Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Opinion of Rifles from Montana Rifle company

Like to hear opinions about rifles from Montana Rifle Company,,,, and the 6.5 PRC,,, Mule Deer would like to hear your thoughts

I have one in 300 Win Mag. Excellent shooter, very accurate, but not the lightest rifle out there.

Come to think of it the bit of extra weight might be why it is such an accurate rifle.

Also, it is for sale.

Why would MD care what we think? (sorry. JK)

Because the entertainment value is off the charts?

I had one in .300 WSM, probably the most accurate hunting rifle that I have, or ever will, own. Foolishly traded it off because, at the time, I thought that it was too heavy for a rifle chambered for a short action cartridge. I know where it is, and it's just being warehoused, so one of these days I may try to buy it back.

How heavy was it?

grayfox,

I've tested a couple of Montana rifles, and also have one rifle, a 7x57 with a Montana 1999 action and Montana barrel, stocked by what was then Serengeti Rifles and is now Kilimanjaro Rifles. It shoots well, but like some others have encountered, isn't the lightest rifle in the world, despite the 21-inch barrel mimicking the Model 70 Featherweight contour. It's not heavy, by any means, weighing 8 pounds on the nose with a 4x33 Leupold M8 in Talley Lightweight rings, but not exactly a featherweight, either.

With a 24-inch barrel, a Brownell's Latigo sling, a 3-9x40 Leupold scope in Talley lightweight mounts and a full magazine, it weighed a little over 9 lbs. Don't remember exactly now--there is a picture somewhere in my photo files of it on the postal scale, but a quick search didn't turn it up.

I had a 270, heavy and action was gritty feeling. Believe it was a X2 and weighed almost 8 1/2# bare. If you want a heavy gritty feeling rifle buy a Ruger for less tan 1/2 the price. Action was not smooth I believe because they are investment cast. I heard the the casting division of Ruger does the actions for them. My Ruger shoots just as good.

I am an old Mod. 70 user and naturally I like the action on their rifles, especially the trigger. A friend came by a few months ago with a stainless Montana rifle chambered in .375 H&H. I really did not warm up to the rifle, it was heavy due to the barrel it wore. The contour was similar to the Mod. 70 Win. .375 barrels and is to much, that barrel contour belongs on a .458 Win. Ruger got the barrel contour right for the .375 Ruger.

The other thing I did not care for was the bolt handle, it seemed to small and the action held three rounds. For North American hunting that is plenty, for a rifle holding a cartridge that may be used for dangerous game, I prefer four down. The two pre-64 Mod. 70's I owned held four rounds as did the Sako Carbine I owned and I had a gun smith modify a Mod. 70 "Stainless Classic" I gave my son-in-law so it held four down. I am not sure who made the synthetic stock it wore, I did not care for it, but I have used a Bansners synthetic for many years.

The action was not near as smooth as my custom Mod. 70 "Stainless Classic" .338 Winny I slicked up, but I think some careful polishing would help. All in all, I am always happy to see rifles being made that have the features of a good Mod. 70 and Mauser action. They are not a Dakota action, nor do they cost as much as a Dakota.

To be fair, I only handled one Montana rifle, a blue steel smaller caliber Montana is probably a different rifle then what I handled.

I handled one at a local gun store that was in mint condition. Don't know if it was used or not. It was a left hand .308 Win ASR/walnut stocked and priced cheap compared to what they are now. I didn't care for the stock design, the grooved fore stock in particular, although the wood was fair. As others noted, it felt heavier than a rifle that size should have felt. I would have overlooked the stock if the rifle was lighter and handled better.

I am finishing up on a 300 Win Mag. I found a new Winchester Express stock for it. I used a #4 Shilen barrel.It will be bedded and Blued.
Probably go on the market as it is another 30 cal and I don't need another.
It is as smooth as any other receivers that I've used except my 30-40 Krag.

People seem to forget that the Montana action comes in the rough to be finished by a competent gun smith. If you received any cast action in the rough it would feel gritty. Some judicious honing and polishing can fix that easily. Some metal and weight can be taken off like the Kurtz or mountain rifle version of the Mauser. Kilimanjaro does this and one of the staff at Montana did this for his personal rifles. I think they are a good design and well suited to larger cartridges. For a lightweight other choices might be better. But they are in the ball park for an all steel receiver, magazine and floor plate.

Not controlled feed but the Howa is a good buy for an all steel action.

