Mossberg MC2c, by Pat Cascio
Believe it or not, Mossberg hasn’t made a handgun in about a hundred years. Of course, they are known for their shotguns and rifles, but not for their handguns. Some time ago, I did a review on their MC1sc 9mm handgun, and it is one sweet little shooter in 9mm. It comes with a flat bottom magazine that holds 6-rounds as well as an extended mag that holds 7-rounds, and I much preferred the extended mag for a better grip on the gun. Mossberg promised another 9mm was coming, and it was about a year before I saw the first one on the marketplace, and I’m impressed with it.
The MC2c is a compact 9mm – however, it appears to be bigger than it really is. When I held it up next to other similar 9mm handguns, it was no bigger and even smaller than I thought it was. Right now, during this Coronavirus pandemic, anything in the way of a 9mm handgun is selling as fast as they hit dealer’s shelves, and needless to say, it is even more difficult to find 9mm handgun ammo these days. One place, and I won’t mention their name, is shamelessly selling 9mm FMJ imported ammo for $799.99 per case – that comes out to about 80-cents per round for FMJ ammo. That’s almost criminal if you ask me – but people are paying it. I also note that this same dealer is selling imported Russian steel-cased .223 ammo for $699.99 for a case of 1,000 rounds – again, this is steel-cased ammo, not quality brass-cased ammo.
Here in Oregon, the wait to get a background check completed, so you can take possession of your firearm you just purchased is running 9-10 days now – and as of this writing, we have more than 5,000 people waiting to get cleared so they can get their firearms. If you believe guns and ammo are hard to find now, and expensive, you ain’t seen nothing, yet!
I used to carry full-sized handguns – almost all the time, I found them more “comforting” than smaller handguns. But so much of that has changed over the years. Now, more than at any other time, small compact, sub-compact, and even micro sized handguns in 9mm are very popular – and they work! Many attempts have been made over the years to make handguns as small as possible – and many of those just didn’t work!
The Mossberg MC1sc was a joy to shoot, and it is very compact, and easy to pack, a lot of women like the size because it fits in a concealed purse hidden pocket, along with a spare magazine, and you should always have at least one spare magazine if you are carrying a firearms! Guys like the little MC1sc because it is reliable – thus far – 100% in my on-going testing – and it packs a punch, and can handle +P 9mm ammo, and it can be worn on a belt, inside the waist, on an ankle holster or even a pocket holster. And, if you are carrying concealed, “concealed” in the definitive word!
The MC2c under review is the bigger brother to the MC1sc, and this one is a real winner, once again. First of all, the gun comes with two magazines, one holds 13-rounds, and the other is 15-rounds – that’s a lot of on-board ammo for such a compact 9mm handgun. I’ve been carrying this gun – on/off for a couple months now, and I prefer the 13-round magazine in the gun, and the 15-round mag as my spare on my left side. The grip is very thin, and I don’t see how it holds those double-stack magazines, but it does – nice touch, Mossberg very well engineered that.
Here are some of the specifications on this little 9mm: First of all, it only weighs 21-ounces with its black polymer frame. The slide is stainless steel, but with a DLC black coating for non-reflection. We have the traditional 3-dot white sights, one on the front sight and two on the rear, and they are very fast to pick-up. And, I understand that any after-market sights for a Glock 9mm will fit the dovetails on the slide, if you want to put on some night sights. The grip frame, has a very fine “checkering” on the sides of the grip, while the rear and front strap portion has a different pattern, and it very effective in keeping the gun in your hand under recoil – not that a 9mm has punishing recoil. Above the magazine release, we have slight indentations on both sides of the frame for a place to keep your thumb on the gun – excellent!
The magazine release is mostly squared and easy to reach for a fast reload, and it doesn’t stick out too far, either – some guns have overly large mag release buttons and you can accidentally hit it, dropping your magazine, when you don’t want to. The triggerguard is big enough to accommodate a gloved hand, and it is flared a little wider towards the rear than it is in the front.
