My considerable experience with Franchi Momentum rifles includes testing an early prototype while traipsing through a part of Canada that was crawling with grizzlies and wolves. The abundance of predators likely explained why we couldn’t find any elk on that hunt, but toting an accurate prototype Momentum, chambered in 30-06 Spring, gave me a bit of comfort while wondering if something hairy and toothy might come my way.
Franchi’s Momentum Elite – Out of the Box Performance
Since then, I’ve tested and hunted with a number of Franchi Momentum rifles, including the original Momentum in a couple of different chamberings, the Momentum Elite Varmint rifle, and the Momentum All Terrain Elite rifle. I have always found that these feature-rich rifles, with their hint of Italian styling, provide good value for their lower-mid-tier price.
The new Franchi Momentum Carbine Elite rifle, with an MSRP of $1,249.00, is no exception. This rifle employs a more compact, ergonomic stock and a shorter barrel, making it handier for hunting from a box blind or tree stand, or when still hunting through brush and timber. As you would expect with a modern, carbine-sized rifle, barrels are threaded (5/8×24) to accept suppressors or muzzle brakes. My test rifle, chambered in 308 Win, came with a multi-port muzzle brake installed as well as a threaded muzzle protector.
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Compact and Handy Design
While the carbine is more compact and fast-handling, it isn’t exactly an ultralight mountain gun. Weight ranges from 6.9-7.2 pounds, depending on chambering. That may be a bit more than you want to carry up steep mountains, but it’s fine for stable shooting in most any other situation.
The carbine is initially chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor with a 20-inch barrel, and 308 Win and 350 Legend with 18-inch barrels. The cold-hammer-forged, light-contour, chrome-moly barrels are free-floated to enhance accuracy, and are protected with a Cobalt Cerakote finish that’s also applied to the receiver and bolt handle.
A Slick-Cycling Action
The gun’s tubular action features a slick-cycling, three-lug bolt that’s spiral fluted and chrome plated. The full-diameter bolt has a short, 60-degree throw that provides ample clearance for mounting scopes. One notable aspect of this design is that the bottom bolt lug sits at the 6 o’clock position, where it can consistently and reliably guide the top round in the magazine into the chamber.
A two-position safety does not lock the bolt down when engaged. You may not prefer that if you spend a lot of time pushing through heavy brush, which can snag the bolt handle and open the action if enough force is applied. For most hunters exercising sufficient caution, this is not an issue.
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Bedding is a bit different with this action. Instead of an action lug that engages with a recess in the stock, the Momentum uses recoil lugs embedded in the polymer stock that engage with slots cut into the receiver. It’s a non-traditional bedding method, but it doesn’t seem to cause any issues. Atop the receiver, you’ll find a pre-installed section of Picatinny rail for mounting optics.
Excellent Trigger
The rifle is equipped with Franchi’s single-stage Relia trigger, which is adjustable within a range of 2-4 pounds. The one on my test rifle seemed to be even better than the trigger I last tested on a Momentum rifle, which had just a hint of creep. This one didn’t, and it broke crisply and cleanly at an average pull weight of 2 lbs., 12 oz. Were the rifle mine, I would lighten the trigger pull slightly, but overall, this is an excellent trigger.
My 308 Win-chambered test rifle came with two detachable polymer magazines. A three-round magazine sits nearly flush with the bottom of the stock, while an 8-round magazine extends about three inches below the stock when seated. For hunting, I would stick with the three-round magazine because it’s one less thing to snag on brush, but the eight-round magazine would come in handy when using the gun in a scout rifle role or when stacking up hogs. The magazine release is protected within the trigger guard.
Functionally, the rifle was a joy to shoot. The spiral-fluted bolt is one of the smoothest-cycling bolts you’ll find on a factory rifle. The magazines are easy to load. I liked the ergonomics, and I experienced no issues with feeding, extraction, and ejection.