The Montana Rifle seems like a good value for a semi custom rifle.

What Tejano just said. I have one of the early, early ones and was not aware it was basically a rifle kit at the time. Action definitely needed some lapping and a few of the magazine parts were for a different cartridge length, No problems getting it to function and it shoots great, but is Heavy. I have a standard weight contour 30/06 barrel and wish I had a featherweight with a lighter wood stock. My stock is very dense fiddleback walnut and is heavy too. It is well made and robust and makes me appreciate my Kimber Hunter in 257 Roberts with a 20 inch barrel.

I've decided that there's little to be gained by going with one over a Hawkeye, except that they offer options and configurations, at a price, that may appeal to some. For the money they want, I'd rather seach for a nice FN, Browning HP, M70, etc. Obviously you won't find one of those in PRC, but that's okay.

I bought one 2 weeks ago. I bought the X3 - or "X2 transition". It has the lightweight stocks (26oz), aluminum floorplate and follower. In 30-06 with 24" barrel it weighs 6lb 15oz. I have a Leup VX3 3.5-10x40 B&C and Talley Lightweights ready for it. I'm sending it to JES to re-bore to 338-06 and bob the barrel to 22". I expect it to weigh 7lbs 10 oz wih scope/mounts when it's done. I didn't want a flyweight 338-06. I had a Ruger Hawkeye in 35 wh that weighed 8lbs with scope and Ruger rings. With full power 250 (54 gr H4895) I know I didn't want a flyweight. 7.5 to 7.75 lbs is about right to me.

Overall, I think the rifle is solid. I really dig the simple, and much preferred, M70 trigger. The trigger broke at 3.5 lbs with no creep. The trigger is a bit thin but it isn't a deterrent, I'm just used to a bit wider trigger. I lightened it to 3 lbs in about 30 seconds. I haven't shot it yet but will likely do so before I send it off just to make sure nothing is wrong. I did note one small issue - the front guard screw is a bit long and when torqued down actually protrudes thought the recoil lug recess in the action and will bind the bolt. 30 seconds on a grinder will fix it. The action is tight, mine isn't gritty, and locks up solid. I'll likely run a but of valve grinding compound through it to smooth it up but it isn't bad as is. The stock ergos are very nice. It has about 5/8" drop at heel and about 1/2" at comb. The stock is not slippery and feels good. All told, it is a well built rifle.

I have an ASR in 7x57 that I've had for a few years. The action was smooth out of the box, and certainly buttery smooth now from shooting and daily dry-fire practice. Yes, it's heavy as far as the current trend towards lighter rifles goes, but really no heavier than a lot of rifles used to be. Much of that weight is in the barrel since MRC uses a profile that puts more weight out front. Personally that is a help to me since since I find muzzle-light rifles to be a bit wobbly. The MRC just seems to "hang" on the target better. One additional benefit to some folks is that MRC uses an intermediate length for its short action. You can get a bit more room out front, if that's important. Overall the rifle is tight, accurate, and I have no complaints.

Just my $.02.

RM

I like the open wrist and trim lines of their stocks. I "almost" went for an X2 in 300WM, and wanted the extra weight, then the X3 came out. It looked like it was light, but again, not featherweight. Then I found this semi-custom .338 Mod 77 Tanger, so I can relate to the Hawkeye...I've owned several through the years and like them. I had a regular Mod 700 BDL SS in 300WM that was very easy to shoot, felt like an '06 to me. Even later, when you could buy the Mod 700 BDL SS in .375 H&H for under $400 (90's) it was also a nice handling, easy to shoot rifle. I carried it in the mountains with a 2.5x8 for elk. I gave that rifle to a young man with a young family ( I'm a nice guy) I too am like the Good Reverend in that I like more muzzle "hang". But I'm Tall, and most of us Big Guys are like that, ha. I am watching the Christensen Arms Mesa now....

I have one of the initial actions in stainless, also barreled with a Montana barrel and stocked by Serengeti in their Leopard pattern stock. Mine is a .358 Win and it has shot 3 shot groups down to .608, outside edge to outside edge of black smudge around holes. Which when you subtract the bullet diameter, is pretty darn good. Mine also has a 21-inch barrel, but has a .650 diameter at the muzzle. To lighten it up a bit, I also bought a MacMillan Edge stock for it. (The Serengeti is awful pretty to bang up, too.) I have a 2-8X silver Leupold compact on it.

Do they use the same inlet for win m70's?