History, value of old Mossberg 46M(a) .22 LR (pics added)

[Steve Foss]

Hey all:

I'm looking for some history and possibly current value on this gun. Just came into my possession. It's also got the Mossberg No. 8 scope mount and old long narrow 4x Mossy scope. I works fine, and I would rate it in "very good" condition.

The International Mossberg Collectors Association Web site doesn't have any info (looks like you have to join to get info or buy a book from them), nor does the Mossberg site.

It appears the (a) version was built between 1945 and 1947, but aside from an old scanned pdf of a Mossberg catalog that shows a pic and a paragraph on the gun, can't find anything else.

Any ideas on where to get that info online?

Thanks!

[96trigger]

Steve, did you go to any gun auction/sales sites and see if there were any on there? You can get a good idea for the retail price based on those sights. A good dealer will get you close to 80% of that on trade in.

[Steve Foss]

I did find one auction for the slightly newer 46M(. It was missing both sling swivels but was otherwise in pretty good shape. It went for $153. It did not have the scope.

There's no rear iron sight on my 46M(a), but the scope sits so low that it may have come that way from the factory, being a Mossberg mount and scope. The front sight assembly has a couple moving parts and swings down to the side, partially retracting. Not sure just how that operates yet, though with the scope it's no issue anyway.

Sure is a fun little gun to shoot. I put some shells through it, and it handles really nicely and seems quite accurate. Balance is excellent, I really like the safety, and the rifle has an unusual look. I'm not interested in selling it. A guy just likes to know what he's got, ya know?

Kinda wish still I lived down in gray/fox squirrel country. Maybe have to get a small game license and go on the lookout for snowshoes. We're a bit too far northeast in the Arrowhead for cottontails.

Here are some pics. There's actually very little rust on barrel and scope. My POS P&S made things look really red, and I didn't feel like fooling around with them in Photoshop.

[96trigger]

Those are the kind of guns you hold on to regardless of value. Pretty unique little gun. I would say the $100 to $150 mark would be pretty accurate, unless there is something truly unique about the gun. I have a couple of guns like that, no real value except sentimental, but you never know whats going to happen in the future to make them worth more.