Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Montana Rifle Co... any updates?

It seems like MRC gets asked about every now and then, but I haven't seen anything since they were sold and Jeff Sipe went to Nosler.

With a new CEO, and new machinery, I'm wondering how these recent production rifles shoot? Fit and finish? And customer service?

I ordered a rifle from them. They told me me 4-6 months.
I called them at month 8, they said it was on the floor. That was their answer the 3 times I called after that. At week 14 I ask for my money back and they promptly returned it. This was a couple of years ago, maybe management change will help. If they would have given me an truthful estimate I would have happy. I ordered a 6.5 creedmoor, which probably was on the floor but got put in with larger orders, after all I was just one customer.

They were pretty nice rifles. Hope they come back.

Local store has the American Standard and Xtreme Elite. Both seem well made in terms of overall appearance, but the Elite barrel wasn't centered in the stock. And the trigger had a bit of creep. Safety was stiff and not smooth to operate. Maybe that would improve with use.

Wrote an email to Montana rifle asking them if they could do up a 358 winchester with open sights and 20 inch barrel. They said No about one month later. When a custom rifle company says no to the 358 winchester, ouch.

I was like an old hunting dog waiting on the porch for my friend to come home. Drug myself inside the cabin and couldn't even finish my chicken fried moose back strap.

I guess a cast receiver and cast bolt is too fancy for the little ole 358 winny.

Here's a condensed version of the story in the link above.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...1/montana-rifle-company-is-a-joke#UNREAD

Thanks for the info, 16.

Montana Rifle Company has struggled, maybe it is best to say their customers have struggled, for almost 2 decades. Every now and then a new person or group comes in and we all hope they will make sound and permanent changes. Changes are hard and the company spirals down further.

It is too bad because I like some of the features of their design and it would be great to see them succeed. Look how many other manufactures of actions have started from nothing and are flourishing during the history of MRC, why can't MRC?

wade

I've purchased several MRC actions over the years and built custom rifles on them. The action has always been a tad rough/unpolished but I like the pre-64/Mauser action a lot and the MRC action is a great design. Sloppy manufacture and QC and lately no interest in warranty work, which is a real shame.

The last action I bought from them - and it will most definitely be my last - had actually been threaded crooked. It was so bad the firing pin was hitting the edge of the primers...about 20% FTF. I sent it back last year and MRC returned it saying it was a bad barrel. That barrel was a singe-cut custom barrel from Ron Smith, who makes and ships custom barrels all around North America and has made several for me. MRC blamed the bad primer strikes on everyone else and everything else. I doubted what they said but looked into it when they sent my action back. In the end, I had two gunsmiths look at it and both told me (with some amazement) that the action was threaded off-center. The last guy double checked his findings by cutting a few thou off the front of the receiver. That told the story in technicolour! The difference in wall thickness at 2:00 and 8:00 is actually visible to the naked eye! Sent them the photo and still they refuse to replace a clearly defective action.



I was relieved to read some of these posts and realize it was not just me who was having trouble with MRC. Sad, disappointing and more than a little infuriating.

ps: I look forward to spending some time here. It looks like a lot of good reading to be had.

At this point, MRC probably does not have either another action or the money to replace your defective action.

I peruse GB several times per week just to see what unique Left Hand rifles might turn up. Occasionally, an interesting MRC turns up like the LH XER in 300 WSM that was recently listed. I think "Hmmm..." And then I read an update to this thread and think "Mmm... No..."

Which is a shame. I bought two of the 24HCF group buy left hand MRC rifles. Personally, had zero issues with either rifle that I received. Smoothest factory actions that I have owned. And then read that the same shop turns out some absolute junk, like above. And refuses to make it right...

The MRC 1999 is a great action design.

Unfortunately, MRC's quality control was nonexistent. They produced some very nice rifles and some very bad rifles. If you got a bad one, life sucked, and who wants to take that risk.

Hopefully, a new company rises from the ashes of MRC, and builds the 1999 action right and treats its customers right.

I have it on pretty good authority that this is all moot. MRC is defunct. The actions especially won’t be coming back, they may make barrels sometime in the future.

I wanted to like the company and the product, but they made it impossible. Their death is well deserved. Some companies simply don't deserve to survive, and by all accounts, this was one of them.

Sadly, I agree 100%. Maybe somebody buys the action design and builds what it could have been.

Sad to hear all this, wish I was in a spot to purchase and raise it from the dead.

I’ll go in on it with you.



P

Options in the marketplace abound. Time to move on.