I have the Mossberg 4X4 in 30-06 which is an updated version of the 100ATR. Love it! With good ammo it is capable of 1-2MOA at 100 yds. Gonna have the trigger reworked by a gunsmith to smooth it out and try and keep that grouping out to 200yds.

Not too shabby, but if you have the extra cash lying around why not grab a Leupold and sideline the moss for bird watching or something? You won't like that thing in a year when it isn't really proving to be fog/moisture resistant. I found out too late.

It depends on what you want to do with this rifle. If this would be your "backup gun" with a pricier, better-scoped rifle as the main gun, sure. If you just want to maybe shoot a deer a year in the local woods or whatever, it would do fine. If you are a more serious hunter, I would consider a better quality rifle and scope. I'm not sure what brand/model of scope comes with the Mossberg, but the $300-400 package means a cheap one. A good scope costs more like $180-300 alone.

I did look at this rifle before buying a Weatherby Vanguard Sub-MOA .30-06 with a 3-9x40 Bushnell scope. This was 2 years ago. I was fresh out of the Army at 22 years old and wanted to buy just one rifle for anything I ever dreamed of hunting on this continent. After an unsuccessful deer season in 2006, on November 25, 2007, I made my first big game kill with the Vanguard, a lights-out shot at the very last minute before dark. It was a 150# pig, not the buck I had in mind but an absolutely brilliant moment nonetheless. Of course, I could have done that with the Mossberg, but I'm convinced the $200 scope helped me out....I could only see the animal in the scope when the last ounce came off the trigger. The 165-grain Ballistic Tip went right through ol' Porky and that was it. I dropped my first deer, an 8-point buck, not even a week later.

The .30-06 is truly an incredible cartridge in every sense of the word. If you use the right bullet, and carefully put that bullet in the right place, you can take any species of big game in North America. Good riflemen have dropped huge bears, moose, and probably every big game animal in the world with this caliber. I wouldn't use Lights Out Six for elephants, rhinos, and hippos, but people have done it.

The .30-06 comes in factory loads from 110 to 220 grains, with the 150, 165, and 180-grain weights most common. Bullet construction is even more important than weight. Basic 150 designs like the Core-Lokt will drop the largest deer if you shoot them properly. Tough 180s like the Barnes TSX will kill a 1500# moose or Kodiak bear. Elk, perhaps the majestic ruler of the whole animal kingdom, are no problem with a good 165 or 180.

I love the .30-06 and find the 3-9x40 a fine match for the caliber. I hope you buy the rifle you really want and enjoy it tremendously, hunt your butt off all over this continent.