It came to our attention that Montana Rifle Company has developed their own line of bottom metal to sell with their action. Since we had initially provided them with their first 50 steel and stainless bottom metal assemblies for their long-actions, we felt it necessary to notify our customers that we are not still providing them with their bottom metal and there are some distinct differences between their bottom metal and ours.

In the picture below, you will see that bottom metal on the top is MRC's.


Again, in this next picture, MRC's bottom metal is on the top as well.


If you've recieved one of the new actions by MRC, and it has this new bottom metal on it, please direct all questions or concerns to Montana Rifle Company.

Matt,

Will you still make MRC bottom metal for aftermarket sale?

Rob

triggerguard1,

Could you post a side profile picture of your bottom metal? Is it or will it be available for the short action?

Is anyone else making metal for the short Montana action, higher end stuff?

This is what the side profile of our guard looks like.

Side Profile

We offer replacement bottom metal for their long and short-action versions. However, we won't be offering any replacement bottom metal for their Professional Hunter, or Mini action.

triggerguard1:
Are those rivets or spotwelds on the underside of the MRC bottom metal? Tough for me to say because I've got one on order, but that looks so "Made in Taiwan" to me. Please tell me the MRC unit will deliver outstanding performance through many years to come and I'm worrying about nothing more than cosmetics over function (...kind of like Democrats who took away my right to buy a gun with a bayonet lug or flash hider, protruding pistol grip, collapsing or folding stock and a detachable box magazine).

Am I correct in reading about your floorplate that it is not available in stainless?

rootbeer,
What you are seeing is actually screws that we use to join the two pieces together. And they are actually completely machined here locally in Kalispell Montana. Cosmetically you cannot see the screws once the bottom metal is attached and the floor plate is closed. Our bottom metal will deliver you great life throughout the years as it is made from steel, in either Chrome Moly or Stainless Steel.

Dan,
You never fail to assuage my fears and calm my soul. I'd hide my gun if those screws showed up on the finished product.
Is there any way the receivers could be delivered with 8-40 screwholes? I'm reading that 6-32 screws are in the wimpy category for guns exhibiting heavy recoil.

The screw heads themselves don't show, but the ends of the screw protrude through the top end of the bottom metal when you open the floorplate, as you can see in the bottom picture.

Elkslayer,
The pre-64 bottom metal is not available in stainless, due to the obvious lack of market appeal, and considering that Winchester never made a stainless action in 1964 or before. We do offer stainless in the long and short-actions that are intended for both the push-feed and classic actions that are being sold today and ever since 1964.

Dan,
Why not just make it a one piece design, like the Williams product?

Actually, they're both two piece designs. Both are screwed together. In the Williams model, the screw breaks away during assembly and the stub is machined flush - a really good machining job that renders the joints darn near (but not quite) invisible. In contrast, MRC wanted to offer two variants for the trigger bow, a scalloped trigger guard for retail folks and a gunmaker's trigger guard, that could be modified to suit the custom builder. The design was patterned after Sako's approach to accomplish these ends.

Also, this approach allowed one (or two) bows to be coupled with a variety of magazine frames (SA, LA, Mini, PH, etc., and help keep the costs in line - so the M1999 might stay under $500 retail. Effectively, the big issue was to get rid of the center guard screw, which both designs (Williams and MRC) do.

[ 06-07-2003, 11:36: Message edited by: Rod@Acrabond ]

I'm feeling better all the time about this action. We are 24 hours closer, gentlemen.

I'm using a Blackburn bottom metal on my 1999..It will be a 375 drop box...I could not find a 404 drop box for the 1999..It is wider. So I have decided to go with a 375 H&H caliber.

If someone is going to make actions for big bore rifles, it miffs me why they would not make the drop box an option....

It also miffs me why they would make bottom metal with screws/bolts/rivits or whatever in it, must be a production cost thing...It should have been one piece IMO...Blackburn, Wisner, and Sunny hill have one piece bottom metal that will work on these actions...

I think both Montana Rifleman and Williams Firearms Co. need to clarify which M 70 bottom metal fits these actions.

The confusion comes from the contuination of using the Pre 64 name on the current USRA CRF action, this was a USRA marketing ploy to sell guns. When in fact they now correctly call them a PRE 64 TYPE ACTION.

