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I recently found myself in the market for a .375 H&H after selling my previous commercial Mauser build back to the relative who sold it to me. I'm thrilled to have him back on his feet, but it meant I needed a new medium bore. After considering quite a few options (Winchester, MRC, Kimber, CZ/Brno, Browning/FN, various Zastava distributors) I settled on a MRC AVR in .375 H&H. The driving forces behind the decision were the stock configuration (sling studs on stock, no barrel band), presence of backup irons, and walnut/blued cosmetics. made in the USA didn't hurt either.

Frankly MRC's reputation isn't the best, but as far as I can tell the primary issue seems to be their inability to deliver custom orders in a timely manner. Since I was ordering out of dealer stock, I was less concerned.

I got the rifle yesterday, and luckily everything was in order. The metalwork and woodwork looked good. The stock was free floated and rigid. The action cycled well, although there was one spot that was a bit rough. The trigger was reasonable. The safety worked like it should. The only issue I encountered is that the irons were too low for the stock - it was difficult and unnatural to get low enough to sight with them due to the height of the stock comb. It was close, but not quite OK. The irons are Marbles adjustable rear and brass bead dovetail front.

I mounted Warne bases (recommended by MRC), leupold QD rings, and a Leupold VX-2 1-4.

[Linked Image]

Looking good...

Next up was zeroing. Ammo is Federal 300gr partitions. Probably not what I'd be shooting for NA game, but I had it around. I shot it once at 25y (lower left taped over hole) and adjusted the scope. The VX-2s adjustments didn't seem to be super-exact or else the stock and bedding settled some, but I did end up close to the bullseye (2nd taped hole). Moved out to 50y. Shot a 3-shot group. Nice and sub-MOA, and proportionally in the same place as the 25y hole. By this point, I'm remebering that shooting big magnums off the bench sucks. Adjusted the scope one more time to zero at 50y which is probably pretty close to a MPBR zero since this ammo is slow and the rings are low. Call it good for now. I'd be comfortable shooting out to 300y based on this zero. I'll get 400y dope at some point when I've got the range available.

[Linked Image]

Feeding was very good, and I think I've got quite a bit of margin to try wider meplats for solids. Extraction and ejection are what you would expect from a M70-alike

I didn't try to sight the irons because of the issue I described above.. My plan is to buy the marbles big ghost ring rear blade, which should be both more accurate and faster than what it's got now. Then I'll see if I can get it zeroed without smashing my cheek bone into the stock. If not, I'll figure out how much adjustment I've got on the rear sight and buy a higher front sight to get a bit more margin. I'll probably go to an orange painted blade front rather than a bead - I know from experience I do better with them.

Overall 7.5/10. If I get the backup irons squared away, 9/10.

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Im dissapointed to hear that the iron sights dont line up well, Ive wanted one of these in 35 whelen for awhile.

Thanks for making a review.

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Beautiful rifle that appears to shoot great! Looks like a home run to me. I have one of their DGR's in .505G that I am very happy with. I put a Skinner ghost ring rear on it and have NEVER looked back.


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Originally Posted by JCS271
Beautiful rifle that appears to shoot great! Looks like a home run to me. I have one of their DGR's in .505G that I am very happy with. I put a Skinner ghost ring rear on it and have NEVER looked back.

How does the Skinner sight attach? Did your DGR have the Marbles base? The ones I see on Gunbroker look like they've got the same setup I've got, but I've never seen a DGR in person.

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I took another look at the sights tonight, and the rear appears NOT to be the basic Marbles universal sight. I think this is actually a very good thing - the Midway reviews for the Marbles universal suggest it breaks under recoil, which this gun definitely has. However, I'm now unsure what exactly I've got. It may very well be a Marbles sight that's not on the website? In any case, the rear blade is locked into a dovetail with a screw, and the blade is about 0.270" at the base. Anyone have any ideas where I could get blades for this? I can always call MRC or Marbles, but I'd love to have more of a clue first.

Last edited by Llama_Bob; 06/05/17.
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I would suggest that you call Brownells and talk to one of their technicians about a set of express sights. They have never failed me on iron sight questions, including some fairly esoteric situations.


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That is a shame about the sights. You should be OK if you change both front and rear sights to a higher set of hopefully just inserts, .050 higher or whatever it takes, just change both the same amount. Make sure you can see them over the scope mount blocks as well.


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I agree that's what's going to have to happen. I have some vertical adjustment in the rear sight, beyond that I'll need a higher blade. In either case I'll need a higher front sight. or else a shorter stock comb. Sanding and re-finishing the stock is an option too.

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Looks like you've got a very useful rifle!

Nice accuracy...

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It is not really possible to get a stock set up for both iron sights and a scope. Its an either or situation. Shooting both will be a compromise and MRC may have made the call that 99% of customers will be running with a scope. I can see just at a glance your problem with the stock. You have have to share some responsibility for that choice.

You might want to discuss with MRC and they may now or future decide to include an option for a stock (No Monty) optimum for irons. That might suit customers like yourself better as you can only go so low, but; often the head can be tweaked back and up a bit and line up higher. Less chance of eye brow damage with a longer eye relief. In this case the compromise is a different hold with different sighting. Best case is too shoot same way all the time.

Then some modern shooters like to choke up on the scope. You see all the rear extended mounts on the No1? I prefer eye relief on my 450/400 No1.

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Originally Posted by fourbore
It is not really possible to get a stock set up for both iron sights and a scope. Its an either or situation. Shooting both will be a compromise and MRC may have made the call that 99% of customers will be running with a scope. I can see just at a glance your problem with the stock. You have have to share some responsibility for that choice.

You might want to discuss with MRC and they may now or future decide to include an option for a stock (No Monty) optimum for irons. That might suit customers like yourself better as you can only go so low, but; often the head can be tweaked back and up a bit and line up higher. Less chance of eye brow damage with a longer eye relief. In this case the compromise is a different hold with different sighting. Best case is too shoot same way all the time.

Then some modern shooters like to choke up on the scope. You see all the rear extended mounts on the No1? I prefer eye relief on my 450/400 No1.


What about raising the rear base and front sight post just a bit? As long as the objective of the scope clears the rear sight, you normally won't notice either in the glass except on a very low-x setting, and then it's easy enough to ignore. Depending on the shape of one's face in relation to the comb, it might not take that much elevation to make them usable. Just a thought.


"An archer sees how far he can be from a target and still hit it, a bowhunter sees how close he can get before he shoots." It is certainly easy to use that same line of thinking with firearms. -- Unknown
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Originally Posted by RevMike

What about raising the rear base and front sight post just a bit? As long as the objective of the scope clears the rear sight, you normally won't notice either in the glass except on a very low-x setting, and then it's easy enough to ignore. Depending on the shape of one's face in relation to the comb, it might not take that much elevation to make them usable. Just a thought.

This is basically where I'm going - buying or having a taller blade made, and then buying a taller front sight. The existing sights are visible in the scope at low power, but not problematic. If I can raise them even a little bit, I should be good.


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