Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Montana Rifle Company - 2022

They look nice.
I’m jonesing for a nice new rifle in nice wood stock. The stainless is a bonus for me. Maybe in a 280.
If the price is around 2k and the reviews are good after year or two. I’ll consider them, as I don’t buy anything brand new the first year it’s out.

I have the same rifle/different chambering. A late model X3 bought as NOS after the closing. It has the scallop receiver and looks identical to yours.

If they keep the 3-3.1" magazine in the SA, a 6.5 PRC would be an interesting one to have. Not sure I'd be interested in a wood stock though.

In the last picture on their site, they show a Vortex scope mounted the Talley LW rings, no pic rail?

Hi Guys,

I figured I'd chime in- I'm the design engineer at MRC.

I know the Pic rail is a polarizing feature, but it's actually used to hold the receiver in our machining operation. There are plans to do a "slick top" for a proper, traditional look in the future, along with chrome-moly variants. We just had to start somewhere to get this out on to market. There are plans to add the 30-06 to the line up depending on demand. Big dog African calibers will be out eventually, but we have to focus on the larger sales markets before the niche. We've teamed up with McMillan for our carbon stocks, and the leading wood stock manufacturer for the walnut.

It's been a long road evaluating and designing this product (2+ years of R&D so far). Montana Rifle Company is now part of Grace Engineering/G5 outdoors, so there's a lot going on around here. Everything is machined, assembled, and finished in house with the exception of the stocks and a few screws/springs. Just check the website periodically for updates, or feel free to contact direct.

-Ian

p.s.- the rifle in the last website pic is an older, cast receiver Model 1999 (there were 2 casting sources previously). We've been so busy building and testing, there hasn't been time for new photo shoots :-)

Great to hear Ian.Thanks for the clarity.I own a 7/08 in a 99 and it's amazingly accurate.Looking forward to see your rifles down the road.

Ian - Thanks so much for weighing in and providing more information. It is a great sign that the new MRC is willing to reach out to forum membership to answer questions. I think it is safe to say that there are lot of people eagerly anticipating the rebirth of a great CRF action on the US market. Thanks again!

I love the mini rail on the action

I wish you the best of luck. Can’t wait to see what’s coming. P.S. I want a .505 gibbs.....

Thank you for chiming in on this. I have pic rails on some rifles but they have no business on a M70 style receiver IMHO.

Smooth top does interest me so I'll wait for it before taking the plunge.

Will you be offering receivers for sale or complete rifles only?

Thanks for dropping in Ian. Here's wishing you well in the new venture.

I am liking the new action with the integral rail

All of my serious hunting rifles have Warne slotted bases. Easy to have two scopes RTG. Have tested this system by removing/re-installing scopes. POI is consistent and pretty much spot on. Checked this with my 300 H&H, 375 H&H, and 404 Jeffery when I went to Africa. Easy to take a spare scope, just in case...

I know you can do the same thing with full length rail, but I do not prefer them for my hunting rifles. Since I do not do a lot of LR shooting/hunting a FL rail is not a huge deal for me.

I too, was always turned off by the weight of the old MRC rifles. If I was considering a new build/rifle, this action would get a serious look.

For sure! Coming up with a good CRF for a build is tough these days. Pretty cool you are looking at using McM's for the stocks. Should be an excellent move.

Welcome to the 'fire and thanks for the info. Best wishes to your endeavors! With the demise of the properly triggered M70, demise of MRC, and cancellation of any sort of decent Hawkeyef from Ruger, there's certainly been a missing option for CRF rifles for the last several years. I'll never buy one of your rifles with a rail, but would certainly buy normal ones in all available action lengths.

Ian,

Thanks for letting the Campfire know the latest! Looking forward to the new MRC rifles.

John Barsness

What were your opinions on the previous MRC rifles?
Thanks

Probably won't be able to see the rail very well once a scope gets bolted on. We're all happy these are being made.

By all accounts, when they were properly executed they were excellent rifles. Too frequently though, they weren't properly executed and horrible customer service added insult to injury. That was very likely contributory to their demise.

Thanks Ian for sharing the information with us at the 'fire! I think there is a real market for rifles like this but it will be the price point that either makes it or breaks it.

Thanks for the warm welcome gents.

I'm a long time lurker in many forums, but don't have the time to be an active participant. I'm going off-grid later today for a week, but will try to stop in regularly to answer any questions. I don't want to do a sales pitch or anything without being a forum sponsor (yet?).

Quick answers to some questions/comments-
-Yes, receiver/bolt sets will be available for custom builders at some time; they will be offered with our M70 style trigger, though a Timney pre-64 unit will fit as well.
-The new 2022 receiver with integrated split pic rail is actually 3 oz. lighter than the previous cast slick top, so no worries of added weight.
-I (and the rest of the guys here) are fans of the old MRC rifles, but consistency was lacking. No opinion on their CS since I never dealt with them.
-Caliber list is always up for revision. If there's enough interest in a cartridge to warrant tooling up for it, we'll do it. I just don't want to diversify so much that quality suffers.

It's taken 2 years to get where we're at with MRC, The G5 Outdoors side of our company and contract machining currently pays the bills, but it's time to start recouping the investment.

Thanks again,
-Ian