Montana Rifle Company, makers of premium custom rifles for 25 years, has closed amid efforts to financially restructure.

Parent company Montana Outdoor Group, a private investor group, announced the immediate closure on its website. The site only includes the announcement, a phone number and email. No other links are available.

Here is the announcement:

Montana Outdoor Group, a private investor group, acquired Montana Rifle Company in early 2019, has announced its immediate closure pending fiscal restructuring.

“While sales of our popular calibers have been outstanding, production levels have not risen to a profitable lever to continue, without additional investments,” CEO Calvin Bontrager explained. “New equipment would be required to reach service (levels) demanded by our dealers and conservation groups.”

Montana Rifle has been producing custom-grade rifles for nearly 25-years and was awarded “NRA’s Gun of the Year” in 2016 and “NRA’s Gun of the Year” in 2018.

Montana Rifle has also produced limited editions for California Waterfowl, SCI, RMEF, and many other conservation organizations.

“With sales of the popular M1999 control feed actions nearly doubling in 2019, Montana Outdoor Group is actively searching for restructuring opportunities,” Bontrager said.

For updates on Montana Rifle Company, please visit www.montanarifleco.com/developments

Montana Outdoor Group's acquisition of Montana Rifle Company was completed in July 2019, according to then CEO Ron Petty. He said then changes were made to update the facility and increase production, including new state-of-the-art CNC machines, and several new key personnel have made a very positive impact on production and new products. Petty said its Montana Custom Barrel Division was "actively producing barrel blanks for key industry partners."

Montana Rifle Company was founded by Brian Sipe and produced custom actions featuring the Mauser controlled feed extractor. The company produced actions and barreled actions in a wide range of calibers.