Weighing just a bit more than 61⁄2 pounds, the Ridgeline is a trim rifle that improves upon a traditional design by utilizing advanced materials and manufacturing processes.

 

      Although Devin Antonovich and Jeff Sipe are the current owners of Montana Rifle Co., it was the latter’s father—Keith Sipe—who started the business in 1990, but not as the company is known today. Like many entrepreneurs in the firearm industry, Keith Sipe was adept at gunsmithing, and it was his expertise in fixing sporting arms that led to the founding of the Montana Rifle Co. Sipe quickly expanded his business to include barrel manufacturing, which eventually evolved to include riflemaking as well. But with Mauser-type actions—of sufficient quality and reasonable price—dwindling, Sipe set about to create his own, and in 1999 established the Montana Rifle Co. to produce his controlled-round-feed action, the M1999. Today, the company offers a line of complete rifles, in addition to its well-regarded action.

The Ridgeline’s M1999 action will probably seem familiar, since it combines features on the M98 Mauser and Winchester Model 70.

      Although much fanfare is given to the firm’s beautiful, wood-stocked rifles, the High Country Series Rifles—Ridgeline, Timberline, Alpine, Summit, Summit Youth and Summit Alaskan—also deserve attention. Of particular interest, at least with regard to this review, is the Ridgeline. The Ridgeline was designed from the ground up as a lightweight, yet accurate rifle that would withstand the harshest conditions.

Manufactured by an EDM process to tolerances of .00003 inch, the Ridgeline’s fully adjustable trigger is also reminiscent of the Model 70.

      Its stock, which is hand-laid of carbon fiber and Kevlar-reinforced, making it lightweight, yet strong, is manufactured by Lone Wolf Riflestocks of Columbia Falls, MT. It is pillar- and glass-bedded along the entire action length in-house per Lone Wolf’s materials and instructions. Further stiffening the stock is the absence of a cutout for a floorplate—the Ridgeline has an internal magazine. The stock on the test rifle weighed a scant 1 pound, 6.8 ounces, and when I topped it with a Leupold VX-III 3.5-10x40 mm scope, the rifle weighed 7 pounds, 11.4 ounces.
      With its rough texture, the Ridgeline’s stock requires no checkering to aid purchase. Capping the buttstock is a 7⁄8-inch-thick rubber Pachmayr recoil pad, which is set apart from the stock by a black, 3⁄16-inch-thick spacer. Although the Ridgeline’s stock is the Sage Tan color, the Montana Rifle Co. Custom Shop can produce virtually any color stock.

The carbon-fiber, Kevlar-reinforced stock securely cradles the barreled action thanks to pillar and glass bedding.

      The Ridgeline’s investment-cast receiver—cast by Pine Tree Castings, a Ruger-owned company—is of stainless steel, as are all the rifle’s other metal components, save the trigger guard, which is aluminum. The entire barreled action has a black Teflon coating applied by Falcon Gun Finishing.
      The integral recoil lug measures 5⁄16 inch thick and juts downward 7⁄16 inch. The receiver ring has gas ports. Interestingly, a fence around the bolt-release is cast integrally with the receiver, and the release itself is grooved to aid purchase.
      The Ridgeline features the firm’s Mauser 98-style M1999 controlled-round-feed action, which is available in right- or left-hand configurations. The one-piece bolt has dual-opposed locking lugs, a Mauser-style flange and a claw extractor, the latter of which works in unison with a spring-loaded, blade-type ejector for reliable functioning. A Winchester Model 70-style three-position wing safety is on the shroud. The Ridgeline utilizes a dovetailed lug and raceway as an anti-bind feature.
      According to Sipe, “The Ridgeline’s M1999 action incorporates the Mauser 98-style inner collar ring that includes an extractor cut. This increases the overall strength of the action but also allows for the elimination of extractor cuts and cone breeching within the barrel.” Smartly, the Ridgeline’s scope-base mounting hole spacing mimics that of the Model 70, thereby easing base and ring selection.

The Ridgeline’s receiver bottom is flat, which helps prevent torque from harming accuracy.

      The 24-inch match-grade, free-floated barrel on the test rifle measured 0.605 inch thick at the muzzle, 1.201 inch at the receiver and ended in a recessed, target-style muzzle crown. The company offers lighter and heavier profile barrels. The test rifle, chambered in .270 Win., featured 1:10-inch-twist, RH, six-groove rifling, but the company offers rates of twist based on the customer’s bullet-weight preferences. The company currently offers more than 80 chamberings—from .220 Swift to .458 Lott—and if it doesn’t have a reamer for the particular cartridge you want, it will get one.
      The Ridgeline’s trigger and sear assemblies are manufactured using an EDM process, which maintains tolerances to within .00003 inch. The Ridgeline’s Model 70-style fully adjustable trigger assembly also accommodates aftermarket trigger assemblies designed for the Model 70. The test rifle’s trigger broke at 2 pounds, 8 ounces of pull with significant creep.

The one-piece bolt has dual-opposed locking lugs and a Mauser-style flange and claw extractor.

      At the range, the Ridgeline performed in line with my expectations. The rifle proved accurate and, just as importantly, reliable. Of the three loads tested, the most accurate proved to be Remington’s 140-grain Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded, producing five consecutive, five-shot groups averaging 1.23 inch at 100 yards from a Caldwell Lead Sled DFT. Although the light-contour barrel heated—extensively, at times—during testing I noted no vertical stringing or fliers.
      The hunter demanding the best of the Mauser 98 and the Winchester Model 70, along with many updated and enhanced features, in a lightweight, yet accurate, rifle capable of withstanding the worst Mother Nature can dish out, will find the Montana Rifle Co. Ridgeline a viable choice.
      But, as is often the case with custom firearms, it’ll cost you.

—Aaron Carter

 

Shooting Results

Load	Velocity	Energy	Smallest	Largest	Average
140-grain Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded	3,009	2,814	.75	1.43	1.23
Measured average muzzle velocity for 10 rounds from a 24-inch barrel. Velocities measured at 15 feet with an Oehler Model 43 chronograph. Range temperature 64 degrees Fahrenheit. Humidity 66 percent. Accuracy for five consecutive, five-shot groups at 100 yards from a Caldwell Lead Sled DFT.