Have to agree with everyone else here. External fit/finish and balance are good to my eye, but the action is pretty awful and the hammer has enough play in it to be scary

Safety(ies) are rather annoying and the trigger is about average. I looked at one one day, then picked up a thirty year old Winchester 94 next to it; to me, the Winchester, even at it's age, was five times the gun the Mossberg is, and cheaper too. My recommendation is also to go with either a good used Winchester or maybe a new Marlin. I have a Browning BLR and it is a very nice gun, but is rather expensive. Likewise the new Henry .30/.30 rifles - very nice, damn close to my Browning, but quite pricey also. Supposedly the Mossie is accurate, but even if it is, I wouldn't want to shoot the thing...once you squeeze one off and work the action, any good feelings are likely to disappear real fast

Overall, a rather substantial disappointment, especially for an American-made rifle. On that note, I haven't read a bad review yet in the gun magazines about the 'Berg; I do notice however, that little mention is ever made of the gun's operation, smoothness, or build quality. Interesting...

Kind Regards,
~450 Marlin~
P.S. Nice lookin' Marlins you got there Halwg. That one with scout mount/scope on the left is quite interesting...is that truckbed coating on the stock? I have a Henry done up with that stuff, and it looks and feels great.