GUNS Magazine Franchi Momentum Rifle Package

The Franchi Momentum Rifle Combo Package in .308 Win. offers quality and value in a ready-to-hunt package.

In 2013, my son purchased a vacation home and handed me the keys to a cabin on 39 acres in Tomkins County, in Central New York. "I’ll expect you to fill the freezer with venison," he said. "Enjoy the hunting."

I was thrilled because I was finally going to be able to hunt deer with a rifle. Having been brought up in New Jersey and living out on Long Island, I could only hunt deer with a shotgun. It was going to be a great opportunity to ultimately hunt deer with a rifle — or so I thought.

The rub was Tomkins County did not allow rifle hunting. I was very disappointed. However, I found a legal way around that law. Tomkins County allows deer hunting with a handgun so I purchased a Thompson/Center Encore .308-caliber pistol and harvested my first deer with it.

This year, Tomkins County is allowing rifle hunting for deer and bear as part of a two-year experiment. There had been a good deal of speculation this was going to happen sooner than later. I had my hopes set high in anticipation and purchased a Franchi .308-caliber Momentum bolt-action rifle and Burris Fullfield II 3-9x40mm Scope Combo Package early on. I had done a good deal of research prior to making this decision and was positively thrilled with the weapon's overall performance at the range.

The Franchi Momentum rifle is available in .243 Win., .270 Win., .308 Win., 6.5 Creedmoor, .350 Legend, .30-06 Springfield and .300 Win. Mag. I picked up the .308-caliber version as I believe it's the great all-around choice in a hunting rifle.

Franchi is under the umbrella of Benelli and celebrating its 152nd year. The Momentum is Franchi's first center-fire sporting/hunting rifle, so why buy something brand new? "Brand" is the key word here — Italian company Franchi is all about its reputation. I made my choice based on the company's history and was not in any way disappointed.

The horizontal bolt release sits just ahead of the rear cocking indicator.

The magazine floorplate release button is located at the bottom front of the trigger guard. It's not the best choice of locations but didn't prove to be a problem.

The Momentum bolt has a chrome-plated, robust, one-piece monolithic design with attractive spiral fluting to help reduce overall weight. There are three rounded steel lugs for a rock-solid lockup. The bolt release is a horizontal hinged latch located on the left rear side of the receiver.

Momentum's 60-degree bolt lift along with its short handle translates to a quick second or, if needed, third shot. There is no sloppiness during ejection and the action is fast and glassy smooth. The firing pin indicator is located at the rear of action, protruding when the rifle is cocked. The rifle has a two-position safety. The chamber can be unloaded with the safety on, a great feature in a hunting rifle.

The 22″ right-hand twist 1:11″-ratio free-floating light-contour barrel is made of cold-hammer-forged chrome molybdenum steel, a strong wear and corrosion steel. It sports a rich black/blue matte finish. The importance of a free-floating barrel is paramount to the rifle's accuracy.

Without getting into barrel harmonics and vibration, simply put, a free-floating barrel will vibrate at the same frequency consistently from shot-to-shot whereas a barrel touching any such as the forend will not. Such inconsistent vibration is what hurts accuracy.

My rifle absolutely loved Hornady's Custom Lite 125-grain SST (Super Shock Tip) ammo and happily gave up 0.60″ groups at 100 yards at an average velocity just over 2,400 fps. Sub-MOA accuracy in a "price-point" rifle package!

The Momentum's muzzle has a knurled cap protecting the 5/8-24 threaded muzzle for your favorite suppressor or brake. You can opt to purchase the rifle with or without the threaded cap — same price.

The rifle can be purchased alone or as part of the combo package with the previously mentioned Burris Fullfield II 3-9x 40mm scope with ballistic-plex reticle. As Burris has three such scopes, Franchi could have offered a less expensive plain-plex reticle, but the upgraded model makes long distance hold-over easier. Windage and elevation knobs click on industry-common 0.25 MOA adjustments.

The receiver employs a top-loading box magazine with a hinged floorplate. Floorplate, follower and spring are all metal, not plastic. The magazine release button is located within the lower forward section of the trigger guard and capacity is four rounds plus one in the pipe.

The single-stage Franchi Relia trigger is adjustable from 2 to 4 lbs. Out of the box, my rifle was set at 3.5 lbs., and proved to have a reliably crisp and clean break.

The black molded polymer synthetic stock is ergonomically designed and features molded textured grip panels in all key locations — the bottom rear section of the stock, along the back and sides of the butt pad, throughout the pistol grip, above the receiver and below and alongside the forearm. These key locations are important referencing your shooting positions — standing, kneeling, sitting, prone, bench shooting referencing sleds and shooting bags — so you’re covered nicely for both the field and range.

Franchi's Rubber TSA recoil pad gives a very comfortable 45–50% felt-recoil reduction. The magic is the gel-filled insert.

Franchi Momentum weighs 6 lbs., 10 oz. while scope weight is 16 oz., bringing the total package weight to 7 lbs., 10 oz. The Momentum's overall length is 42.3″ and there are recessed swivel attachment points fore and aft.

The hammer-forged light contour free-float barrel is key to the guaranteed sub-MOA accuracy. The clearance is easy to test and verify with a "George Washington gauge!"

Bob's Momentum really loved Hornady 125-grain American Whitetail rounds out of the box, giving 0.60" groups and living up to Franchi's accuracy guarantee.

The front end of the bolt shows the rounded locking lugs along with the extractor and ejection plunger.

. The traditional-style attached hinged metal floorplate means no dropped or lost magazines, something which proves to be the Achilles heel of many other current hunting rifle designs.

Construction within the polymer stock framework is serious. You have solid bedding points, molded-in reinforcing cross-members and a longitudinal aluminum stabilizing bar for rigidity. The bedding material, which secures the action, is a polymer steel glass bedding compound manufactured by Devcon, noted by gunsmiths as one of the very best materials for this type of construction.

The rifle can be purchased alone or as part of the combo package with the previously mentioned Burris Fullfield II 3-9x 40mm scope with ballistic-plex reticle. As Burris has three such scopes, Franchi could have offered a less expensive plain-plex reticle but the upgraded model makes long distance hold-over easier. Windage and elevation knobs click on industry-common 0.25 MOA adjustments.

The rifle's receiver is already drilled and tapped for Remington 700-style, two-piece mounts and bases. The Momentum Combo Pack I chose added the scope, 1″ steel Burris Zee Rings and Weaver-type bases. The Burris optics are crystal clear and rated to be water/weather resistant, fog proof and shockproof.

I elected to add aftermarket scope caps in order to protect the optics. I found a pair of Butler Creek flip-open caps measuring 1.51″ (38.5mm) for the rear cap and 1.76″ (44.7mm) for the front cap worked perfectly.

The cost of the rifle alone is $609, but you can add $120 for the scope, rings and mount package so you’re looking at an MSRP of $729. This is an approximate savings of $150 over purchasing them separately. Of course, street prices vary so shop around.

It's not a stretch to say the Momentum is aptly named and synonyms like monumental and momentous are fair game here. In fact, for the alliterative-minded, you might find yourself mumbling things like, "Fit, finish and function are fantastic in a Franchi." Whatever you end up calling the Franchi Momentum, it's a package of both high quality and great value.

FranchiUSA.com

Subscribe To GUNS Magazine

Purchase A PDF Download Of The GUNS Magazine January 2023 Issue Now!