A fruitful second day at the Kia Oval saw Lyndon James mark a maiden five-fer to record his best-ever spell with the ball before Will Young debuted for Nottinghamshire in style with a fine century.
Nottinghamshire ended play on 248/5 following Surrey's total of 355, during a rain-affected day in south London.
Haseeb Hameed also provided a captain's contribution, holding up the other end of a strong second wicket with a visit at the crease worth 67.
The hosts set their sights on a 400-plus total at the dawn of day two, as Jamie Overton and Tom Lawes looked to add runs in quick succession, but their time at the crease that morning would last a mere 3.2 overs.
On the back of a 12-run over - thanks to a far-struck six from Overton coupled with an additional boundary - James resumed his electric form from day one when he was feathered through to wicket-keeping Moores by Tom Lawes.
His replacement, Dan Worrall, immediately suffered a similar fate as James was looped into the palms of Brett Hutton, marking the perfect start to the morning for Nottinghamshire.
Despite losing Ben Slater to a 10th over catch in the slips, the visitors found comfort at the crease and began a steady climb in their chase of 355.
In came debutant and New Zealand Test international Will Young to partner stand-in skipper Haseeb Hameed, working in tandem to form a steadfast second wicket worth 134 runs and bring Notts well and truly into the contest.
The pair appeared untroubled throughout a large portion of the day and marked their half-centuries within three overs of each other - both with splendid strikes to the boundary before rain brought play to an hour-long standstill.
The brief and light downpour made little difference for the Notts batters - rather providing a slicker surface in the outfield - as bowlers Worrall and Clark huffed and puffed with little reward.
Both Hameed and Young found the boundary following the rain break, dealing with all that Clark and Worrall could throw at them.
The persistent Hameed helped Notts gain a foothold on the game but was caught by Sibley off the bowling of Worrall for 67, breaking the fantastic second-wicket partnership.
Young continued pressing on despite the losses of Montgomery, Clarke and Moores, who all added vital runs to a spirited Nottinghamshire total.
The New Zealand international surpassed his hundred with a classy four off the bowling of Lawes, completing a debut century for Notts off 192 balls.
Brett Hutton faced the final two overs of the day alongside Young and defended well to ensure Nottinghamshire ended a successful second day on 248/5.