After a long period of inactivity I thought that I'd better get on here and try to give everyone out there an idea of what is going on with the Montana Rifle Company.
First we would like to say thank you to all of our customers past and present for their support and honesty. Without your support our company would have gone to the wayside like many others before us.
We understand that there are a lot of questions out there regarding the company and our actions. I also know that there are a lot of customers who are at this time not very happy with us. Believe me when I say this but both I and Jon F are working our butts off to try to satisfy everyone�s needs.
We have caught a lot of flack (and that is putting it mildly) and deservedly so about our anticipated delivery dates. We realize that there are a lot of individuals out there that have put a lot of time and energy, not to mention money out there in creating their ideal hunting rifle. There are also those who have ordered actions or barreled actions for that once in a lifetime hunt just to be disappointed because their product won't arrive on time. We definitely feel your pain. It has affected us more than anyone will ever know.
So here goes and please don't take absolutely everything I say as "set in stone" as far as delivery dates, etc.
Many are aware of this but there may be some that are not. We dropped our previous machining company due to a couple of different reasons. First and foremost the quality was not where we wanted it to be and was costing us thousands of dollars each and every time we received a shipment from them. Second, when we approached them about fixing these problems, tightening up the tolerances their price for the machining nearly tripled. We couldn't swallow this price increase and did not expect that our customers would like to either, so we made the change. Currently the machining company that does our bolts and receivers is doing a phenomenal job. The tolerances are darn near perfect and the scrap rate is at an all time low. Delivery is not as quick but I will sacrifice speed for quality any time.
Short Chrome Moly Right Handed Actions are currently being assembled and shipped.
Short Chrome Moly Left Handed Actions are currently backordered and with any luck should be available before the end of the year.
Short Stainless Steel Right Hand Actions are currently in the machine shop and should be in our shop by mid-September.
Short Stainless Steel Left Hand Actions are also backordered as with all of our left handed actions. Hopefully we will have them by the end of this year.
Long Chrome Moly Right Hand Actions are in house now and are being assembled as we speak. We should start shipping them in earnest within the next 2 weeks.
Long Chrome Moly Left Hand Actions are backordered along with all of our left hands. Again we hope to have them in stock before the end of the year.
Long Stainless Steel Right Hand Actions are in house right now and are being assembled. We are missing some parts but are currently working on machining them in house. We should, if everything goes right, start shipping those in earnest within the next 3-4 weeks.
Long Stainless Left Hand Actions. Same as the rest of the left hands.
Now anyone working in manufacturing knows that all it takes is one broken tool to throw you completely off of schedule so the dates I placed above are only "ESTIMATES".
There have also been some issues with quality. First and foremost this is a gunsmith action and to be finished into a work of art will require some work by your gunsmith. Each and every action is squared and the raceways and lugs are lapped before it goes out of here. There have also been some other issues not related to safety that we have addressed and are correcting now.
The company is not going out of business as many have asked us. There are just things that have happened like the machining company change, delays by vendors in delivery, and other things that have affected our delivery of actions. These things are being corrected but will take some time to work out all of the bugs.
We appreciate your continued patience and if you have any questions please email me at
mtrifle@montanarifleman.com and I'll try to answer them as honestly as possible. At this time I do not plan on doing any follow-up on this post but will drop in occasionally to read what everyone is saying. Again if you have questions please email me directly.
As a side note, Brian, the owner of both the Montana Rifleman and the Montana Rifle Company is looking at retiring within the next 2-3 years and he is looking at selling one or both companies. He is looking at high 6 figures for the Montana Rifle Company and the low 7 figures for the Montana Rifleman. If you have a serious interest in either company give Brian a call or email him at [email]brian1
montanarifleman.com.[/email] Please, qualified/serious buyers only.
Best Regards,
Dan
Montana Rifle Co.