Light & Quiet: Mossberg Patriot Suppressed

Full-length rifles with suppressors are fine for long distance shooting from static positions. But when your rifle and suppressor approach polearm length, the quick handling characteristics needed for fast shooting at moving targets close-in is lost. 

With suppressed hunting being legal in one form or another in 42 of these United States, Mossberg decided that it was time to do more than just thread the muzzle of a full-length rifle and call it a day. 

Instead, Mossberg took its affordably priced Patriot bolt-action lineup and began offering them in carbine format. They have shorter barrels ranging from 16.25 to 20 inches across several popular hunting calibers. 

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Calibers include: 

• .22-250
• 6.5mm Creedmoor
• 6.5mm PRC
• .308 Winchester
• 7mm PRC
• .300 Winchester Magnum 
• .450 Bushmaster
• .350 Legend

My favorite, and the one I tested for this story, is the .308 Winchester carbine with a 16.25-inch barrel, the shortest of them all.

7.62mm Of Mossberg Patriot 

My Mossberg .308 Winchester Patriot carbine weighs 6 pounds, 3.5 ounces. I like this as a good starting point. Being that its shorter barrel is supposed to facilitate life with a suppressor, I added a titanium Silencer Central Banish 30. I specifically configured it to be shortened to 7 inches (11.3 ounces).

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I topped this Mossberg Patriot with a Riton Conquer 3-15×44 scope with low rings (1 pound 10.7 ounces). To help carry this rifle, I relied on a Firefield tactical two-point paracord sling with detachable swivels from Brownells (8.7 ounces). I also had six extra cartridges to top things off at  a total weight of 8 pounds 7 ounces. As configured, my overall length is just under 43 inches.

In exchange for the drop in velocity that goes along with losing 6 to 8 inches of barrel, I’ve gained ear safe suppression and retained the handling of a standard, unsuppressed, rifle. While I didn’t have a 24-inch barrel Patriot rifle on hand to do a velocity comparison, the velocity of the Remington, Hornady and Fiocchi ammunition I used was evaluated at their factories with a 24-inch test barrel and indicated a calculated drop of 182, 184 and 198 feet-per-second (FPS) respectively.

Mossberg Patriot Carbine Details

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The Mossberg Patriot is outfitted with a free-floated, medium bull contour barrel that has a recessed crown to protect the rifling. It also uses a large front recoil lug that anchors it to the stock. 

Trigger-wise, this carbine relies on a crisp breaking, single-stage trigger that’s user adjustable  from 2 to 7 pounds.  I also really appreciate the included 6-inch long Picatinny base that spans the receiver’s front ring and rear bridge. By having the base be a single piece, it helps to keep scope rings in alignment. It also allows the use of a monolithic scope mount. 

I’ll point out that it’s worth checking the screws that attach the Picatinny base to the receiver. Mine weren’t especially tight, which means they weren’t torqued to the correct specification. I would remove and re-install them with a blue thread-locker before mounting the optics to keep them tight.

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Additional Mossberg Patriot Features & Controls

Other important features include an extremely smooth operating, cock-on-opening, spirally fluted bolt. I found I could work it with just one finger. Top and left side gas shields are incorporated at the rear as well as a gas relief hole in the left side of the receiver ring to protect the shooter in the event of a case failure. That’s a highly unlikely problem these days with modern factory ammunition but still happens now and then, usually when handloaders use worn out cases or excessive charges.

Controls include a small lever at the left rear of the receiver which is depressed to remove the bolt. On the opposite side is a two-position sliding safety knob that locks the trigger but not the bolt, allowing clearing the chamber with the safety on. There’s also a blade style safety in the trigger itself that blocks its rearward movement unless deliberately depressed. The removable plastic box magazine is released by pulling back a recessed tab set into the stock immediately in front of it.

Stock Options 

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Mossberg was a pioneer in the use of plastics in firearms before World War Two. The Patriot carbine stock is a good example of the cost savings that can be realized with a well-designed injection molded part.

This stock is traditionally styled and includes various features like a nice cheek-rest on the left side of the comb comfortable, a thick but soft rubber recoil pad that eats up recoil, texturing over the entire exterior (it gets more aggressive at the griping points, front and rear sling swivel bases) a barrel channel that provides enough clearance for free-floated barrels and a cleverly molded trigger guard that eliminates at least three separate parts. 

Aside from the sling mounts and the screws attaching the buttplate, the stock appears to be made entirely of black polymer. 

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It is certainly weather resistant, but how strong it is I can’t say. This stock isn’t very stiff in the forend. Though the forend and barrel didn’t touch anywhere, the stock clearly favors the left side of the barrel to the right. When I reinstalled the action to the stock, I pressed the forend away from the barrel as I tightened the screws to try to allow more space between barrel and stock on the left, but it didn’t appear to do much.

That being said, the gun shot quite well. An aluminum pillar bedded stock might get it under 1 MOA, but would it be worth the extra expense? As is, this is a perfectly serviceable firearm. Length-wise the Mossberg Patriot’s stock is neither too big nor too small for its industry standard 13.75 inch length-of-pull. For a little extra, you can get it with a camouflage stock and Cerakoting on the metal.

More Bang For The Buck 

Keep in mind this Mossberg Patriot model a $515 MSRP (and an actual retail price around $110 less), consider the results of my accuracy testing at 100 yards. 

I fired a series of 5-shot groups using three popular .308 Winchester hunting loadings. I shot from the bench with the scope set to 9x magnification. The Mossberg’s butt and forend were also supported. Finally, I set the trigger pull weight to 2 pounds.

The two most accurate loads were essentially tied. First, Hornady Precision Hunter 178-grain ELD-X averaged groups of 1.44 inches and 2,402 FPS. Second, Fiocchi Hyperformance loaded with 150-grain Swift Sciroccos printed 1.45 inches but with nearly 300 FPS more velocity at 2,691 FPS. 

Remington classic Core-Lokt 180-grain soft-points averaged 2.36 inch groups and 2,438 FPS. Considering this carbine sells for only $402, I think its performance is impressive. Last but not least,  the Patriot stays true to the Mossberg tradition of giving the sportsman “more gun for the money.”

Sending The Last Round

I found the .308 Winchester Patriot carbine a pleasure to shoot. I’m sure I liked it more because it’s so inexpensive and I am a value-oriented shooter. Attaching a Harris Engineering Model 25C folding bipod (another value priced American classic) I took the Patriot Carbine to a fallow field and fired from the sitting position over the high grass at targets 200-300 yard distant and got consistent hits until my left over testing ammo ran out. What a nice way to end a T&E. 

Specifications: Mossberg Patriot Carbine

• Caliber: .308 Winchester 
• Capacity:5+1, five round detachable magazine
• Operation: bolt action
• Barrel: 16.25 inches, 1:10 twist, medium bull contour, barrel with recessed match crown and 5/8″-24 TPI threaded muzzle with protector
• Overall length: 36.5 inches
• Weight: 6 pounds 3.8 ounces empty
• Finish: matte blue 
• Stock: black synthetic with soft rubber buttplate
• Trigger Pull: patented LBA® user adjustable trigger, 2-7 pound pull, single stag w/ blade safety.
• Sights: none, 6” Picatinny rail on receiver.
• Accessories: front & rear sling swivel bases
• MSRP: $515 (Actual online retail price closer to $402.)

Performance

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