Montana Rifle Company DGR 505 Gibbs review

matt85 · Dec 28, 2014

yikes! a proper weight is 11-12 pounds for the 505 Gibbs with 10.5 pounds being the bare minimum. I would suggest you add weight to the stock of the rifle. this is actually very easy to do if your willing to put in a little effort.

1. get your hands on some lead shot.
2. using spare pieces of wood, drill holes until you figure out how wide/deep you need the hole to be to add the desired weight in shot. make sure not to make it so wide that it will compromise your rifles stock. the hole must be deep enough to all allow for a plug to prevent the shot from sitting against the butt pad.
3. remove the butt pad and drill the hole in the widest part of the rifles butt. make sure the rifle is held properly in a vice and be sure your hole wont interfere with the reinstallation of the butt pad.
4. add desired weight in shot.
5. plug the hole with wood glue or epoxy.
6. reinstall butt pad.

I have an old bag of shot layen around, if you need some just shoot me a private message.

-matt

Bullthrower338 · Dec 28, 2014

matt85 said:
yikes! a proper weight is 11-12 pounds for the 505 Gibbs with 10.5 pounds being the bare minimum. I would suggest you add weight to the stock of the rifle. this is actually very easy to do if your willing to put in a little effort.

1. get your hands on some lead shot.
2. using spare pieces of wood, drill holes until you figure out how wide/deep you need the hole to be to add the desired weight in shot. make sure not to make it so wide that it will compromise your rifles stock. the hole must be deep enough to all allow for a plug to prevent the shot from sitting against the butt pad.
3. remove the butt pad and drill the hole in the widest part of the rifles butt. make sure the rifle is held properly in a vice and be sure your hole wont interfere with the reinstallation of the butt pad.
4. add desired weight in shot.
5. plug the hole with wood glue or epoxy.
6. reinstall butt pad.

I have an old bag of shot layen around, if you need some just shoot me a private message.

-matt

Thanks Matt, I may just do that, I once mixed shot and epoxy and filled the cavity of a old style composite stocked Ruger in 300WM that beat you like a bar fight gone wrong. I still have not had a small magnum rifle that hit me like that. That stock was a turd and about as appealing to a rifleman as running a trap line is to a PETA member. It took the sting out of the gun but it weighted as much as an F class rifle, not to good for packing in the mountains of northwest Montana.

ActionBob · Dec 28, 2014

If I remember correctly my CZ 505 Gibbs is 10 pounds 5 ounces..... Without scope. The CZ has a mercury tube installed in the stock though. and it still unleashes one heck of a beating! But surprisingly (at least with iron sights) it fits me well and does not hurt my cheek or shoulder... but my back is stiff for a while after just 2 or 3 shots... I do have a terrible back though.

I don't see a problem in the field. I did not notice any kick from my 416 when using it on elephant and buffalo.

Unless I get a bad base of scope eye or banged forehead, but no issues with the 416 there either. I think the recoil tables show the Gibbs to be about 1.5 times as much as a 416 Rem Mag.

Royal27 · Dec 28, 2014

Glad to hear it Cody.

My problem is a left handed one. I don't have many options

Bullthrower338 said:
Thanks Matt, I may just do that, I once mixed shot and epoxy and filled the cavity of a old style composite stocked Ruger in 300WM that beat you like a bar fight gone wrong. I still have not had a small magnum rifle that hit me like that. That stock was a turd and about as appealing to a rifleman as running a trap line is to a PETA member. It took the sting out of the gun but it weighted as much as an F class rifle, not to good for packing in the mountains of northwest Montana.

I don't care who you are. That's funny!!!!

It just goes to show you how important weight and fit are in a rifle. My big bore experience is limited, but I've been kicked a heck of a lot harder by a .300 mag than anything else.

Royal27 · Dec 28, 2014

ActionBob said:
If I remember correctly my CZ 505 Gibbs is 10 pounds 5 ounces..... Without scope. The CZ has a mercury tube installed in the stock though. and it still unleashes one heck of a beating! But surprisingly (at least with iron sights) it fits me well and does not hurt my cheek or shoulder... but my back is stiff for a while after just 2 or 3 shots... I do have a terrible back though.

I don't see a problem in the field. I did not notice any kick from my 416 when using it on elephant and buffalo.

Unless I get a bad base of scope eye or banged forehead, but no issues with the 416 there either. I think the recoil tables show the Gibbs to be about 1.5 times as much as a 416 Rem Mag.

My back is fine and I have noticed this. If anything hurts it is my back. I've always attributed this to not stiffening up and going with the flow. It works for me and doesn't cause a flinch.
It is a proven scientific fact that guns don't have any recoil in Africa.

Heym 88 · Jan 17, 2015

Matt, I swear you have bad luck. Eventually your luck will change...mathematically it has too LOL. I'm still waiting for the result of your Searcy double.

matt85 · Jan 17, 2015

still no word on this gun either.

the first firearms manufacturer that provides a decent product with good customer service will drive all others out of business in less then 5 years.

-matt

Velo Dog · Jan 18, 2015

matt85 said:
still no word on this gun either.

the first firearms manufacturer that provides a decent product with good customer service will drive all others out of business in less then 5 years.

-matt

Westley Richards should be on top any day now?

matt85 · Jan 18, 2015

haha well a semi "affordable" price is also required. a starting price of £16,500 for their bolt action rifles will keep 99.9% of customers away.

im betting someone could produce a decent rifle for around $1000-$2000 with good customer service. problem is, it seems to be more profitable to produce garbage.

