Montana Rifle Company .375 - Anyone own one?

[cpr0312]

Hello,

In my search for a .375, this gun has been mentioned to me to look into as well. Anyone have one? Thoughts? Feedback on performance?

Thanks

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I'm going to tag @matt85 for you. He will hopefully come along and respond. In the meantime you may wish to do a search on his experience with them....... it ain't pretty is all I'll say.

 

[stug]

Big difference between a rifle in .375 vs .505 though. The .505 Gibbs would be one of the hardest calibres to get to feed correctly.

 

[johnnyblues]

Hello,

In my search for a .375, this gun has been mentioned to me to look into as well. Anyone have one? Thoughts? Feedback on performance?

Thanks

I purchased a 375 Ruger Guide rifle and love it. CAustin also on this forum owns one in 416 I believe you can also get his opinion.

 

[matt85]

Big difference between a rifle in .375 vs .505 though. The .505 Gibbs would be one of the hardest calibres to get to feed correctly.

this is true, however my rifle feeding wasnt the only issue i had with the gun. if you read threw my thread on the topic you will find i had customer service issues as well.

http://www.africahunting.com/threads/montana-rifle-company-dgr-505-gibbs-review.17055/

-matt

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Big difference between a rifle in .375 vs .505 though. The .505 Gibbs would be one of the hardest calibres to get to feed correctly.

True enough, but these are DG rifles. They should not leave the factory without more attention in my opinion. But that said, mistakes do happen and I understand that. But what separates a good company from a bad one is how they handle customer problems, and I'd say MRC dropped the ball with Matt.

 

[Bullthrower338]

Matt's experience was like a bar brawl, mine has been good with MRC, no quality issues thus far. I actually just ordered two more rifles a couple weeks ago, a 416 RM and a 6.5x284. I will let you know how they are when they arrive.
Cody

 

[The_Wanderer]

Reedy What is it your looking for in a 375H&H?

The reason I ask is I went through this and ended up settling on a Model 70 Safari(one of the new ones) the rifle is brilliant and shoots better than I can. If I had to criticise it would be the 3 round Mag Capacity it be great if they did 5!

Cheers
TW

 

[CAustin]

Reedy,
As with anything there will always be two sides to every story and individual opinions. I've never owned a Montana Rifle Company product. I do own several Rugers.. Once you read the thread matt85 has shared with you the customer service issues may well lead you to go in another direction. As mentioned above I do own a Ruger Guide Gun in 416. I have been very pleased with the rifle and it will cost you a whole lot less than a MRC product. All that said there are great rifles to be had.....I suggest you go to a big gun dealer in your area and shoulder a few. Another suggestion would be to go to the SCI or DSC events the first of the year and see what the various vendors have to offer.
Charlie

 

[browningbbr]

I have a .375 H&H built on a MRC action. The barrel is McGowan and the stock is custom. It feeds and shoots flawlessly, but required "tuning" to do so.

Just my opinion, but I believe the MRC action to be equal to or better than the Mauser (I have several) or Winchester Model 70 action.

 

[cpr0312]

Thanks for all the responses. I take customer service into account for sure, and after reading what happened to Matt, this is a red flag. However, I have heard from a few MRC owners that the rifles are good( all have been .375 or lower versus the trouble Matt had with the 505 stock crack among others that he found out in his communications with MRC).

TW: what I am looking at in a .375 mostly is a SS/and synthetic or Kevlar/carbon fiber stock, (just my preference, as I also hope to take the gun to Alaska/BC/Yukon) and I only want to have one .375, so it can be used everywhere without concerns of dinging it up and the weatherablility that this setup offers.

That being said, I have found this in MRC, Kimber, Sako, Ruger, and have also looked long and hard for a Winchester M70, but they currently don't make one like this and cant find a used one.

 

[Bullthrower338]

Reedy,
Just a little update on customer service at MRC, their has been some changes there. The people that were involved are no longer employed there from my understanding. I just sent a Kimber Caprivi back because the barrel band slid to the front sight after I sent the third round down the tube. They completely botched the repair, messed the stock up, bottom metal was marred and the barrel band wasn't even put back on center line. After I got done compleatly losing my shit, I got ahold of their customer service and had visions of Matt's story! I finally chased down upper management with no help from the little turd in customer service. They were outstanding in their response. I will buy more Kimbers after dealing with these people. Customer service is one thing that is very important in buying anything, it will make you or break you by word of mouth alone. Ruger is one of the best also. Buy what fits you best and enjoy it!

Cody

 

[enysse]

Customer service is very important.

 

[matt85]

Just my opinion, but I believe the MRC action to be equal to or better than the Mauser (I have several) or Winchester Model 70 action.

it should be noted that a number of gunsmiths will NOT work on MRC actions. one of the things i did while trying to get my MRC rifle to work was calling around and asking gunsmiths who were familiar with large bore guns to look at the rifle. every gunsmith i called apolagized and politely told me the would not work on the MRC action.

i could have jut had bad luck with who i called but this is still something worth noting.

-matt

 

[browningbbr]

matt85,

I guess I'm not surprised to hear that some smiths won't work on Montana actions - several gunsmiths that I spoke to knew almost nothing about MRC or actions available from them. However, I don't worry much about gun smithing. I mostly do my own.

Probably not a coincidence, but many years ago (just like Bullthrower), I also experienced very bad customer service from a "big name" firearms company. After "going up the ladder" with management with a series of phone calls, repairs were handled promptly and expertly.