1976. My first hunting license. And rifle.

[Confederate rifleman]

Aced my N.Y. hunter safety course and Dad bought me the Montgomery Ward version of the Mossberg 46A. 22 caliber rifle.
Mom pitched a FIT! Thought she was gonna divorce him for sure! She was certain I'd kill myself with it.
Thanks Mom!
As time passed, I came to fancy myself an amateur gunsmith. Y'all know what I mean. Butterknives for screw drivers. And Linspeed oil...
Anyway. I tinkered too much and ruined the rifle. Beyond recovery...
'Tuther day, I spot a Mossberg 46A at Cabelas, really MUST avoid that place when I have coin.
These were only made in 1937/38 and aren't exactly common. This one is complete with the #4 aperture sight, Number 6 scope/ mount and tab type q.d. sling swivels.
The scope is 4x, I believe, and is a tad dark being a 3/4 inch tube.The external adjustments work perfectly.
My original had the #6 mount modified to take Weaver tip off mounts and had a Weaver V12. No No.4 sight though.
There's some blueing loss on the barrel, but otherwise, condition is quite nice. The bolt throw is SMOOTH and function is perfect. The trigger is kinda heavy, but breaks clean.
With CCI standard velocity long rifles, accuracy is superb! At 50 yards 5 rounders in a nickel is easily doable.
I had found one of these rifles a few months ago, but it wasn't nearly as nice as this one. I sold it to fund this one.
Wish Dad could see this. Didn't realize at the time, how much trust he put in me when he handed me that rifle.
We went in the back yard, Catskills, and he shot an orange. Handed me the rifle and said ( paraphrased)" Screw up, that's somebody's head." Never had to say another word. Always good to answer the unasked question!
The only thing that would make this better is if the barrel was stamped " Ward's Western Field".
And Dad was here to bust caps with me...

 

[bronko220002]

Nice....I love the old rifles. Question, Is that scope offset so you can use it and the aperture sight or does the aperture sight swing out of the way?

 

[Confederate rifleman]

The aperture should pivot, but doesn't. Working on that.
The scope is overbore, and the mount allows quite a bit of vertical movement. Repeatability is an issue though. Spin that lever and it'll slide up, down or off as required.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

I was bored. So I get a rough rag and some rubbing alcohol, dismounted the stock and removed the triggerguard, sling bases and buttplate. I then scrubbed the near 80 years of grunge off her.
Then I start with b.l.o. Such lovely stuff! Smells good and makes your hands soft.
The stock gulped it in quickly and took a beautiful old Winchester/ Caliber .30 M1 red tinge. A few more applications will have her nicely rehydrated.
Old rifles...

 

[edmehlig]

Can’t wait to see the pictures

 

[MuleDad]

I've been a Mossberg fan for years; some of those old training rifles were/are amazingly accurate