Montana Rifleman

2

.25shooter

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Does anyone of you have any experience with barrels from Montana Rifleman ?

I do not intend to use it for Benchrest, rather benchrest, varmint shooting and informal target shooting in general.

Are they good enough for that application ?
 
Montana Rifleman Barrels

Years ago I had them fit and chamber one of their barrels on a Ruger #1 in .243 with a 12 twist barrel. That rifle shot great. I used to have a target with 3 consecutive 100 Yd. groups ranging from .250 to .375. It cleaned up easily and I was totally satisfied with it. One of my hunting and shooting friends still has it and he tells me that it still shoots great. It was my favorite groundhog rifle.

Scott Roeder
 
Montana Rifleman barrel

I just got one of the barrels I bought from MR installed and chambered in 308 Win. I bought three of the barrels and will not even pay to have the other two installed as the accuracy of the 308 is so poor. I contacted Shane at Montana Rifleman and here is part of his response.

"It seems to me that you are expecting an awful lot out of a "standard hunting style barrel". While our barrels usually shoot very well, we have never guaranteed any groupings, or toted ourselves as being a "benchrest barrel" company. I think that it is a little unfair to try to compare a $70.00 hunting style barrel, to a $600.00 Lilja benchrest shooting barrel. As with any barrel company, some barrels they produce are going to shoot better than others.

I'm sorry that this barrel isn't giving you competitive shooting groups. But I do think that your asking an awful lot out of this barrel."
 
Not expecting much from your own product and letting customers know is amazing. I do not another barrel manufacture that would not try to get people think they could get 1 MOA out of their barrels.

On the other hand the guy is honest because expecting better than 1 MOA from the barrel is a huge stretch.

wade
 
I think basically what he is saying is.....'you get what you pay for'!
You pay for a $70 barrel and you get $70 worth of accuracy.
So if he is selling a batch of barrels for $50 then I wouldn't expect more than $50 worth of accuracy.
Ted
 
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I guess that makes the cost of chambering/fitting kinda moot doesn't it. I want all the accuracy I can get out of all my barrels. I don't understand/excuse the good enough for hunting bit.
 
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Times have changed..

At least when Herters sold you a $50.00 and later $70.00 hand lapped barrel they would take them back, if they did not shoot better than 1.moa.

I have been buying custom barrels for over 40 years. I have seen some real good ones and some not so good ones.

It takes good workmanship and quality controls to make superior barrels.

Nat Lambeth
 
Rustystud said:
It takes good workmanship and quality controls to make superior barrels.

Nat Lambeth
Click to expand...

Nat is right about workmanship and quality control. But all of that stuff takes time and it costs money to train and employ guys to do those things.
And that makes the price go up.

Shilen sells a good select match grade barrel about as cheap as you can get them and right now they are about 236.40 at Bruno's and for a few bucks less you can get a match grade chromoloy barrel.
When you pay for cut rate mass production you get cut rate quality.
If a guy made and sold barrels for $50 bucks apiece and then replaced 1 out of 10 of them because they only shot 2 moa he wouldn't be in buiseness long.

I understand exactly what he is saying. At those prices he can't quarantee accuracy. Only a very loose set of dimensions and material specifications.
If a guy wanted me to build him a kitchen cabinet for $50 I wouldn't be able to use very good materials or take the time to cut and fit the pieces in a precise manner or give it much of a finish.

You get what you pay for. And unfortunatly for Wade in his experience it he didn't pay for very much.
ted
 
The following material is copied from Montana Rifleman's website:

The Montana Rifleman only makes one grade of barrels. This is Premium Grade. All of our barrels are completely hand-lapped to assure that you only receive the best quality.

BARREL PRICE LIST
Prices Effective January 1, 2009
Each and every barrel is Hand-Lapped for quality!

Chrome Moly Blanks

Cost
Chrome Moly 1.25" x 28" Blank
Base Price
$195.00

Chrome Moly 1.25" x 33" Blank
Base Price
$250.00

Standard Contour, 2 thru 8, Polished, Up to 26" Finished
Add
$20.00

Standard Contour, 2 thru 8, Polished, Up to 31" Finished
Add
$35.00

50 BMG, 1.75" x 36" Blank
Base Price
$275.00
50 BMG, Standard 1.7" x 1.25" x 33", Polished
Add
$60.00

Stainless Steel Blanks

Cost
Stainless Steel 1.25" x 28" Blank
Base Price
$250.00

Stainless Steel 1.25" x 33" Blank
Base Price
$295.00

Standard Contour, 2 thru 8, Polished, Up to 26" Finished
Add
$25.00

Standard Contour, 2 thru 8, Polished, Up to 31" Finished
Add
$40.00

50 BMG, 1.75" x 36" Blank
Base Price
$340.00

50 BMG, Standard 1.7" x 1.25" x 33", Polished
Add
$60.00
Click to expand...
If they're selling something other than first-quality, that should have been made clear. Also, considering the stated product line, I have to wonder if they had acquired someone else's stock and sold it under their own label. I don't think the whole story has been told.
 
I was also told the barrels were first quality otherwise I would not have made the purchase. I understand you get what you pay for, I figured I would make a gamble and maybe get a barrel goo enough for practice to save my F-class barrels some wear.
 
Hey Lilja....

wadebrown said:
I think that it is a little unfair to try to compare a $70.00 hunting style barrel, to a $600.00 Lilja benchrest shooting barrel.
I'm sorry that this barrel isn't giving you competitive shooting groups. But I do think that your asking an awful lot out of this barrel.[/I]"
Click to expand...

Anyone got one of those "$600" Lilja barrels?
 
wadebrown said:
I was also told the barrels were first quality otherwise I would not have made the purchase. I understand you get what you pay for, I figured I would make a gamble and maybe get a barrel goo enough for practice to save my F-class barrels some wear.
Click to expand...


After reading there webpost I can see why you were expecting more.
 
I ordered a few of theis barrels that they had on sale for $50.
On the usually waterprove assumption that if something looks to good to be true it usually is, I did not expect those barrels to match the proven benchrest barrels like Hart, Shilen, Kriger etc. In my opinion that would be expecting to much. However reding what they say on their web I would expect them to be of a decent quality, that is good enough for 1/2 MOA varmint rifle at least. Well I guess I will find out for my self soon as they have sent them to me. I will either have a few decent barrels or a few reasonably good tomato stakes.
 
Even the top barrel makers send out a dog once in a while. There are also a lot of little details in fitting that can make or break a good tube. Not to mention all the other things (bedding, action, rest, loads, mounts, scope, etc. etc. that can keep a rifle from shooting.

My good experience from Montana Rifleman was only one barrel and years ago, but I hate to see any barrel maker bashed on the basis of one single barrel which may or may not be a dog. I would like to hear how things work out, 25 shooter. Hopefully your results will be positive.

Scott Roeder
 
Good for the dollars

i recently got a few of the "discount" priced Montana stainless barrels.

So far I have only chambered one, a 257 14 twist #6 contour. After break in and some lap work on the bore it will agg under 3/8" and some times under 1/4". It is chambered as a 25 BR.

The barrel is not as straight as I like but for the money it groups quite good. I feel when I get the load right it will agg under 0.2. Not bad for a cheap barrel.
 
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