-matt

Velo Dog · Jan 19, 2015

matt85 said:
haha well a semi "affordable" price is also required. a starting price of £16,500 for their bolt action rifles will keep 99.9% of customers away.

im betting someone could produce a decent rifle for around $1000-$2000 with good customer service. problem is, it seems to be more profitable to produce garbage.

-matt

I knew you'd appreciate the humor in my WR comment.
And, who are these people that can afford a bolt action rifle for $30,000.US anyway?

Bullthrower338 · Jan 19, 2015

I got to fondle the WR "Big Game" at the DSC show and it is very nice at an almost reasonable price. But you could still have a helluva hunt for the price of one. My girlfriend asked how much some of the guns were that didn't have prices on them. I explained that it is like dining in a fine restaurant that the menu has no prices, if you really need to know how much it costs, you should eat elsewhere. It takes me weeks to get back to normal after being subjected to as many fine rifles as were there.

Bullthrower338 · Jan 19, 2015

I finally made my decision on the glass to sit atop my .505. I bought a 1-4 night force NXS with the horizontal line with a circled dot. It has a God's Plenty of eye relief and acquisition is very quick. Just ordered some three screw steel badger rings to sit on the Picatinny Rail. I am thinking that this set up will stand up to the punishment it will be subjected to.

matt85 · Jan 19, 2015

Bullthrower, my MRC 505 Gibbs was very nose heavy. is yours the same? have you added any weight to the stock?

Night Force makes some pretty spendy scopes, hopefully they can hold up to the recoil.

-matt

Bullthrower338 · Jan 19, 2015

matt85 said:
Bullthrower, my MRC 505 Gibbs was very nose heavy. is yours the same? have you added any weight to the stock?

Night Force makes some pretty spendy scopes, hopefully they can hold up to the recoil.

-matt

Matt,
My rifle feels barrel heavy, yet the balance point is directly under the locking lugs of the action. I think a little additional weight in the trunk might make it feel a little better though. I am pleased with the rifle thus far and have a lot of road ahead to determine if she's the one. I will get everything mounted and see how it feels dressed up. I own five other NF scopes and all have never let me down. They are heavy duty, all business scopes that I would not be afraid to use in any application. I have had a 5.5-22 NXS on a 50 BMG for years with no complaints. The etched reticle in the NF is a selling point to me in heavy guns as I've had several broken reticle issues in the past. My standard weight 338 RUM has frankly molested a Zeiss and a VX-3. It has a NXS on it now and so far not given up the ghost. I'm not trying to get sponsored by NF but really like their optics. Lol
Cheers,
Cody

matt85 · Jan 19, 2015

good to hear about Night Force holding up, now if only i could afford one. im running a VX-6 on my 416 RM and so far its held up great.

assuming i ever get my 505 Gibbs back in a useable condition then i may mount a small 1-4 on it. not sure what brand yet but i keep my eye out for something good. its possible i may mount a simple red dot scope like a aimpoint micro.

-matt

tarbe · Jan 19, 2015

Bullthrower338 said:
That stock was a turd and about as appealing to a rifleman as running a trap line is to a PETA member.

I love that line man! A classic in the making!

Bullthrower338 · Jan 19, 2015

matt85 said:
good to hear about Night Force holding up, now if only i could afford one. im running a VX-6 on my 416 RM and so far its held up great.

assuming i ever get my 505 Gibbs back in a useable condition then i may mount a small 1-4 on it. not sure what brand yet but i keep my eye out for something good. its possible i may mount a simple red dot scope like a aimpoint micro.

-matt

What power is your 6? I shot a Titan 6 with one on it the other day and I was impressed with the rifle and the glass. I am a huge Leupold fan also, actually most of my rifles have a gold ring on them. I bought a vortex scope a few weeks ago, it is also a 1-4 with a circle dot reticle. It has a pretty busy Tac style reticle , probably better suited to an AR but I liked the reticle and the price. It is their viper model, not top end, but the glass is quite impressive for around 400 frog skins. I will let ya know how it holds up on my 416 Rigby.

matt85 · Jan 19, 2015

my VX-6 is a 1-6x24 with an firedot circle reticle. its a perfect match my for Winchester M70 in 416 RM. with the scope mounted the balance is excellent and the weight is right where a 416 should be at 10.5 pounds.

the VX-6 does have some flaws, it doesnt have the longest eye relief and its very heavy. the weight wasnt a big issue because the M70 in 416 RM is rather light for the cartridge. the eye relief isnt a problem because the M70's stock is actually on the short side for me. however, my scope has already claimed a couple victims (scope eye) due to its short eye relief and the heavy recoil of the 416. my M70 is easily my favorite rifle at the moment!

-matt

matt85 · Mar 6, 2015

well ive finally heard something positive from MRC after sending them another email last week. they said they ended up having to build a new rifle and that it was just about done. so, i sent them a list of tests that i would perform on the rifle with the hope they perform them first.

here is hoping this story has some kind of a happy ending to it.

-matt

Royal27 · Mar 6, 2015

Hoping so Matt...

I still want to like those guys just because they are owned by a left hand shooter who makes left hand big bores at the same cost as righr handed models.

Montana Rifle Company DGR 505 Gibbs review

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