Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Any love for the Montana Rifles X2 Extreme?

pros. cons, goods, bads? thanks in advance

A couple of years ago, I wanted an all around stainless 30-06, It came down to either a Winchester EW or a Montana. I searched gunbroker and was pretty much set on the montana but the one basic X2 in 30-06 sold, every other caliber was available except 30-06 so I waited for over a month for one to pop up but it never did, I called Montana rifles to ask about getting one and was qouted 6 months so I ended up just getting the Winchester.

Just a quick search of gunbroker, theres still no X2s in 30-06 available.

I picked up a 30-06 as a stainless all arounder. Upon arrival it would not consistently extract and eject. Sent it back in, took 7 months to get it back and still had issues.... had it tweak by a local gunsmith who finally solves the issues. Trigger was very creepy from the factory and need quite a bit of work. Shot 1-2 MOA eventually. Never ended up hunting it as it was felt too heavy to drag up and down the hills around here and sold it off.

I like mine. It was originally a .25-06 that I sent back because the bedding was horrible and the chamber was a mess. A couple of months later I got this back in .30-06 and it was flawless. And it groups superbly, too. I'll probably get another in 7x57 with a few extra custom touches. They ARE kind of heavy, though, if you're used to a flyweight, edge-stocked, no-floorplate skinny-barreled custom.
Bob

Wanted a model 70 in 264 win mag, Winchester wasn’t making them at the time, so I bought one from Montana, Shoots very well with Nosler loaded 130 gr. Accubonds, it is heavy but it shoots great. Would be one of the last rifles I let go of.

Love mine but seldom use it except for yearly elk hunt.


https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...a-rifle-company-300-win-mag#Post12526099

A buddy bought a new Montana x2 in 30-06 last Summer, i went to the range with him on its initial break-in, the first thing i noticed about the rifle is that it is much too heavy for My taste, it functioned fine but with three different factory loads we had on hand none would group better than 2 MOA, he is a realoader so after many loads tried he finally found one that would shoot right at MOA. He toted that rifle through last Falls hunting season but found it too heavy for Mtn hunting and traded it at a gun show for a turkey shotgun.......Hb

One of the gun shops I frequent carries Montana rifles. I agree. They are too heavy for my taste. Honestly,the fit and finish is nothing to brag about either. When these rifles first surfaced,I thought I had to have one,or two. Never got around to it and won't bother now. Pretty disappointed.

I like mine. Have two LH MRC X2 factory rifles. Smoothest factory actions that I own. 6.5x55 was sub MOA with second handload that I tried. As noted above, both heavier than expected.

Recently purchased an older raw LH MRC action for a project. Have a Lilja mountain rifle barrel ordered. Estimated weight before scope should be 7 lbs 3 oz in an MRC X2 take off synthetic stock. If it shoots well, I will either spring for a McM Hunters Edge stock to shave another 6 ounces, and more slim ergos. Or, may consider springing for a nice wood stock...

I have one in 300wsm. It is a bit heavier than I’d like for a short mag, but it shoots great. I’ve never had any problems with it. Took it on a highcountry backpack hunt and it was definitely on the heavy side but I never worried about it failing. If you want a solid, well built rifle that shoots well then I wouldn’t hesitate to pick one up. Just know it isn’t a featherweight.

We raffled one off last year. Nice enough, has the features I want, but it is heavy. I'll stick with my Kimber Montanas.

Exception to that, I could see myself getting an X2 in 375 H&H.

Good option for lefties and those wanting slight modifications from factory. They make them in LH in about every cal they make rh in. I have a 7mm08 with a 22 inch barrel. Mine is slightly heavier than I would like. Stock is just a hair fat at the forearm for me. Mc edge would fix that but expensive fix. Cycles good. Now shoots great with both Hornady american whitetail and consistent 1 inch groups with federal nosler ballistic tips. Had an issue with the safety being hard to operate but that is clearing up with use. They offered to fix it but i never sent it back. Fit and finish is excellent. Along with mine and friends I have been around five of these rifles and all are shooters. Tigger is ok but i love a timney. I would have been better off to order the barrelled action minus trigger and dropped it in a edge and installed a timney trigger. I used it this year deer hunting from a shooting house. Good weight for that type of hunting.

MRC has a broad range of available calibers that aren't offered by Winchester or Kimber.

Unfortunately, my one experience with Montana Rifles wasn't good. I had purchased an X2 Extreme in 260 Remington. First trip to the range, had a lot of trouble extracting the fired round, using factory ammo. Upon inspecting the fired brass, there was a ring around it just past the shoulder. Bad chamber cut! Contacted them about it and got a return set up. I had to pay for all shipping, they wouldn't cover any shipping no matter what my argument! They wouldn't cover the shipping for the warranty work on a rifle that only fired 3 rounds! I asked if they had test fired the gun, because if they had, they'd have seen there was a problem! They stopped returning any, and all, of my contacts. A couple weeks later I got the rifle back with the problem fixed, replaced the barrel. Sold the rifle and that'll be my one and only time with them. They did fix the problem, that shouldn't have happened in the first place, but wouldn't cover any of the shipping. And when I asked questions, never replied. No updates, no tracking number.... nothing! Plenty other good rifles available out there. Hope this isn't their norm, but that was my experience.

Purchased one in 270 but never even fired it. Much heavier than advertised and more than I wanted to hunt with. Much happier with the M70 Classic Stainless FWT in a McMillan edge that I replaced it with.

Have one in 300 Win Mag. Shoots 1” groups at 200 with TTSX 165’s. Function is good. Have a couple of the predecessor model XWR, which shoot and function well. Much prefer them over the Kimber Montana the first XWR replaced.

I love mine but, unfortunately, their customer service is not the greatest. I had a minor problem that could have
been cleared up with the simple mailing of a small part. I spoke with Jeremy or something like that on the phone
and by email. It drug on and on.

Finally I posted my problem and the delays on their site on Facebook. My post disappeared quickly but the needed
part showed up in a couple of days.

From the responses so far you can guess they are rather hit or miss, no pun intended. I have two MRC 1999's, a stainless X2 .243 and an American Standard Rifle blued/walnut .260. They are decently accurate, not Tikka accurate but pretty good. As noted by everybody, they are heavy. The X2 stock ergonomics are good but a bit odd, it's very thick in the midsection but slender and fairly open in the wrist. The ASR comes from the factory with a Boyd's Prairie Hunter stock which has good ergonomics as well. Wood is blah and the finish looks like Walmart office furniture.

The actions are slick, the ASR very slick. My X2 has a little problem in that it won't feed anything but sharp plastic tipped bullets. If you try regular lead tipped spitzers or hollow points it will jam one into the collar instead of going into the chamber at least once per magazine full. I sent it back to MRC twice - shipping paid by me both times - and they never fixed it.

Without getting into a long winded story I'll just reiterate the same experience as others. The MRC 1999 rifle is decent. The actions are pretty nice, I assume my jammer is an anomaly since no one else seems to report that and the .260 ASR feeds nicely. The rifles are heavy, although decently accurate. The barrels are about a #3 contour which helps to explain both properties. They have the old Model 70 trigger and just by turning the adjustment screws can be made into very nice triggers. If they weren't so expensive I'd say they make great donors, especially for lefties like me where you can't get a short action LH CRF rifle anywhere else.

Montana Rifle Company, however, gets very few good words from me. One guy there seems to have his sh*t together, everyone else is a story of dropped balls, promises not kept and general incompetence or unwillingness to follow through.

I hope someone in management at MRC is following this thread.

One could always email it to them...