Review of the Mossberg 100 ATR Rifle

The Mossberg 100 ATR is an economy-priced rifle for those looking to get a big game hunting rifle without breaking their budget. The Mossberg ATR is offered at local Wal-Marts in my area for less than $250. Package Mossberg ATR's with a scope run a little more. With such a low price, the Mossberg ATR is an interesting rifle that should be quite popular. The ATR stands for All Terrain Rifle.

The Mossberg 100 ATR is a bolt action rifle that comes standard with a black synthetic stock, 22 inch free floated barrel, 4 round magazine (plus 1 in the chamber), adjustable trigger, sling swivels, and rubber recoil pad. Other available features include stainless steel barrels, open sights, walnut stock, camouflage stock, adjustable stock. With a wide range of features available, the ATR offers models that will meet about any hunting need. Even with more expensive options, the Mossberg 100 ATR is still a budget priced rifle that offers a lot for the price.

The Mossberg 100 ATR feels good and solid in the hands. The Mossberg ATR weighs just under 7 pounds with some variance depending on model. The standard synthetic stock is checkered (as are the others) to provide a steady grip. The checkering felt good in the hand compared to some inexpensive rifles that have sharp edges on their checkering.

I recently shot a Mossberg 100 ATR while looking around for an inexpensive deer hunting rifle. The rifle that I shot was a 30-06 Springfield. The Mossberg ATR is available in .243 Winchester, .270 Winchester, .308 Winchester, and 30-06 Springfield. While this is not a wide range of selections all of the four are great deer cartridges and all but the .243 Winchester are fine for elk and other larger big game. The Mossberg ATR did a good job of dampening the recoil of the 30-06. Accuracy was OK with the one factory load that I tried. Groups were under 2 inches, but playing around with different factory loads and hand loads could probably improve this some.

I did not purchase the Mossberg ATR as I went with a Stevens Model 200. I chose the Stevens as it is based on the long serving Savage Model 110. The Mossberg ATR being a newer rifle might still have some bugs that will need worked out. I noticed a lot of chatter on message boards and forums that indicate problems with the Mossberg ATR, especially broken extractors and bolt head separation. I have no personal knowledge of this but the rumors are out there. The Mossberg ATR that I shot is owned by a friend that has put a few hundred rounds through his with no problems. For such a low price, I doubt that you can go wrong with the Mossberg ATR. I chose something different, but this does not mean that the ATR is not worth consideration. If you like the ATR and feel comfortable with it I am sure it will serve you well.