Now, on to the trigger. It is a flat version – not curved – and I was determined to not like a flat trigger — that is, until I tried it on several other firearms over the past year or two – I have to admit, I really like the flat trigger face. And, in the center of the trigger is a wide “blade” that is very common to many polymer-framed striker-fired handguns, that acts as one of the safeties. Mossberg says the trigger pull is “about” 5.5-pounds – not sure if that is correct or not. There is some slack as you press on the trigger to fire the gun, and it is gritty, but once you take-up that slack, the trigger breaks very cleanly. The more I’ve fired this gun, the smoother that “slack” and gritty feel seems to improve. However, as I stated, the trigger break is very clean!
There is a slide-release/slide lock on the left side of the frame, however it is difficult to drop the slide once it has locked open on an empty magazine. Not a problem as far as I’m concerned – just load a new mag into the gun and retract the slide and it goes into battery – it’s a more effective method of loading than using the slide-release. Long time friend, and one of the top firearms instructors in the world, John Farnam, taught me this method way back in 1989. We also have a Picatinny rail on the dust cover, if you want to mount a light or laser. On the frame, on either side, there are concave indentations, just forward of the trigger guard, and there is a very rough texture on both sides. This is for proper placement of your trigger finger, when you are not firing the gun…place your trigger finger into the indentation and you are practicing safe gun handling procedures.
Moving up to the slide, we have cocking serrations on the sides of the slide – front and rear, and they are angled and deep enough for a sure grip on it, when chambering a round, or checking to see if a round is in the chamber. The ejection port is lowered and flared, so empties and loaded rounds cleaning clear the ejection port. The extractor – not overly big, nor is it too small to get the job done. And, the sights we already discussed. There is a full-length recoil spring guide under the barrel.
Now, here is where the MC2c is different from many similar handguns, when it comes time to clean them. There is a small “button” on the rear of the slide – make sure your gun is unloaded and has no magazine in it. Lock the slide open, and then press in on that button and slide it down – then you can remove the striker and spring. Then while holding the frame, slowly release the slide stop, and the slide will come off the front of the gun – and that’s all there is to it – very simple to learn – I like it a lot! Oh, the 3.9-inch barrel is also made out of stainless steel, and DLC coated, as well.
My Range Tests
I’ve cut back on the number of rounds I’m running through firearms these days, for articles, because of the ammo drought, and this is the worst ammo drought we’ve ever faced – bar none. In my testing, I only fired 300-rounds through this dandy little 9mm pistol – I usually fire about 500-rounds. From the nice folks at Black Hills Ammunition, www.black-hills.com I had the following ammo on-hand: 115-gr JHP, 124-gr JHP +P, 124-gr JHP, 115-gr Barnes Tac XP +P -all copper hollow point, and their outstanding 100-gr HoneyBadger solid, fluted +P ammo. I had zero malfunctions, nor did I expect any, in all my testing. The magazines were easy to load, too. I might add that, I ordered some spare 15-round mags from Mossberg. They were out of stock, and it took about two months to get my order shipped, during that time, the price went from $24.00 each, to $27.00 each. That figures!
Accuracy testing was conducted at 25 yards, with the MC2c rested over a sleeping bag, over the hood of my pick-up. All the loads easily shot between 3.5-inches and 4.0-inches…and that’s more than fair enough accuracy for this compact 9mm. There was one stand-out – and that was the Black Hills 124-gr JHP – not the +P version. And, if I did my part, I could get groups slightly under 3.5-inches most of the time. I always shoot more than one group, with each load, for my accuracy testing – just to be fair.
If by chance, I see another Mossberg MC2c for sale, I’m going to get it for the wife – she liked shooting mine. However, chances of finding another MC2c at this point – not very likely with everyone buying up every 9mm handgun they can find. But I can bide my time – no rush, the wife has plenty of handguns already. However, that says a lot for this little gun, that I want to get another one.
I can’t begin to tell you what these guns are selling for these days, prices are all over the place on the ‘net because of supply and demand. If you want your own MC2c – then start shopping around, and don’t think about it – snap it up when you lay your eyes on it. If you don’t, the guy or girl next to you, will buy it before you can say “sold.”