Montana 1999 Professional Hunter 505 Gibbs

[MA99]

Hello all!
I have recently been offered an opportunity to purchase a Montana Rifle Company 1999 Professional Hunter in 505 Gibbs at a ridiculously low price…I think..(like new rifle with a fixed 4x Leupold Scope and 10 boxes of ammo for 2400.00). Currently, 458 Lott is the highest caliber that I have gotten into and I will admit that I don’t have the breadth of knowledge of these rifles that I do of much smaller caliber rifles. I’m familiar (on paper) with the legendary Gibbs caliber however I don’t know anything about this model/make rifle. As I will be touching down in Africa and using it within the next two years I want to know if this is a good quality rifle. I can’t find a lot of literature on it anywhere and I don’t want to buy a lemon.
Thank you all in advance!

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

Hello all!
I have recently been offered an opportunity to purchase a Montana Rifle Company 1999 Professional Hunter in 505 Gibbs at a ridiculously low price…I think..(like new rifle with a fixed 4x Leupold Scope and 10 boxes of ammo for 2400.00). Currently, 458 Lott is the highest caliber that I have gotten into and I will admit that I don’t have the breadth of knowledge of these rifles that I do of much smaller caliber rifles. I’m familiar (on paper) with the legendary Gibbs caliber however I don’t know anything about this model/make rifle. As I will be touching down in Africa and using it within the next two years I want to know if this is a good quality rifle. I can’t find a lot of literature on it anywhere and I don’t want to buy a lemon.
Thank you all in advance!

If it’s in good shape I’d buy that in a heartbeat and try it out! Especially since you already shoot a Lott

 

[USMA84DAB]

You don't have to load the Gibbs to max charge weight. Load it to minimum to start with and work up. If you have fired a .458 Lott competently, then you can learn/develop the ability to use the .505.

 

[MA99]

I’ve been shooting the Lott for a few years now, I’m able to keep it within a two inch group off of sticks at 75-85 yards. Not gonna lie, I’m really excited about trying out a Gibbs even if it’s not at full whammy load to begin with.

 

[colorado]

Someone bought one and had a lot of feeding issues MRC took a very long time to straighten out. A couple of years later he told me their quality control and support had gotten much better. I think it's definitely a deal. I would ask here for a gunsmith who could work on it in case it has issues. I don't know one unfortunately. The big 500 bolt actions sometimes need a little TLC to get them to feed and extract perfectly, but they're worth it!

 

[Captain Munro]

For some reason, I really want an MRC Professional Hunter model. I am always late to the party for rifles like these and CZ-550's and Ruger RSM's....

 

[Bullthrower338]

I’ve got a MRC 505 Gibbs and not had a problem with it. That is a very good deal, if you don’t buy it hook me up and I will own two of them

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

That’s a lot of costly ammo included. You could come out money ahead if you don’t like it

 

[mdwest]

The ammo, scope, bases, and rings are worth $2K alone.. youre basically picking up a 505 Gibbs for $400...

Thats the deal of the century.. If you dont buy it, ignore @Bullthrower338 and send me the guys contact information.. I'll have payment sent over to him in less than a minute....

 

[sierraone]

Depending on the brand of factory ammo, the ammo itself can easily be worth that much. One year ago, I facilitated the sale of this rifle and $900 worth of ammo to a friend in New Orleans for this price and he has had no complaints.

 

[sierraone]

what @Bullthrower338 and @mdwest said.

 

[sierraone]

By the way OP, the ammo looks like 1960s era small Coke bottles.

 

[MA99]

I couldn’t handle it anymore, and pretty much within twelve hours of making this post I bought the rifle. It’s a shooter for sure…definitely a step up from my Lott but I’m glad to know the deal was as good as I thought it was.

 

[DrBob]

I couldn’t handle it anymore, and pretty much within twelve hours of making this post I bought the rifle. It’s a shooter for sure…definitely a step up from my Lott but I’m glad to know the deal was as good as I thought it was.

Now you have a classic!!!

 

[WillMFerguson]

Hello all!
I have recently been offered an opportunity to purchase a Montana Rifle Company 1999 Professional Hunter in 505 Gibbs at a ridiculously low price…I think..(like new rifle with a fixed 4x Leupold Scope and 10 boxes of ammo for 2400.00). Currently, 458 Lott is the highest caliber that I have gotten into and I will admit that I don’t have the breadth of knowledge of these rifles that I do of much smaller caliber rifles. I’m familiar (on paper) with the legendary Gibbs caliber however I don’t know anything about this model/make rifle. As I will be touching down in Africa and using it within the next two years I want to know if this is a good quality rifle. I can’t find a lot of literature on it anywhere and I don’t want to buy a lemon.
Thank you all in advance!

I regret every firearm I didn't buy, but I am an addict.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Absolutely fantastic. The .505 Gibbs is a long time personal favorite of mine. Especially with 600Gr bullets at 2150fps.

John Bolliger (the American custom rifle maker) told me that the Montana action is a little rough straight out of the box. But after showing the rifle to a competent gunsmith, it easily becomes a real treasure.

 

[Hunting Hitman]

As the proud owner and user of a custom 505 Gibbs…run don’t walk to that persons house and make the deal before they figure out what’s going on. Excellent caliber and absolutely devastating terminal performance on Dangerous Game. Cheers!

HH

 

[ActionBob]

Try it with 525 grain TSX bullets moving between 2300 and 2350 fps. You will be amazed at the balistics it will deliver at not bad recoil. Absolutely devastating on Buffalo or anything large that an expanding bullet makes sense on

I've taken Buffalo and giraffe with mine with that load. Rhino with the bronze flat point solid version.

 

[MA99]

I lucked upon some nosler safari as well as some old Jamison rounds (both 525 grains) and put in an order for some Norma PH 600 grain solids. I had been planning on taking the Lott to Africa with me next year but after the past couple of trips to the range, I am surprised at the accuracy and the actually manageable recoil so I may seriously consider taking the Gibbs instead. The action felt relatively smooth to me, cycling flawlessly with fast and slow cycles however the trigger did need some work so I dropped it off at my local gunsmith who is sorting that out for me now. How would I know if the rifle needed work on the magazine/bolt to cycle better?

 

[steve white]

Congrats!