guns was a Mozzie, still have it, locked up somewhere in the back of a closet

 

[jpm]

I've got one of these Andrew, they're a great rifle! Mine is a B if I remember correctly. On some of them the front part of the stock ahead of the sling swivel would fold down like a foregrip!

Does your front sight have all the inserts still in it? I believe there are 5 different shaped ones, sticks of various heights, a couple with round tops, etc.

Mine ate up everything but loved Aguilla HV 40gr RN Plated the best. To load it, you twist that locking piece that is in the hole at in the buttstock about 1/4 turn and pull it out till you see the loading tube in the side of the stock. Feed in up to 10 rds thru that port then replace the loading tube and twist it to lock. You can lock open the bolt on that one if you pull back the little charging knob and either push or pull (pull I think) when you get to the detent towards the back.

Steel wool won't hurt the bluing if you use 0000. Just dip it in oil/clp first and gently polish the rust away.

 

[jpm]

Here's a 10 shot group from 50 feet using that aguilla HV ammo and the factory peep sights it came with. That's a spent 22LR shell for perspective! That was the smallest group from any ammo I tested that day which included minimags, CCI SV, aguilla SV, american eagle, fed automatch and I think winchester HP.

 

[KBCraig]

I never had a 151, but I do still have the first gun I every shot (at the age of 3!), Dad's Mossberg 42C-M. It's pretty much the same rifle, except with a 7 round detachable box magazine instead of the tube feed.

Somewhere in our family archives, we have a dated, witnessed, and signed target that Dad shot with that rifle (with factory Mossberg 4X scope). Ten rounds, 100 yards, and you can cover the group with a dime.

He was the first to say he couldn't do it again, the rifle couldn't do it again, and the ammo couldn't do it again, but... there it was, done.

 

[KBCraig]

I've added a couple more classic Mossbergs since then. Still my favorite .22 rifle of all time.

 

[PatMcD]

In the second pic, that rear sight on the left doesn't go to that 151M: it's a semi-modern Remington rear.
The front had different posts that would flip up and the rear peep would swing out of the way.
My buddy had one. We didn't like saying "man-licker", so we called it "man-killer" or "man, I like liquor".

 

[DW357]

I've got one of these Andrew, they're a great rifle! Mine is a B if I remember correctly. On some of them the front part of the stock ahead of the sling swivel would fold down like a foregrip!

Does your front sight have all the inserts still in it? I believe there are 5 different shaped ones, sticks of various heights, a couple with round tops, etc.

Mine ate up everything but loved Aguilla HV 40gr RN Plated the best. To load it, you twist that locking piece that is in the hole at in the buttstock about 1/4 turn and pull it out till you see the loading tube in the side of the stock. Feed in up to 10 rds thru that port then replace the loading tube and twist it to lock. You can lock open the bolt on that one if you pull back the little charging knob and either push or pull (pull I think) when you get to the detent towards the back.

Steel wool won't hurt the bluing if you use 0000. Just dip it in oil/clp first and gently polish the rust away.

Oh nice! I think I have a brick of Aguila HV ammo so I'll def try that.
It still has the inserts!
Thanks for the info!

 

[DW357]

Here's a 10 shot group from 50 feet using that aguilla HV ammo and the factory peep sights it came with. That's a spent 22LR shell for perspective! That was the smallest group from any ammo I tested that day which included minimags, CCI SV, aguilla SV, american eagle, fed automatch and I think winchester HP.

View attachment 318658

Damn! Actually the peep sight that came with mine must be factory. The rear notch/buckhorn (whatever it is) sight is the Williams sight - I mixed them up in my OP.
That hole in that peep sight is freakin SMALL!!! It's like half the thickness of a toothpick...

I'll try out the scope for a bit before trying the peep sight.

 

[DW357]

In the second pic, that rear sight on the left doesn't go to that 151M: it's a semi-modern Remington rear.
The front had different posts that would flip up and the rear peep would swing out of the way.

I think you're right! Just edited my OP.
That actually makes sense since the friend of my dad who was selling the rifles, also had a Rem 7600 pump action 30-06 that my dad wasn't interested in due to the condition. Must go to that rifle?

 

[jpm]

I'll take a pic of the correct rear sight on mine. That front sight intact like that is a scarce piece and worth a good chunk of what he paid for the rifle!

@andrew1220 if you have any trouble with it feeding, I can help you fix it. When I bought mine I got it cheap because it wouldn't feed right, so I tore it all down and figured out what was wrong and repaired/replaced it. I'm pretty familiar with it now.

 

[DW357]

I'll take a pic of the correct rear sight on mine. That front sight intact like that is a scarce piece and worth a good chunk of what he paid for the rifle!

@andrew1220 if you have any trouble with it feeding, I can help you fix it. When I bought mine I got it cheap because it wouldn't feed right, so I tore it all down and figured out what was wrong and repaired/replaced it. I'm pretty familiar with it now.

Didn’t realize the intact front sight was rare. Very cool. The peep sight has a fair amount of rust but it still functions.
I’ll definitively report back when I have a chance to hit the range. It could use a good cleaning as the chamber is fairly rotten. Thanks.

 

[DW357]

Brought it to the range this afternoon and didn’t have much luck in it functioning...

Was basically a single shot rifle due to the failures to feed with basically every shot. BUT it seemed very accurate at 120 yards.

Decided to take it apart tonight and HOLY SHIT was it rotten!!! I’m quite sure it has NEVER been cleaned.

Before:


After:




Just need to reassemble and get it back to the range and see how it goes!

 

[jpm]

dayam! That is like a sewer!!

So did it just fail to feed or fail to eject?

 

[DW357]

dayam! That is like a sewer!!

So did it just fail to feed or fail to eject?

Sure was a sewer!

Ya just failure to feed only. So you had failure to feed issues as well?

I cycled some rounds through it and it’s much smoother now. Hopefully the cleaning did it.

 

[KBCraig]

That's now most rimfires look after a few bricks of ammo.

Spray it out, lube it, shoot it wet, repeat.

 

[Irish65]

Cool thread.
Like the before-and-after pics.
Neat gun.

 

[jpm]

Sure was a sewer!

Ya just failure to feed only. So you had failure to feed issues as well?

I cycled some rounds through it and it’s much smoother now. Hopefully the cleaning did it.

No mine would actually feed several at a time! The magazine disconnector wasn't working right.

 

[DW357]

No mine would actually feed several at a time! The magazine disconnector wasn't working right.

Oh wow. That was the one of the things I didn't take apart. Same with the extractor and firing pin. I gave up trying to punch the pin out as I figured I'd damage the bolt...

I think I got it cleaned good enough for now. Hoping to shoot it after work possibly...

 

[DW357]

Cleaning BARELY helped. I tried some CCI SV which functioned much better than the Aguila HV but still got some failures to feed.

 

[jpm]

hmm looks like its not quite far enough out of the magazine before the bolt hits it. I'll have to see what mine looks like when it feeds.

The feedramp looks a bit grungy, I'd polish that with some 0000 steel wool and oil/clp