Are they a good action compared to the ruger mk11?Are the triggers decent?I'm looking at ordering one of there barreled actions,any help would be great

Thanks

My gun smith use to use them as his standard action in his rifles. The quality has gotten so bad that he has stopped using them.
Dr B

I looked at two barreled actions last week and I was shocked at the quality.....
If you have lots of time, money and a good smith that will finish and polish out this action to where it should have been before shipping, it will probably be OK.

I would buy a new classic and strip it down before I would spend a dime on a Montana.

I own two, that are being made into 404 Jeffery rifles. Nice actions!

I have 4 & they are great good value

I have 4 left-hand actions. My gunsmith likes them and my brother-in-law who owned a gunstore likes them. I bought a .308 barreled action during their internet special a few months ago and quality was very good.

I had one made by them and Serengeti into a left hand 358, It's a very well made action/barrel and excellent stock. Right out of the box it shot groups well under an inch.
I did have Montana polish the action and raceways and square and true the barrel to the action. Very good job, not a lot of money.
I'm very happy with the rifle and would recommend it to other.
I have another left handed stainless steel action sized for the WSM cartridge from them that I have for sale if someones interested.

I would suppose there are significant differences between the first two respondants' actions, and the one jbmich posted. That action looks good! Nice photo jbmich.

My hunting mate has a rifle built on a Montana by Serengeti also, I have not seen it, but he is a picky SOB, and he is very pleased with it.

I am building one today. The action was bought in July 2005. It is a short action in stainless steel. The retaining pin in the bolt shroud required a little cleaning up. I lapped the bolt as I do on all my custom actions. I lighten up the trigger and have polished up the safety so it operated smoothly. The remainder of the fit and finish seem ok for a custom hunting rifle in its price range. It is being fitted a Kreiger #2 contour stainless steel standard weight chambered in .300WSM and cut to 24 inches. The stock is a McMillan supergrade. I will be topping it with Warne QD Rings/bases and a 30 mm Ziess Scope.
Rustystud

Some have reported satisfaction with the M1999 and others have not. The first one I got was full of dings and rough as a cob. The replacement was a little better but still very rough and not true on the outside but it was true as to the threads etc.

I had it barreled up and stocked in a Banser and thought that I was going to slick it. It was just not interesting and frankly too hard for me to do. My smith wanted $300 to slick it and said that the outside might not still be even.

So I lost $xxx on it. I had the barrel pulled and my smith sold it to a member here and I saw that he had it on the auction! It did not even get a $290 bid.

If your left handed and want a very heavy action and you have a very skilled metalworker available to you then try one. I would take a Kimber, Ruger, Winchester etc anyday over a M1999 but thats just my opinion.

When the Kimber Montanas became available there was no question as to what to buy.

Here is my third and latest Kimber Montana. It's a 308 with a 4X Zeiss. The complete rifle weighs 6 lbs as you see it with those substantial mounts and scope. A M1999 would not finish up like this for anything under $2000 and it would still weigh a pound more.



To each his own.

i have seen my friends action he bought from montana rifle company and i would say its on par with a ruger...rough needs a lot of work/money to smooth the action up and bring it up to scratch ...but then again im REAL FUSSY!!
Daniel

I had a .280AI built on one of their actions, I like it as well as my other customs. It's a bit heavy but not to the point it's bothersome. 'Smith said that it didn't take much to blueprint the action(and he's VERY meticulous).There does seem to be alot of variation in QC, as some hate them and others really like them.

I took delivery of my finished M1999 rifle October 22, 2005. My gunsmith likes them; he says it's a fine action. He ought to know-- he builds world-record rifles on a daily basis and won't work on junk unless you really want to spend the money to make it right.

What he built for me has been called beautiful, a work of art, a museum piece, a masterpiece, et cetera by everyone who's seen it. If I had some pictures and knew how to post them, I'd do so. It's a lefty, long action magnum in stainless chambered in 300 WSM with Krieger barrel at 31" long with brake, a big Richards Micro-fit black/black laminated stock and a Near Mfg. scope base. I've got so much in it, I've lost track.

I have a M1999 based rifle - built on a fairly early action. I don't have a problem with that rifle at all. Triggers on those early actions were EDM wirecut, and of better quality than M70 triggers, although they follow the basic M70 design. Since then, MRC has changed manufacturing process for the triggers, but I can't comment on those later models.

The actions were always intended to be the basis for gunsmithing efforts. It was a conscious decision on MRCs part to finish them only to a state in which they were useable, not necessarily "finished" - as defined by the individual smith. The actions are somewhat rough below the stock line, and about the state of a current factory M70 above. Is that good enough for you?? I guess you have to decide that. A lot of smiths put the extra work into polishing and surface grinding them, although they can be used without.

Savage99's comments above relate to a fairly early action. He never liked his and got rid of it fairly quickly. He seems to like Kimbers better, and have said so repeatedly. Power to him for that. But just like my experience was with a fairly early action, so is his. I don't believe either of us have extensive experience with recent production samples...

MRC actions use a 1-piece bottom metal, which M70s have only recently switched to. The MRC bottom metal is probably not as nice as some of the more expensive after market parts. But for the price you are paying for the action, it may be a bit much to expect to get the quality of a 150-300$ bottom metal. The current bottom metal works just fine, but may not be as elegant as some of the more expensive options.

In terms of gas handling, the M1999 action is clearly better than the M70. It takes over many of the gas handling properties of the Mauser actions. It has two HUGE gas posrts to dump gas into the magazine, and it has the flanged bolt shroud, the M70 so badly lacks, to direct gas away from the shooter.

Some smiths say M70s are easier to work with, some do good work with the M1999. I guess it is one of those things. You'll have a hard time finding something everybody in the shooting industry agrees upon.

- mike

I have one of the very early made left handed actions (single digit serial number) and I'm very pleased with it. My gunsmith went to true the action and said that the internal dimensions, action threads and lugs were as straight or straighter than any other factory action that he has ever worked on.

When I ordered mine during the introductory offer back in 2001, MRC sold these as "project actions". Something that you bought for building a custom rifle on and were unfinished on the outside so that you could determine what level of polish and finish you wanted. If you buy one with this in mind you'll be very happy with it.