Montana Rifle Update

[Snowwolfe]

My dealer ordered me a left handed stainless barreled action in 458 Lott the first of the year. I believe it finally arrived in June and I just received my McMillan stock for it and assembled it together.
After assembling it to the stock I loaded up four dummy rounds to check feeding and ejecting. It basically will not feed but if I load up a shorter round (3.4 in COL) it can pick one up from the magazine but it may jam before it goes into the barrel. Once I am able to get a round to feed properly it will not eject it. I pull back the bolt and the round is attached to the bolt but the ejector will not kick it out. I am not a gunsmith but I noticed the ejector does not even go beyond the bolt face when the bolt is fully pulled back. It appears to me it could be as simple as you installed the incorrect bolt stop because as it stands now the bolt can't even be retracted back enough to clear the magazine. or possibly the ejector is also to short.
I am very disappointed in the quality of this rifle. My initial impressions when I first bought it were very good but what good is it if it can not feed or eject?
I now await MRC to see how they will fix this. On a positive note the McMillan stock fit like a glove.

 

[dwhunter]

I can't speak to your problem as I am not a gunsmith either but I can speak a little about MRC, I would call them right away and I am going to bet that you will be able to send it back to get everything squared away to your satisfaction, Jeff Sipe always took every call I made to whine about delivery or specs etc and was great about it.

They built me a SS 280 Rem a few years ago and I also went with a McMillan stock and I love it and have never had a problem with it. I have been waiting until they get this back order situation squared away until I order another but I am also going back and forth on ordering one of the new Professional Hunter actions at the pre production price for a new 375H&H.

Doug

 

[MMcLaughlin]

I agree. Call them up, and I am sure the will fix the problem. I have 5 MRC barreled actions from 22-250 AI to 338-06, and have had no problems whatsoever. Good luck.

 

[Snowwolfe]

I did call them up. They agreed to attempt a fix. But I have to pay for the shipping to them. That doesnt sit very well with me.

 

[dwhunter]

When you say you ordered from your dealer, did you mean a gunsmith and if so did he do anything to it at all before you picked it up?

The reason I ask is that I ordered straight from MRC and they were the only ones that touched my rifle before I rcvd it so they assumed all responsibility.

If all things considered are good I would argue the shipping.

My .02

Doug

 

[Snowwolfe]

I ordered it through a local dealer who ordered it direct ( I do not hold an FFL). The barreled action came in and they signed it over to me. It has never been to a smith but is going back to the factory.
I asked MRC if they ever checked to see if there barreled actions would feed and eject properly before they were shipped and they declined to answer the question.

 

[gumboot458]

Problems with Montana everything

Problems with Montana everything

I got a Montana 1999 stainless rh in 416 Taylor. Execpt it had a long magizine box. It wouldn,t feed the follower had not been fitted,just cnc,d and stuck in the magizine. The thing weighed a ton, It took me alot of work, and at one point I contemplated pitching it in the bay. but I put a 375 h+h barrel on it that I had to rethread myself as thier tooling had been ground till it was out of spec. I put a ramline stock on it as it was cheap. painted it with car undercoat ,boy that was a mistake!!! put a 3x leupold on it and shot 6 deer with it last fall/winter. Made 1 ,on purpose ,1st shot hit on a forked horn at in excess of 400 yrds .This spring I put the 416 barrel back on it ,as it was only 18' long and lugged it around for a while. finally I gave the whole thing to a friend. who guides spring and fall bear in unit 4 I,m not a gunsmith either . But gunsmiths wern,t gunsmiths until they started messing around with rifles. A guy I know would give me grief about it looking ugly where as his rifles all cost thousands of dollars and were fine tools. You bet. ,he averaged 3 shots per deer and only shot 3 with much more hunting time The 458 Lott is a great round. I have a cz 550 in that caliber. but it needs a muzzel break.

 

[Kabluewy]

Montana '99

Montana '99

I got a Montana 1999 stainless rh in 416 Taylor. Execpt it had a long magizine box. It wouldn,t feed the follower had not been fitted,just cnc,d and stuck in the magizine. I put a 375 h+h barrel on it that I had to rethread myself as thier tooling had been ground till it was out of spec. I put a ramline stock on it as it was cheap. painted it with car undercoat, boy that was a mistake!!! I,m not a gunsmith either . But gunsmiths wern,t gunsmiths until they started messing around with rifles. A guy I know would give me grief about it looking ugly where as his rifles all cost thousands of dollars and were fine tools. You bet. ,he averaged 3 shots per deer and only shot 3 with much more hunting time.

Gumboot458,
Ugly, a four letter word, is completely inadequate to describe a Ram Line stock painted with auto undercoating, including much of the barrel and action. Messing around with guns isn't a qualification of being a gunsmith. Usually the profession is associated with some degree of skill and refinement.

Just because a guy has rifles costing over $1,000 each doesn't mean he can shoot them well. It just means that he enjoys good looking, accurate rifles, and enjoys the sport. A guy can always work and hope for improvment. Hunting time is quality time, whether deer are taken or not. An old surplus Mauser '98 in 8x57, chopped and sporterized would make a good meat gun, if that was all it is about.

Snowwolfe,
I think Montana Rifle Co will make your action feed correctly. If not, given a second chance, I hope you post the outcome so we will all be informed. I always thought the Montana '99 action was a good choice, especially if a little extra weight is not a big deal.

Best Regards,
KB

 

[BrownBear]

Ah, man. I was seriously planning to go to them for a stainless LH 6.5x55. But I just went back to their site and it is BLEEDING with red ink warnings about back order problems. Remember what Kimber went through when they first scaled up for the big time? Hope the Montana folks fare better, because I really would like to patronize them.

 

[Snowwolfe]

MRC emailed me today and said:
"There was a standard bolt stop instead of a magnum. The gunsmith replaced the bolt stop and would like to check the feeding with your cartridges"

Kinda makes there story about checking feeding and functioning before the barreled action departed there factory a little misleading. But I am sending them the dummy rounds as requested and we will see what happens.

 

[AkHunter45]

Sounds like they were in a hurry to get the BA out to you and they didn't do the feed and function check. Hopefully all is well once you get it back.

 

[Snowwolfe]

I received the barreled action back from MRC with a note they changed out the bolt stop to the proper one. I did not have a chance to check it out before I went moose hunting. This morning I checked feeding and ejecting with Swift 400 grain and Barnes 450 grain XXX's. At this point it will feed and eject both rounds well. There are no rough spots while cycling the bolt and I am happy with how slick the action operates. Much better than a factory W70.
As soon as time permits I will put it in the stock and fire off a few and post the results.
At this point in time MRC fixed what was wrong with it and did so in a fast manner. Kudo's to them for that.

I am still miffed at having to spend $26 to ship the action to them and then another $6 to ship dummy rounds when it was entirely there lack of quality control that caused the problem.

Live and learn, this still could be a very inexpensive way for a lefty to obtain a SS CRF 458 Lott if it works out

 

[dwhunter]

MRC

MRC

You will not be dissapointed.

I went on the list this past friday for a barreled action for a new 375 H&H, I am sure it will take a good while to have it made up with the current backorders but after the first rifle they made for me it is worth waiting for imo.

Doug