6-36X56 FFP sitting in the BoBro Engineering Dual Lever Precision Optic Mount
Hornady announced in October the release of its all-new long-range hunting cartridge, the formidable 7mm PRC. This new cartridge is designed to be an updated version of the 7mm Rem. Mag by taking full advantage of the newer 7mm bullets with higher BCs. Mossberg was quick to offer two variations chambered for this new bullet: the Patriot Predator, with two types of stocks and finishes. Both versions are “born to hunt” coming from the factory with suppressor-ready threaded barrels, and an optics-ready top-mounted Picatinny rail. These rifles feature an oversized bolt handle, a smooth-feeding detachable box magazine, and an adjustable trigger.
The Mossberg Patriot Predator is available with an FDE stock and Matte Blue finished barrel with an MSRP of $536.
Specifications of the Mossberg Patriot Predator
Caliber: 7mm PRC
Action: TypeBolt-Action
Barrel Type: Fluted
Barrel Length: 24″
Barrel Finish: Matte Blue
Capacity: 3+1
Length: 44.25″
LOP: 13.75″
LOP Type: Fixed
Sights: Picatinny Rail
Stock: Synthetic (Flat Dark Earth)
Twist: 1:8″
Weight: 6.5lbs
It is also available with a Strata camo synthetic stock and Patriot Brown Cerakoted barrel with an MSRP of $636. Otherwise, these two variants are identical.
Patriot Predator Barrel
A great feature of the Patriot Predator is the inclusion of a threaded barrel. It comes with a knurled thread protector but is factory-ready to attach a suppressor or some sort of muzzle device. The future is now, and I firmly believe all rifles should come with threaded barrels to allow for shooting suppressed. Using a suppressor is the kind and the courteous thing to do, and this rifle suppresses pretty well for the caliber that it is chambered in.
The threaded barrel is fluted and comes with an 11-degree Match Crown. Utilizing a Matte Blue finish, the barrel looks clean while gaining more corrosion resistance. The barrel is 24 inches long and has a 1:8″ twist.
Mossberg’s Lightning Trigger
Featuring Mossberg’s Lightning Bolt Action trigger, this rifle has a great user interface. The adjustable trigger can be tuned from between 2-7 lbs but comes from the factory set at the minimum. Using a trigger puller gauge, I consistently measured mine to break at 1.75 lbs which is even slightly lighter than advertised. There is a small amount of creep, but the trigger is so light that I can’t really feel it. When shooting and dryfiring it felt good. I find it cool how Mossberg cut out a lightning bolt into the integrated safety bar to distinguish it as one of their Lightning Bolt Action triggers.
The Patriot Predator Stock
The stock is quite basic, but for a budget rifle that is to be expected. Included around the grip and forend is some texturing injection molded into this FDE synthetic stock. It is not as aggressive as I would have preferred, but it does help keep the rifle from slipping around in my hands. The barrel is free-floated and seems to remain that way unless you are really pushing down hard into a bipod when shooting. The forend has some flex, but under normal use and bipod use it was rigid enough to keep this barrel free-floated.
The stock comes with one front and rear sling swivel stud for mounting a sling or a bipod. Mossberg also includes a very effective rubber buttstock pad. It is about an inch thick and feels good on my shoulder. Shooting 7mm PRC out of a lightweight rifle I thought could be punishing, but the Patriot Predator handled it quite well. I was expecting the recoil impulse to be similar to my 300 Weatherby Magnum, but it was much closer to what my 308s feel like.
Magazines
The Predator takes a detachable 3-round magazine which fed this gun without issue. It is all plastic but feels fairly durable utilizing thick sidewalls.
Patriot Predator Bolt and Action
Featuring an enlarged bolt knob allows for quicker cycling of the action. I found it to be quite comfortable to work with, and more than enough to get a positive grip when shooting quickly. The bolt is fluted which looks cool and helps shave off some weight. I was surprised at how the action performed. It fed without a single issue, and while it had some wobble, it never bound up when it was being pushed forward. It could catch when the bolt was all the way at the rear if the bolt was being pushed at a sharp angle away from the centerline of the bore, but once it started down the receiver, it fed well. Both feeding and ejecting went without issue which was a pleasant surprise. I have had quite a few issues with this when using other similar-priced bolt action rifles.
This rifle doesn’t come with any sights, but rather it comes with a Picatinny rail mounted to the top of the receiver. This allows for the use of more common scope and red dot mounts. From the factory, this top Picatinny rail was mounted loose on the receiver. Scanning through the owner’s manual and Mossberg’s website, I could not find a torque spec. After emailing their customer support, I was told to torque the rail fasteners to 15in-lbs so I proceeded to do just that using a Wheeler Torque wrench and some blue Loctite.
Accuracy of the Mossberg Patriot Predator 7PRC
My first couple of shots through the rifle grouped well, but over the course of my first 30 rounds, the groups shifted down 6.5 inches. At first, I thought the barrel was just getting broken in, but the drastic change over 30 rounds had me skeptical. The top rail ended up working itself loose and I noticed the Picatinny rail could move up and down ever so slightly when I pushed down on the scope. Taking the rail off, I noticed the Loctite didn’t cure. Even though I let it sit for a week before shooting, oil ended up getting blasted up through the tapped holes in the receiver, and pooled up between the Picatinny rail and the receiver. I will take the blame for this since I forgot to wipe the oil from the holes. After this, however, I wiped everything down thoroughly, applied red Loctite, and slightly over-torqued the fasteners. I had no issues with the Picatinny rail getting loose after this.
At the moment, there are only three factory cartridges available and shipping. These are Hornady’s 160gr CX Outfitter (MSRP $73.07), 175gr ELD-X Precision Hunter (MSRP $71.40), and 180gr ELD Match (MSRP $69.15). To find out how precise this rifle was, I shot multiple 5-round groups at 100 yards using Hornady 175gr ELD-X and 180gr ELD Match. This rifle continually shot around 2 MOA 5-round groups at 100 yards. While I hoped for slightly better groups, especially for something chambered in this caliber, for a sub $600 gun I didn’t have very high expectations. I got some groups smaller, and some larger, but out of 6 boxes of ammunition, 2 MOA was basically the average.
In all fairness, this is a lightweight hunting rifle with a lightweight barrel. The general standard for groups out of lightweight hunting rifles is 3 shots, especially with magnum calibers that heat up barrels quickly.
You can tell by the pictures that sub-MOA groups could have been shot if I’d only shot 3 shot groups and then let the barrel completely cool.
Conclusion
For those looking to find an affordable rifle chambered in the formidable, efficient, and light-recoiling 7mm PRC, Mossberg has you covered with the Patriot Predator with an MSRP of $536. Ergonomically it feels good, it is suppressor-ready and runs well. While it’s not the most accurate rifle we’ve ever reviewed here at GunsAmerica 1 MOA 3 shot groups are totally sufficient and it should still do great for dropping deer or wild pigs within the engagement distances most people hunt in.