Mossberg Patriot Super Bantam 243 Win 20 in. – Proven Youth Scoped Combo

Description

There is a gap between a single shot .22 and a deer rifle that catches a lot of families out. The rimfire is outgrown, the adult rifle does not fit, and the compromise is usually an adult stock cut down by somebody at a gun shop. The Mossberg Patriot Super Bantam exists to skip that step: it comes with a 12 inch length of pull and a removable one inch spacer, so it grows with the shooter instead of being permanently shortened for them.

This Mossberg Patriot Super Bantam is Mossberg model 27840, the .243 Winchester scoped combo. A 20 inch fluted barrel, a five round detachable box magazine, a Mossberg LBA trigger the owner can adjust from two to seven pounds, and a 3-9x40mm duplex scope already mounted on the rifle.

The cartridge choice is the other half of why this configuration has lasted. The Mossberg Patriot Super Bantam in .243 shoots flat, kicks very little, and is legal for deer in every state that allows centerfire rifles, which is a combination almost nothing else manages.

Mossberg Patriot Super Bantam at a glance

• Bolt action .243 Winchester, 5+1 from a detachable box magazine.
• 20 inch fluted barrel, matte blued, recessed crown, 1:10 twist.
• Black synthetic stock with an adjustable length of pull, 12 to 13 inches, via a removable one inch spacer.
• Mossberg LBA trigger, user adjustable from 2 to 7 pounds without a gunsmith.
• Spiral fluted bolt with a knurled handle, and a two position safety.
• Receiver drilled and tapped with Weaver style bases, and a 3-9x40mm duplex scope in the box.
• 38.5 inches overall, 7.5 pounds, MSRP $539.

Why the Mossberg Patriot Super Bantam length of pull adjustment matters most

• A stock that is too long forces the head back and the neck forward, and the shooter ends up looking through the top edge of the scope instead of down the middle of it. That produces a shadow at the edge of the picture, inconsistent eye relief, and groups that wander for no reason the shooter can identify.
• Twelve inches suits most shooters in the size range this rifle is built for. Removing the spacer is the short setting; leaving it in gives thirteen, which covers a surprising number of adults with shorter arms.
• Changing it is a spacer and two screws, not a trip to a gunsmith and not a permanent cut. The rifle can be set back the other way for a younger sibling.
• Because the rifle is not shortened destructively, it holds its value. A cut down adult stock does not.
• The scope is mounted at the factory in the position the stock was designed around, which removes the other common fitting mistake.

Mossberg Patriot Super Bantam specifications

• Mossberg model number: 27840
• Caliber: .243 Winchester
• Capacity: 5+1, detachable box magazine
• Action: bolt action
• Barrel: 20 inches, fluted, matte blued, recessed crown
• Twist: 1:10
• Receiver: matte blued, drilled and tapped, Weaver style bases fitted
• Optic: 3-9x40mm duplex scope, included and mounted
• Iron sights: none
• Trigger: Mossberg LBA, adjustable 2 to 7 pounds
• Safety: two position
• Stock: black synthetic, adjustable length of pull 12 to 13 inches
• Overall length: 38.5 inches
• Weight: 7.5 pounds
• MSRP: $539

Ammunition for the Mossberg Patriot Super Bantam

The Mossberg Patriot Super Bantam at 7.5 pounds is already gentle, but a new shooter’s first few hundred rounds set their flinch habits for years, so it is worth being deliberate. Barnes VOR-TX Reduced Recoil 80 grain TTSX is exactly what it says, and it is still a legitimate deer load rather than a practice round pretending to be one. That combination is rarer than it should be.

For general hunting use, Hornady Whitetail 95 grain SST is the standard answer in this cartridge and we hold it more than two thousand deep. The 1:10 twist handles the common 80 to 100 grain bullets without any fuss.

One note on the scope that ships with the Mossberg Patriot Super Bantam: a 3-9x40mm is a sensible general purpose optic and a genuinely useful one at the ranges .243 is used at. It is not a precision optic and it is not meant to be. If the rifle ends up being shot at longer distances than it was bought for, the scope is the first thing to change, not the rifle.

Setting the Mossberg Patriot Super Bantam up properly

Set the Mossberg Patriot Super Bantam stock first, before anything else. Have the shooter mount the rifle with their eyes closed and then open them: if the scope picture is not already centered and full, the length of pull is wrong and no amount of scope adjustment will fix it. Pull the spacer, try again, and only then worry about zeroing.

The LBA trigger is the second thing to set and the one most owners never touch. It adjusts from two to seven pounds with a single screw and Mossberg publishes how to do it in the manual. A new shooter is better served by a trigger toward the lighter end than by a heavy one they have to fight, and a lighter trigger on a bolt action with a two position safety is not the risk it would be on a carry pistol.

Zero the Mossberg Patriot Super Bantam at fifty yards first and confirm at a hundred. With a .243 and a 3-9x40mm that gives a usable hold across the ranges this rifle will realistically be used at, and it means a young shooter is not chasing groups at a distance that flatters nobody.

How it compares with what else is on the rack

• The Savage Axis XP in .243 is the closest thing we stock at a similar price, also a scoped combo, but with a full size stock rather than an adjustable bantam one.
• The Mossberg Patriot LR Hunter in .308 is the same action in the full size, heavier cartridge configuration, for when the bantam stock has been outgrown for good.
• Against a used adult rifle with a cut stock, this wins on resale alone, before the trigger and the included optic are counted.
• Against another .243 youth combo, or against the Mossberg Patriot Super Bantam in a different chambering, the differences that matter are the adjustable stock and the adjustable trigger. Most rifles at this price have neither.

The Mossberg Patriot Super Bantam is a complete rifle rather than a starting point: stock, trigger and optic are all set up for the shooter it is aimed at, and none of them need a second purchase to be usable. It is also a rifle a child will not outgrow the moment they have a growth spurt, which is the failure mode of every other approach to this problem.

Specifications here come from the distributor record and from Mossberg’s own product page for model 27840. If anything on this listing does not match the rifle that arrives, tell us and we will correct the page.

This is a serialized firearm and ships to a licensed dealer for transfer, and the purchase is made by an adult regardless of who the rifle is intended for. We are holding 195, so there is no wait.