The weather cooperated today in the not so frozen tundra and I finally got to run the Mossberg 464 16.25" barreled lever gun thru its paces. This rifle is a Davidsons "Brush Gun" Exclusive with the Marine cote finish and weighs 7 5/8lbs. with a 1-4x20 Leupy mounted in low rings and Kwik Site bases. The rifle was weighed without ammo.

I fired a total of 12 shots to tweak the scope settings and then a 3 shot 100 yd. group with a long cooling off period between shots. The final group was 5 shots fired as fast as I could get back on target at 70 yds. I shot a string thru my F1 Chrony and averaged 2288 fps with the top loading of 38.5 grains of LeverEvolution and the 150 grain Sierra FN using the loading exactly as Hodgdon has it on its website. All 20 rounds were this loading density with the Sierra 150 #2000 bullet. All shots ejected and fed properly and the creep in the trigger was predictable and the trigger was crisp when the travel was taken up before each shot. On my RCBS trigger pull scale the trigger broke at a smidge over 4 3/4lbs. each time tested.

Nice looking, and apparently nice shooting, rifle.

The LE powder is letting you get 20" ballistics out of that short tube. It's going to be nice to hunt the brush with the Shorty.

Hodgdon listed 2500fps with this loading in a 24" barrel. I am happy with the velocity out of the 16 1/4" tube.

And yes I always wanted a short barrel 30-30 lever rifle.

Thanks for the update. Those 464's are looking better all the time. My buddy is really starting to get serious about one now. I'm impressed with your results from that short barrel and that LE powder that I'm gonna have to try one of these days. If I didn't already own a 30-30 (I inherited it from an uncle) then I'd be taking a real close look at a 464.

Well, one of the advantages of the .30-30 is it tends to lose less per inch of barrel than higher pressure, lower expansion-ratio rounds.

And,...you have given me an idea on a load in case I ever aquire a .30-30 Contender. I'm sure that yours would be a good one in a 14 to 15 incher, also.

I just picked one up the other day. Haven't shot it yet, but it looks and feels great. So far, I like it.

Last year, my nephew bought same carbine as yours. Its well made and a good shooter. He killed a young buck and two does with 3 shots in western Maryland. Its a keeper!

I've always had good luck with Sierra bullets. I like their Pro Hunters the best.

Thank you for the range report.
Sherwood

Discovered something today, while looking thru the "order guns" cataloogie at Dick's: The pistol grip version is also available in blued steel/wood stock (faux walnut, whatever?).

So, for old weirdos like me, an ersatz M64-like critter could be had for around $400 and a bit of tinkering? Perhaps better than hacking up a real M94 or one of the Ted Williams variants.