I happen to have my Mossberg 51m apart as I am refinishing the stock so I took a photo for you. My uncle gave me this rifle when I was 15 (27 years ago!) and I had a ton of fun plinking with it. You will love it! It's weaknesses are that the cocking knob tends to break (easily replaced) and another somewhat common issue is that the two little tabs that hold the mainspring cap on can break, sending the bolt out the rear of the gun! This happened to me when I was about 17. I just figured out a repair and just last weekend finally got to shoot this rifle for the first time in 25 years! It's like butter, just like I remember! So my word of caution would be, stick with a very standard lower powered round in this gun since I think mine broke because I tried a different ammo and it must have been a hotter load than I had been shooting. It broke 20 rounds into the box and that was that. ( I don't have it anymore but I remember it was Remington). Anyway, if yours does break now I can tell you how to fix it! Enjoy, it is a great, very accurate shooter!
