Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Remington buys Montana Rifleman (the company)

From kalispell newspaper - see: http://missoulian.com/news/state-an...f9a344e-9232-11e2-aee0-0019bb2963f4.html

Remington Arms buys Montana Rifleman in Kalispell
1 hour ago � Associated Press
KALISPELL � Remington Arms Co. has acquired a northwestern Montana manufacturer of firearm barrels and actions.

Ted Novin, a spokesman for Remington's holding company � Freedom Group � confirmed Remington's purchase of the Montana Rifleman.

Novin would not comment on the purchase price or plans for the manufacturing plant, located east of Kalispell.

The Montana Rifleman produced 143,000 rifle and pistol barrels in 2011. Last year, production exceeded 312,000 barrels with a workforce of 160 to 170 people.

Former owner Brian Sipe declined to comment on the transaction. He still owns the Montana Firearms Group, a business adjacent to the Montana Rifleman that focuses on making a line of hunting rifles. He plans on expanding that business.

So now we'll need to know the difference between a Montucky and a Montanton.

Gonna have to buy a program just to know all the players...

Montana Rifle Company made 312,000 barrels last year? Where did they all go?

In QC's round file.


Travis

Maybe now they have enough money to produce their mini action.

Actually, the new production rifles from MRC are pretty nice.

Is this the consensus of the latest productions?

If the "bean counters" don't take them over and the holding company lets them do what they know how to do, then maybe they'll turn out some great rifles and barrels.

I wouldn't want to predict their future production by what happened to Marlin after their buyout or where Remington QC has reportedly been since their move.

Time will tell.

DF

To clarify, is it only the barrel making side of the business what Remington acquired or is it everything? The article makes it sound like the action and rifle side is not involved and would remain with the current owner.

From what I read in the other thread on this topic it is the barrel AND action making portion that Remington/Freedom Group bought.

A Remington branded M70 clone would be an interesting development.

The way I read it, the Freedom Group (Remington, et. al. holding co.) bought the rifle and action mfg. part and Brian Sipe (Montana Firearms Group) will continue to operate next door, making hunting rifles.

Maybe Brian sold the barrel and action side of his business to better fund his rifle mfg. side. I would guess he'll buy his actions and barrels from Freedom Group and limit his efforts to making rifles. Probably a lot less of a headache.

DF

From the other thread.

A bit more from the interlake- http://www.dailyinterlake.com/news/local_montana/article_6d144c40-91ae-11e2-8775-0019bb2963f4.html


Remington Arms Co. has acquired the Montana Rifleman, a Flathead Valley company with humble beginnings that went into rapid growth over the last few years manufacturing firearm barrels and actions.
The former owner, local gunsmith Brian Sipe, could not comment on the transaction, but the purchase was confirmed Wednesday by Ted Novin, a spokesman for Freedom Group, Remington�s holding company located in Madison, N.C.
Novin would not comment on the purchase price or future plans for the company�s new venture located off Montana 35 east of Kalispell.
The Montana Rifleman produced 143,000 rifle and pistol barrels in 2011, but last year, production exceeded 312,000 barrels with a work force of 160 to 170 people.
�We�ve more than doubled, and it shows no signs of slowing down,� Sipe said in an interview with the Inter Lake last November.
Sipe started making custom guns more than 20 years ago in an old dairy barn off Whitefish Stage Road, but he ventured into action manufacturing in 1999 and by 2008 the company�s focus shifted from custom guns to barrel production.
Remington, founded in 1816 in upstate New York, is one of the nation�s oldest continuously operating manufacturers, according to its website.
The company calls itself one of the largest domestic producers of shotguns and rifles; its most recent website update lists annual revenues of nearly $400 million.

Sipe continues to own the rapidly growing Montana Firearms Group, a business adjacent to the Montana Rifleman that focuses on making a line of production hunting rifles.
Last year, the company manufactured about 1,200 rifles and the goal this year is 3,000 rifles, said Jeff Sipe, director of sales and marketing.
Jeff Sipe largely attributes the growth to accolades the company has received.
Field and Stream magazine previously recognized the company�s American Standard Rifle as the country�s �Best of the Best� new rifle on the market, outdoing firearms giants such as Remington, Ruger and Winchester.
Earlier this year, Field and Stream selected the company�s American Vantage Rifle as one of the five best to debut at the annual SHOT Show firearms convention.
�It�s just been nice to see the acknowledgment of our work,� Sipe said. �I think people in the industry are starting to see the quality.�
Anticipating continued growth, the Montana Firearms Group is building a new manufacturing facility at the Montana 35 location that will be about 10,000 square feet, or about double the size of the current building, Sipe said.
The building will house about $1 million in new equipment and enable the company to meet consumer demand.
�We had to gear up to be able to feed those sales,� said Sipe, adding that the company will occupy the new building at the end of April.
The company�s work force has grown from about 10 people last year to a current roster of 22, and Sipe anticipates there will be at least 30 workers by the middle of this year.

Ken,

Seems I read somewhere that Montana Rifles bought receiver castings from Pine Tree, Ruger's investment casting company. So, a Remington M-70 partly made by Ruger could be intersting. I would think Brian kept the Montana Rifle logo, etc. if he's going to sit next door and make hunting rifles.

No telling what these guns are going to be like, if Freedom Group's gunmaking management goes into the mix.

DF

Yeah, I believe that's right.

An added twist with the Ruger connection.

Seems as though Freedom Group is intent on trying to corner the US firearms manufacturing industry.

Need to get Winchester, Ruger and Savage to control the vast majority though.

I can maybe see Winchester being bought up but I don't think Ruger and Savage are going to be swallowed.

If Remington takes a page out of the Dakota 97 playbook they could make something very interesting with the Montana actions.

Remington purchased the barrel business only. Brian still owns the rifle/action business. They are in the process of moving into a brand new facility and have purchased state of the art equipment for producing rifle actions.

But no three rings of steel!

Don't matter to the CRF guys. All an action needs is a blade extractor, 2 MOA barrel and a fully re-buildable trigger and they'll have moist shorts.

It wouldn't be so bad if the Freedom Group didn't seem to screw up everything it touches...

Ron Coburn may have stepped down as CEO at Savage, but he's still the major investor/owner. So, he's still at the helm, no doubt. From a business model viewpoint, I wouldn't think Savage has even come close to peaking out. As long as the company is growing, a cash out wouldn't make a lot of sense, IMHO. If I was Ron, I'd keep on peddling as long as my equity was being enhanced. At some point, he may need an exit strategy, which I would guess is way down the road.

I think Ruger is it's own world and from what I understand, quite stable, financially sound and growing.

Companies often sell when they're struggling and need an infusion of new capital to re-tool, re-group and/or make a new run at the market. Neither Savage nor Ruger fit that profile. Montana Rifle was possibly growing faster than Brian could feed it, so this deal should take pressure off of him and allows him to fully capitalize his rifle making business. I was a bit confused by the piece, on how many employees he actually had. There seemed to be a contradiction.

DF

Another company down the toilet.