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Montana Rifleman Co barrels?

stevecrea
Does anyone know who makes Montana Rifleman's barrels?

And, has anyone had experience with them and could comment about their accuracy potential, tolerances, specifications, etc?

Thank you for any input.
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Comments

6 comments

Date Votes
  • nononsense
    stevecrea,

    Montana Rifleman is the barrel maker.

    They are typical of the button rifled barrels in that they are not terrible like some manufacturers I could mention but we don't use them for competition either. For general hunting and shooting they are quite good and reasonably priced for the most part. I put them in the same category as Pac-Nor.

    Best.
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  • 5mmgunguy
    nononsense you would put them on par with a match pac-nor barrel?
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  • nononsense
    5mmgunguy,

    "...you would put them on par with a match pac-nor barrel?"

    That's a good question.

    The term 'Match' with relevance to better quality and higher potential for accuracy is often misused by companies who have no intention of producing high quality barrel. They used the term to delude the public. This often dilutes the use of the term 'Match' when it really should mean that the barrels is superior. But since there are no standards that the industry has to adhere to, we can't enforce any parameters.

    Now, to answer the questions:

    I lump several companies into one category of middle of the road. They have nothing that really separates them from all the others and they all produce the same or similar quality barrels. Pac-Nor and Montana Rifleman sit in that category together. None of their barrels are consistently superior to the few that are acknowledged as being the best; Bartlein, Krieger, etc.

    Best.
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  • stevecrea
    Now that we have broached this subject, does Wilson make Cooper's barrels? And if so, where does Wilson rank?
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  • nononsense
    stevecrea,

    I rank Wilson somewhere below the Pac-Nors and MR simply because they are a major mass production factory that works to hit the middle of the curve. They don't try to be the very best nor are they willing to settle for the low end. They want the broad market as opposed to the niche.

    I've had varying success with Wilson barrels as I would expect. A few have been good barrels while most are just average no matter what I try.

    I don't remember about Cooper but Wilson has several commercial contracts to supply barrels to gunmakers. If it is Wilson then Cooper is doing a superb job of putting them on and making them shoot.

    Best.
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  • stevecrea
    This may be incorrect and merely hearsay, but I heard that Cooper had been taken over by one of its major suppliers after Dan Cooper contributed significant $$$ to Obama, which precipitated many customers and distributors to cancel orders. Again, I do not know if this is a mere nasty rumor, or not, but I have heard this story several times from usually reliable sources.

    Anyway, I recall that the supplier was Wilson. But if anyone on the forum can confirm or disaffirm this, I would appreciate it.

    I, like you, admire the excellent product that Cooper Firearms is making. A number of Coopers are on my wishlist, but at starting prices of around $1500, and the present state of the economy and the political environment, it may take awhile to fill my wishlist.
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