Is there any interest in these rifles? A shop owner I know bought 5 rifles and 7 barrels from a gun store going out of business some time ago, and I noticed them in his supply room. They are new.

Any idea on price of a complete rifle and extra barrels? Available calibers also.

I'll find out today.

When the first came out, I ran down to the local gunshops as I really liked their looks and wanted a lightweight, single shot for lighter caliber work.

My first impressions seeing them was that the fit and finish was horrible. All of the ones I looked at had large gaps and crooked lines at the wood to metal fit. All the wood was proud over the metal and uneven from side to side.

All of the actions were stiff and it took two hands and a lot of effort to open them. Triggers pull varied from about 6 - 10 Lbs. And they all seemed heavy, both had rather thick barrels and felt muzzle heavy so that may have contributed to the heavy feel.

I did get to shoot a couple, one in 270 and the other in 30.06. With two - four different factory loads the smallest three shot group we saw was 2.5" at 100 yards in the 30.06 with some Federal Premium Gold Medal rounds, the normal accuracy was 3" - 3.5" groups.


I never bought one.

Shall we say it was a potentially good idea with poor execution. A local shop has had the same dusty two or three for sale for years and years. I think they tried to split the handi rifle and TC markets but it did not work out well for them. Maybe someday they will be desired collectors items?

He's got 2 new stocks and barrels in 22-250, 223, 30-06, 308, 12ga rifled, 12ga Turkey, and 12ga with choke tubes, all new.

Sounds like it has some potential for the home gun-tinkerer, depending on asking price.

A little glass bedding, some sandpaper and GB Linspeed, and the appearance can likely be greatly improved for very little money.

Opening and closing it a few hundred times, while watching the gibberish on TV will no doubt substantially ease the opening as the parts "wear-in". And the improved stock fit and some handloading may vastly improve the accuracy.

Those are the fun kind of projects I used to love. And they reallyy blew peoples' minds at the range when done and working right.

I went today and handled them...pretty cool little rifles. They're short and quite hefty. The one I tried broke open without a fuss, and felt quite solid on closing. He had all 7 or 8 barrels scoped up ready to go....a do-anything rifle/shotgun, short of dangerous game :-)

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
I went today and handled them...pretty cool little rifles. They're short and quite hefty. The one I tried broke open without a fuss, and felt quite solid on closing. He had all 7 or 8 barrels scoped up ready to go....a do-anything rifle/shotgun, short of dangerous game :-)

Price??

Barrel or complete rifle?

Walked out of a Gander Mt store with a 308 SSI back about 6 years ago. Recall store had about 5 of them in a clearance rack. Think I paid around $250 for it.

Right about the trigger pull being on the heavy side. I'm one to tinker with trigger pull. Back then, there were a few posts on gun forums of gents claiming to have done a trigger job, but none ever explained what they did. Took the rifle to a couple of gunsmiths and neither after checking its trigger assembly wanted to mess with it....too complicated I guess.

Anyway, the fit of metal to wood in mine is pretty good. Accuracy at 100 yds is around 1 1/4 to 1 1/2" at best for me with my reloads.

Recall back when I bought it, folks posted wanting to buy another barrel for their SSI, but no one had any to sell. Also, had a conversation with a Gender Mt employee who'd transferred from Minnesota to Houston, Tx when Gander opened several stores here. He told me the rifle had been a pretty good seller for them. It filled the gap between a Handi rifle and the Ruger single shot, price wise. That he'd called Mossberg looking for a part for a SSI for a customer. In conversation with Mossberg, he was surprised to find out rifle was no longer in production and all parts and equipment for making rifle had been sold to another company, which Mossberg person refused to reveal. SSI was only made for a couple of years.