I took my SSi-1 hunting yesterday and had a good look at it while standing and waiting fruitlessly for a deer to appear. That inspection reminded me why I like this rifle (although, it was a shotgun yesterday).
I rather like its looks. The semi-beavertail forend that fits the slug barrel is a not as good looking as the schnabel that came with the .270 barrel, but both are well finished and checkered. The buttstock is also well-shaped for me, and I especially like the fairly long and open pistol grip. The metal is finished in a nicely done satin blue. The only esthetic flaw in my opinion is the somewhat "long" receiver, but I can live with it.
The rifle functions perfectly and has a few nice touches. It ejects rather than extracts spent cases, which is nice given that I am not hunting elephants or rhinos. There is a little brass cocking indicator on the tang (like the one on the Savage 99), which is useful on a hammerless gun. And the safety is on the tang right where it ought to be. It even came with a Weaver-style scope mount for each barrel.
Given its finish and features, this gun is a great value, and Mossberg should bring it back. After all, T/C has made a business out of building rifles with some of the same features but that are not half as attractive (or putting it more diplomatically that are less conventionally styled). Makes me wonder what happened to the TCR'87.