The Pre 64 reciever was only made in ONE length.

The USRA reciever is made in TWO lengths

The front to rear guard screw spacing is as follows.

Pre 64 7.437 inches
USRA Short 7.040 inches
USRA Long 7.595 inches

Also the length and width of the three magazine boxes are in different locations in relationship to the guard screws.

Jim Wisner

Ray,
The making of the bottom metal in two pieces is done as a cost effective means of manufacture as was explained. I see nothing wrong with it. As nice as the Blackburn metal is, it still costs nearly as much as the whole darn action in this case.
I think both Williams and MRC are doing their best to offer a decent product at a reasonable price. I also think it is great that Blackburn, Wisner, Burgess, etc. offer their very fine products as an upgrade for various actions. We in the trade are fortunate indeed. Regards, Bill.

Bill,
Well said. We can whine about a drop box not being offered or we can buy one. They have made an action available to us at a bargain basement price. That does not mean we can't do things to improve it, we just have to bear in mind that those items can add considerably to the cost. I think it might be a good opportunity for Williams to crank out a few of them for general consumption, but I doubt that the market demand would be worth the effort.

The MRC metal originally came with the scalloped trigger bow. Dennis Olson called up and objected to removal of his 'options' in metalwork. He also pointed out some shape issues around the rear guard screw hole and the bow opening. Grateful for the guidance, MRC altered some machining steps and made new parts, one called the gunmakers bow (full width bow and bringing the rear hole and trigger opening level with the stockline). The scalloped piece also got the other changes. You can have either one. Your choice.

The MRC metal matches USRAC parts in guard screw hole spacing. MRC mag boxes are .050 longer (both SA and LA), with the extra length rearward from the USRAC box shape. In a pinch, you can use the USRAC box, but without a plate fastened on the rear surface, it could slip off the rear step on the receiver and intefer with the bolt. Magazine springs and followers are interchangable.

[ 06-09-2003, 09:28: Message edited by: Rod@Acrabond ]

Our intentions when we developed the bottom metal that we now market as the "One-Piece Bottom Metal Assembly" was developed exclusively for USRAC when we were working with one of their former purchasing agents. It was developed to offer a significant upgrade at a considerable cost savings over the competition. We accomplished what we set out to do. Obviously there was a need in the aftermarket sales as well, so we decided to offer it in that arena also. To say that we manufacture an inferior product because it is actually made in two seperate pieces, I think is very incorrect, and lacks any credible evidence to support it. While the bottom metal that we make is two pieces, the tolerances are held closer than any other bottom metal being manfactured today. Not to mention, we weren't the first to use this method of manufacturing. Pete Grisel's design that Sunny Hill uses today is also made in two pieces. The only difference, is the fact that they are welding the joint. In order to make the joint look correct, the tolerances must be held to +/- .0002 between the trigger guard and rail on our bottom metal. Not to mention, our finishes that we obtain right off of the machine are considerably better than our competition as well. Here's a link to see what I'm talking about.

Trigger guard close-up

It would also be worth noting that we have done a significant amount of testing and design work on the joint that we use between the rail and guard. We've put these completed parts in a vise and bent them into a horseshoe without breaking or destroying the joint. It is by no means a week link, and it actually becomes stronger than the rest of the part. But, there is also more going on there than a screw, which is why we wanted to make the clarification between our's and MRC's.

As far as which bottom metal fits these actions, I distinguished between Pre-64 and Post-64 in my post above by calling the Post-64, with the Pre-64-Look, a Classic, which is what most everyone nowdays is calling them. We make bottom metal for all three action sizes that USRAC has ever made. Furthermore, the trigger guard and hinge are the same on every action, including the true Pre-64. The only difference is the fact that the guard is .600" wide on the Pre-64, and now they are .700". The hinge is a little wider on the new Model 70's too, but guardscrew hole to hinge pin hole relationship is identical. They went to the wider triggerguard because they started using aluminum guards, and they wouldn't hold up if they were that narrow. Now, even though they are using some steel triggerguards, they have the problem with inletting changes, considering all of their stocks for the model 70 are made in Italy.