After seeing the discussion here on the Montana actions, I am wondering what the gunsmiths that have actually seen one think of them??? At the price they are asking, they look like a terrific bargain and I'm thinking a matched set would be really nice and, almost, affordable!

My thoughts are a short action in 7-08 or 308, a long action in 300 win mag and another in 375 H&H would cover just about any hunting I'm likely to do. I might even be able to slim it down to a short in 300 WSM and a long in 375????

So, are these actions ready to go as delivered, or do they need squaring, trueing and all the other tweaking of a production winchester or remington action???

GH,

There aren't many in existence yet. Some pre-production models were sent out for evaluation, but that's it.

George

GeorgeS is close. We've shipped only a few (wave-1) to customers thus far. Wave-2 would have shipped by now if everybody and their brother didn't close for the holidays. The polisher (where most of the product has been sitting for the last ten days) is back to work on Monday, and they said they'll finish up in 2.5 days at most.

Wave-2 will fill many but not all orders. Wave-3 was supposed to ship before Ruger shut down on the 12/20, but of course, it didn't. Machining starts on wave-3 week. It's a big lot and will certainly fill all open orders. Wave-4 is now on order.

Ask your question in thirty days and there will be plenty of answers.

[ 01-05-2003, 01:55: Message edited by: Rod@Mountain_of_Dreams ]

Rod

If I wait too long then the roll-out pricing on the short action will pass me by!!! (Wish I could have got the same deal on the long actions!!!)

So, let's hear your evaluation of the action

Would JBelk, Malm and the other resident gunsmiths give them a passing grade as-is???

[ 01-05-2003, 02:34: Message edited by: GonHuntin ]

Rod, I was hoping you'd chime in.

Why did you change your username?

George

[ 01-05-2003, 03:13: Message edited by: GeorgeS ]

I'd be interested to hear about these actions. I've heard the name but know zip right now. Please list the price as well. Thanks.

User name...I like to post here as private citizen, so my home computer logs in as rod@mountain of dreams. When at the plant, its Rod @MRC. I try not to always be speaking as a company guy in my off-time, but sometimes it's hard.

As far as my opinion on what Jack Belk might say about the M1999? Well, there's no way I'm going to put words in his (or any other expert's) mouth. At MRC, we tend to be somewhat over-critical of our work. These actions are not bench rest perfect. We can't get them there using the processes we employ. They will make fine hunting rifles. That's our market

I think they are well ahead of factory actions (in terms of tightened tolerances and straightness) by Winchester, Remington, and even our friends at Ruger. Can't speak for Savage, haven't looked closely at them. Tolerance isn't everything. Even +/- .001 will stack something awful if you're not careful about the organization and order of "how" the machining is done. A USRAC receiver is done in 37 operations. A M1999 takes three. That means fixturing only three times and one of those is drilling and reaming a single hole for the bolt release pivot screw.

The corporate goal of MRC is to provide the workaday shooting enthusiast an affordable alternative to the ever-declining quality and functionality of the long-arm retail trade. If we help increase the volume at custom gunsmiths all around the country, well and good.

Our friends at Ruger, during my last visit, asked what I thought they should do to increase sales. (Like I know). What would I tell Bill Ruger, Jr?

To me, this question has an obvious answer, and selling the "cheapest" rifle "ain't" it.

Put quality in an upscale model. Make it straight and square and true and then charge accordingly. Discriminating shooters are getting gray (or bald), but the wallets are a little fatter. Offering a rebate on a $429 special that won't shoot doesn't get them (us) excited.

MRC is not the cheapest solution for actions. We're aggressively priced, considering our costs, but we believe there are five folks who will buy a $400 action for every one who will pay $1000. We also believe we'll have to ship a couple of hundred actions before the market "knows" our product and gives us an honest score. That time is not too far away.

The reason we're offering a great deal on the LH and Short actions and not the LA RH is you guys are helping bring the former to market. Your cash is starting the molds, and the clock. In the RH long, we used corporate capital and our investors (I'm one of them) damn sure want to see return, hence we can't cut the margin so aggressively.

Nebraska: There are at least three other threads on the M1999 actions. I'd like to invite you to look through them. I've posted a lot of data and information already and I think it will suffice. If not, give us a call at 406-755-4867 and we'll be glad to answer questions.