The Accurate Reloading Forums
Quality of Montana Action
22 January 2004, 17:26
Swede96Quality of Montana Action
Hello: I ordered two stainless left hand standard bolt face long actions quite a while ago. I have heard recently about some actions that were not quite right. I would like to hear from someone that has built a rifle on these actions. Are these a good platform for a custom rifle or just a rough start? Bear in mind, I have heard of pockets or voids in the metal, Plus rough cast surfaces that needed quite a bit of polishing. I have no personal experience with these actions, But would like to know if they are as advertised. Any real life opinions? Thank You.
22 January 2004, 18:05
dempseyI'm NOT a expert. But from a regular Joe point of view, my only beef with mine is the ejection port area isn't polished. I thought they said all exposed areas would be. Not a big thing for the price paid and I'm satisifed.
22 January 2004, 18:14
snowcatPleased with mine. Some final polishing can be done to the ejection port and bolt raceway if you want (I did) but it is not necessary. Function and accuracy have been great. Pretty tough to top for the money.
22 January 2004, 18:39
ElkslayerI have received both of my short stainless actions. My 'smith has given them a pretty thourough going over. His comments to me were "he could spend time to polish them a bit more here and there. Would it make them function any better than what they do now?" "No." He said "All of his polishing would be cosmetic and not contribute one iota to function but would just increase the cost of the final product, eliminating the savings realized by the reasonable cost of these actions." He did say they seem to incorporate the best features from about 3 styles of actions; Sako, Mauser, and Winchester.
Addressing the voids and other problems you mention, my actions showed none of these flaws and my actions are from the first runs delivered as the serial numbers are below 50.
22 January 2004, 18:57
vapodogI have no complaints with mine...it's in excellent visual condition...
23 January 2004, 05:33
hm2i received one and have eight more on order. if you want a matte finished gun it is real easy to blend the ejection port finish in with eveything else to match using glass beads. i found no functional problems with the one i have.
23 January 2004, 06:19
BadboyzI just got mine. I absolutely love it. Looks like all that it will need will be some minor polishing.
23 January 2004, 07:30
fla3006Swede: How long has it been for you? Ordered mine a year ago, still waiting.
23 January 2004, 12:46
Swede96Well it seems i may have been worrying too much. I have been waiting over a year now for the left hand long actions in stainless and i was actually thinking of canceling my order after the negative reports i have read. I guess i'll hang in there to see for myself. I hope they're worth the wait. Thanks for the replys, Swede96.
24 January 2004, 04:16
Dan@Montana Rifle CoQuote:
I'm NOT a expert. But from a regular Joe point of view, my only beef with mine is the ejection port area isn't polished. I thought they said all exposed areas would be. Not a big thing for the price paid and I'm satisifed.
Actually we are now polishing the ejection port. At first we were trying to put out the action for as little cost to the customer as possible and most appreciate that. But we realized after doing this for a year now that some finishing touches such as polishing the ejection port and feed ramp will only increase customer appreciation and the quality of the action.
Dan
24 January 2004, 04:21
FjoldHey Dan, since you're on line what's the latest update on LEFT handed actions? You didn't think that I'd let you get away without nagging, did you?
24 January 2004, 04:33
Dan@Montana Rifle CoOh Dang!
I thought I'd get out of here scottfree. LOL. The latest information I have on the Left Hand Long actions is that the machine shop is going to be working on the first small lot of them within the next 2-3 weeks. It may be sooner, but I don't want to have people screaming at me as to where they are at. I'm not sure of the serial numbers that are going to be done first, but I would "assume" that they will be the first serial numbers. I also am not sure as to whether they are Stainless or Chrome Moly. I guess I don't know anything
Once I have "concrete" answers to your questions I will post them here. I just don't want to get too far ahead of myself by stating something that might not be 100% correct.
Dan
Had to come back and edit this post as I have not addressed the Short Left Hands. The machine shop from what I understand is currently doing a short run of Right Hand Longs, then the short run of Left Hand Longs, then they will go into the Short Left Hands. By the end of February I would expect to have every action in complete production and have most if not all of them in stock.
