Home Forums Hunting & Shooting The Lefty Forum MRC

Looks like Montana rifle co has closed their doors. I know alot of y'all don't like them, but they sure were good for southpaws. I wanted to buy one in 300RUM. Damn

Yup, looked into getting a rifle from them 2 months ago and found out they were done, that's why I ended up ordering 2 from Shaw

This is bad news even though I was not a real fan of their rifles.

Shot themselves in the foot then wondered why they were limping around

Good riddance.

According to the press release, they are looking for investors to help them restructure. Who knows, maybe someone willl come along and turn a good idea into a decent gun company.

Well, that explains why they wouldn't answer my emails sent out shortly before this announcement.

At one time I was looking at buying a left hand rifle from them, then after I read some of the negative reviews I started looking at some other rifle companies.

There's a dealer here in OKC who has quite few lefty rifles in inventory.

I doubt that had anything to do with why they wouldn't answer your emails. It's probably the other way around. I'm sure they had to close their doors because their customer service was so bad.

quote=ammoman16]I doubt that had anything to do with why they wouldn't answer your emails. It's probably the other way around. I'm sure they had to close their doors because their customer service was so bad.[/quote]

That's the problem.

I've watched this company with interest since they first came out with the Model 1999 action intended as the basis for a fine custom gun. They had a great idea although it was funny watching people complain about things the company not only clearly stated but emphasized every chance they got.

MRC: "This action is supplied in the rough, it will need final finishing by your gunsmith. Get it? Understand? It's in the rough.".
Customer upon receiving action: "Hey, WTF? This action is in the rough?!"

That said, they could make a good barrel and when they got it right could make a good action and a good rifle.

Unfortunately they never could get their sh*t together to produce and support a consistently high quality product. One and only one guy there was really on the ball but apparently everyone else there was incompetent, lazy or both and committed the further sin of denying their incompetence and trying to cover it up. My communications and experience sending my rifle back twice for the same problem, which was never resolved, was a series of people dropping the ball and blaming others.

"Oh, you haven't had a reply from us? I told so-and-so to get right back to you. Didn't he do that?"

Not a time to celebrate their demise since I always hate to see a company go under, and they were very good to left handers, but for whatever reason the people they hired just weren't up to snuff to produce and deliver a high quality firearm.

That would be Jerry Noblin.

Everyone tends to forget MRC started out as a supplier of "gunsmith ready" CRF actions (and barrels), sort of like the "95% inletted" stocks Fajen and Bishop used to sell. The actions still required a substantial amount of labor to be functional and that disappointed a lot of people who wanted something they could simply attach to a barrel, drop in a stock, and head to the range. (There were also delivery issues that appear to have been exaggerated.) It doesn't seem like they quite closed the loop on that.

None of this bothered me when I bought a left-handed CM 0.473" bolt face action from them in the fall of 2006 for $460. The gunsmith who built the resulting 7mm-08, Mark Penrod, wasn't quite as enthusiastic. The action was so rough and required so much additional labor to feed and function correctly that he called this out on a separate line item on the final invoice. He still brings this up when we talk. (The rifle feeds and shoots just fine now, but it was frustrating for him to get it there.)

With that knowledge, it was difficult for me to take MRC seriously as a rifle manufacturer and the cost increase of the bare actions turned me away as well.

Mark Penrod is a better than average smith.

Having had a couple of MRC that were simply put together was left disappointed by the MRC and their dismal customer service.

I would have been better off starting with a Ruger, if its not right Ruger tends to make it right.

They were very quick to answer an email a month before.

Have #34 and two more.

I am a claw extractor junkie and being left handed that was a blessing when I found them a long time ago.

Only problem I ever had was a weak firing pin spring. I will not part with the three I have. I have one that rivals a custom FN Belgium I have from the 50's.

Hate to see them in a bind.

Yes. He's a good guy. Had a standing order with MRC but not sure what he'll do to replace them now. The guns he has on gunbroker offer a free RSA Safari with the purchase of a MRC rifle.

Can't blame ya for that...

But it is a shame that company couldn't get their [bleep] together. Baffling really.