MOA pistol

[pacecars]

Found a MOA with scope mount and a ported .375 Win barrel and an extra .454 Casull barrel at a local shop. Asking $999 and not sure what I could get them down to. Yay or nay? Good Lord I have an addiction

[zeus]

Neat guns.

[potatojudge]

Make sure the extractor is in good shape. That's the weak point in the MOA and replacement parts aren't easy to come by. Extractors aren't all the same as with other single shots, which makes sourcing replacements more challenging. Don't try to swap barrels without dropping the lever or you'll trash the extractor.

If it comes with the barrel spanner wrench that's worth some money and trouble.

Scope mount is a huge plus, since again they're not really available.

Those I've bought have ranged from about $700 to about $1100, but the $700 was a 3 barrel gun that I got lucky on (454, 7mm-6.5 rem mag, 250 Savage) and those closer to $1k have been desirable calibers IMO at least (250 AI, 6.5 Lapua).

If the extractor looks good and functions, somewhere in the $750-900 range would get my interest except that neither of those barrels excites me. New barrel for the MOA will run $750+ so basically same as a bolt action. Bayside Custom Guns and Nolan Custom Firearms will both make you one. With this gun, you'd be limited to a round that uses this extractor.

Neat guns and very accurate, but extraction being a problem and taking 2-3 seconds to do so gives me pause for hunting, plus parts/repairs are a pain. Play with MOAs a while and you'll see why most specialty pistol guys use bolt action or Thompson single shots.

[bradshaw]

Dec 13, 2021 14:27:40 GMT -5 pacecars said:

Found a MOA with scope mount and a ported .375 Win barrel and an extra .454 Casull barrel at a local shop. Asking $999 and not sure what I could get them down to. Yay or nay? Good Lord I have an addiction

*****

The MOA (Minute of Angle) falling block single shot pistol by by Richard Mertz gained immediate attention from IHMSA silhouetters. Its my understanding the receiver is chromoly, flash chromed. Curved, single action style grip with high Bisley-like backstrap. Loop type actuating lever to drop & raise the breech block. Mertz soon added a “straight” actuating lever, which many steel shooters preferred. The lever fit flush with the grips. Grip frame integral to frame casting, single action style with front strap & backstrap. I’ve only fired the MOA in 7mm TCU, 7mm Remington BR, and .243 Winchester. Believe Mertz bought barrels from Douglas. Accuracy of pistols I shot on par with a good bolt pistol. In other words, better than many rifles. Standard barrels were taper bull 10” for Production category competition, and tapered bull 14” for Unlimited.

Hammer has a swept spur, similar to big frame Dan Wesson revolver. Clean breaking trigger. Fast lock time. There is a photo in one of the Nosler manuals of Jeannie Kelly shooting IHMSA Production, from Creedmoor position, with an MOA 7mm BR Rem. Possibly in the same manual, Dave Archambeau with MOA .243 Win. 14-inch.

An MOA chambered in .375 Win. or .454 Casull is made for hunting. Suspect a full tilt .454 Casull would be a handful.
David Bradshaw

[zeus]

Originals were chromed. Later ones stainless.

[duke3026]

Aside from attaining parts for them. Finding a competent smith to work on them, some refuse to work on them now.

[potatojudge]

FWIW, parts exist. The company was sold a handful of years ago along with all the parts and enough frames etc to make a fair number of guns though I don't recall the rough number.

The new owner hasn't done anything with the company and has expressed a willingness to sell what remains. This is what Mr. Mertz told me when I called a couple of years ago, despite being long retired and on his home phone. He was kind to talk me through what I needed.

Maybe a gunsmith or someone else will pick up the pieces and finish out the remaining guns like Turnbull did USFA. SSK might've been better off going that route than trying to bring an original Contender back to market.

On my guns, the grip frame is welded on to the main frame. Last time I had one apart, thoughts of what Ronnie could make of the gun with his catalogue of frames ran through my head. Not really necessary as they already handle recoil well, but fun to think about.

Chris at Bayside Custom Guns is active on the specialty pistols forum and Facebook, and works on them regularly.

[potatojudge]

www.gunbroker.com/item/918912812

May as well buy this one for the barrel wrench 😅

[duke3026]

Dec 14, 2021 12:27:16 GMT -5 potatojudge said:

Chris at Bayside Custom Guns is active on the specialty pistols forum and Facebook, and works on them regularly.

Chris, recently posted that he wouldn’t be doing anymore work on T/C stuff, along with MOA. That’s what I seen posted by him. Due to availability of parts.

[pacecars]

After talking to Chris and from some of the members on here I am gonna pass

[pacecars]

Well crap. After talking to Chris a few times via messaging I am going to call him about an XP build in 6.5 PRC

[zeus]

How much more do you really get in the handgun from a 6.5 CM by going to the PRC. Are you going with a crazy long barrel? I have a 6.5CM built by Steve Roe. He is THE guy for an XP build in my opinion. I was just curious how much advantage you can get from the PRC with a short barrel. The CM is pretty impressive in an XP and more efficient than the PRC in powder burn would be my guess.

[pacecars]

I just have to be different! I have thought that it would be a lot easier to go with the 6.5 Creedmoor due to brass alone and factory ammo (for that matter I could go with the 6mm Creedmoor as I keep finding a butt load of factory ammo around here). To be truthful I am not totally sold on any caliber although I do think I want to stay with the 6.5 bore size. The 6.5-284 is another good round. Back to the PRC, supposedly one of the design criteria was to function well in shorter barrel lengths. I am thinking a 15” barrel would be good. It will have a brake and I will also use my Thunderbeast suppressor on it. It is 9” long but is titanium so it weighs nothing but does make it long. This will be a stand gun for me where the suppressor length won’t be an issue. I also have to decide on what scope to use. The consensus from the guys that hunt with them is to use a rifle scope. Oh well, it’s only money

[pacecars]

Is Roe at Apache Machine?

[zeus]

I’d have to look but I’m thinking the TBAC U9 will be fine with 15” barrel and the PRC but you’d have to check minimum barrel requirements to be certain. It’s on the specs on their website. I’ll have to look and see what velocity is in our CM on the 15” barrel. Could give you something to compare anyway.

Yes Steve is Apache Machine in NC. His work is flawless and his attention to detail is better than anyone I have ever met. He is as OCD as I am which is what you want in your gun builder. His stock bedding is a work of art. It’s pretty amazing! I have 6.5CM, 284Win, 376 Steyr in XPs from Steve. All are hammers. The CM was claimed by my son when he was 11. He hit 7/8 of the turkeys at 450 yards his first time trying it missing first and following up with 7 in a row. These guns just shoot. So I lost that one 🤣

But I highly recommend looking over Steve’s FB page for pics etc on his builds before you make your final decision.