24 January 2004, 04:39
RustyI'd hate John Ricks to run out of somthing to work on!
24 January 2004, 06:04
FjoldHmmmmmmm Dan, You're post on the 13th said:
"As to the Short Actions in Left Hand: We just received word from the machine shop last week that they had arrived and they are working on them now. We expect to see the first of these within the next 2-3 weeks if there are no unexpected delays by the machine shop. The Stainless are the first to come out, then the chrome moly and then immediately after that the Long Actions in Left Hand will begin."
When did the machining order get shifted around?
I thought that we'd start seeing short stainless lefthanded action being delivered in about a week or so.
24 January 2004, 06:41
fla3006What about short, stainless, right hand, standard bolt face actions ???
24 January 2004, 06:48
Chuck NelsonThey have been promising LH actions "soon" since 2000.
25 January 2004, 05:34
CMJRfla3006, I've already received my 2 Stainless SA RT standard face actions so imagine they are working their way through the list now. Mine was ordered in Dec. 2002 and received in Dec 2003. Quality was top notch, my gunsmith spent about 30 minutes with them and pronounced them ready to go. As for the polishing mine are getting bead blasted stainless barrels and I'm doing nothing to them, they don't need it.
30 January 2004, 04:32
Dan@Montana Rifle CoQuote:
Hmmmmmmm Dan, You're post on the 13th said:
"As to the Short Actions in Left Hand: We just received word from the machine shop last week that they had arrived and they are working on them now. We expect to see the first of these within the next 2-3 weeks if there are no unexpected delays by the machine shop. The Stainless are the first to come out, then the chrome moly and then immediately after that the Long Actions in Left Hand will begin."
When did the machining order get shifted around? I thought that we'd start seeing short stainless lefthanded action being delivered in about a week or so.
Fjold, It is not my intention to deceive anyone as to the status of the left hands, whether they are short or long. I can only forward the information that is given to me. I hope that it is accurate, but unfortunately there are times when the machine shop tells us that "if" they do this it will cause further delay. We are trying to keep their machines running for our actions and keep them from putting another job on the machine ahead of us. If I offended you by the previous post and now the change, I apologize. It was never my intention.
Dan
30 January 2004, 04:35
Dan@Montana Rifle CoQuote:
They have been promising LH actions "soon" since 2000.
We started the Charter Issue on the Short Actions in November of 2002 and didn't hit our "numbers" for the start of production until late March of 2003. We did expect to have them completed before the end of 2003, but unfortunately delays by the machine shop and other things have pushed them back.
Dan
30 January 2004, 04:36
Dan@Montana Rifle CoQuote:
What about short, stainless, right hand, standard bolt face actions ???
We are working through the Short Action right hand orders now and expect to have all current orders filled before the end of February. We also expect to have inventory on hand by that time also.
Dan
30 January 2004, 04:55
Chuck NelsonDan, I have been in contact with MRC since Jan/feb 2000. I was told that LH actions would be available that summer, and it has been the same story ever since.
30 January 2004, 05:12
FjoldQuote:
Fjold, It is not my intention to deceive anyone as to the status of the left hands, whether they are short or long. I can only forward the information that is given to me. I hope that it is accurate, but unfortunately there are times when the machine shop tells us that "if" they do this it will cause further delay. We are trying to keep their machines running for our actions and keep them from putting another job on the machine ahead of us. If I offended you by the previous post and now the change, I apologize. It was never my intention.
Dan
No offence at all Dan, just confusion. Getting conflicting reports from a machine shop is something I understand. I deal with them all the time in repairing gas turbines (My line of work).
It's sort of like getting an addition on your house. I asked a contractor about adding a second floor loft over my dining room and he told me 6 weeks! I almost collapsed laughing and told him that I had been through this before, our kitchen remodel was an 8 week estimate that actually took 5 months!
Frank