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A Traditional Yet Modernized Stock
The rifle’s stylized sporter stock differs significantly from stocks on many rifles in this price category. It has mostly straight, traditional lines, but is somewhat stylized and modernized.
The forend has a wide, flattened bottom to help achieve a solid rest. It fills the hand, but has scalloped contours for fingers of the supporting hand, with ample stippling in the right places.
There are flush-fitting M-Lok attachment points on the bottom of the forend for mounting accessories. For sling mounting, there are two QD swivel cups positioned fore and aft on the bottom of the stock. The rifle comes with a substantial TSA recoil pad, but Franchi sells additional recoil pads that allow you to adjust the length of pull. The pistol grip is semi-vertical, which aids in shooting prone. The stock wears an attractive Franchi Terra camo finish, complemented by a black magazine well, pistol grip, cheek riser, and recoil pad.
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Range Results
The rifle comes with a MOA-accuracy guarantee with the use of premium factory ammunition, but I did not test it with premium ammo. Since this is a hunting rifle, I chose to use a commonly available 308 Win. hunting ammo to see how well the rifle might shoot for an average hunter using mostly average, or non-premium, ammunition.
The first order of business was to see what kind of bullet velocities the carbine delivered out of its shorter, 18-inch barrel. As expected, there was a bit of drop-off from factory-stated numbers for each of the five tested loads, but it wasn’t enough to make much difference in bullet effectiveness at normal hunting distances. Variations ranged from 95 fps to 128 fps, slower than the factory-stated numbers.
Optic
For accuracy testing, I mounted a Zeiss Conquest V4 6-24×50 scope to squeeze maximum accuracy out of the gun. That’s a bit of overkill on a carbine. For hunting, I would likely mount a more compact and lighter scope to keep weight down.
Testing consisted of shooting three three-shot groups with each load. Notably, I did not subject the rifle to a break-in process, clean it during testing, or allow the barrel to completely cool between shot strings. I wanted to see how the rifle performed under adverse, rather than ideal, conditions.
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A Preference for Lighter Bullets
Accuracy results were mixed, with the rifle showing a clear preference for bullets on the lighter end of the 308 Win spectrum. The best overall performance was turned in by Hornady’s American Whitetail 150-gr. InterLock load, which printed 0.75-inch average groups and a 0.59-inch best group. (This happens to be one of my favorite 308 Win hunting loads — I once used it to kill two record-book-class black bears 30 minutes apart). Federal’s 150-grain NonTypical Whitetail load turned in a slightly tighter best group of 0.49 inches and average groups measuring 1.10 inches. Both loads will definitely get the job done.
As noted, however, heavier bullets in other tested loads did not perform as well. The best of the heavier-bullet batch was the Barnes Vor-Tx 168-grain TTSX load, which printed 1.42-inch average groups. That’s perfectly fine for most hunting applications, but two other tested loads with 165-grain bullets printed average groups measuring more than two inches. Interestingly, those two loads were also the hottest tested, with muzzle velocities topping 2,700 fps.
Heavier Load Drop Off
The accuracy drop-off with two of the heavier loads would make me hesitant to use them on game except at a relatively modest range. Mind you, this rifle is a sample of one, and others of the same model may shoot those specific loads and bullets better than my test rifle did. I have subsequently seen reports by others that this rifle can be quite sensitive when shooting from the bench, delivering significantly better accuracy if the forend is rested close to the action versus in the middle of the forend.
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Franchi’s Momentum Elite Carbine
In any event, the rifle performed great with the lighter 150-grain loads. With ammo it likes, the Franchi Momentum Elite Carbine is a nearly perfect fast-handling gun for whitetails, black bears, hogs, and similar-sized game, and I wouldn’t hesitate to hunt with it.
For more information, visit Franchi.
Franchi Momentum Elite Carbine Specifications
| Action: | Bolt action |
| Caliber: | 308 Win, as tested |
| Weight: | 7 pounds |
| Barrel Length: | 18-inch |
| Barrel Material: | Chrome-moly steel |
| Barrel Twist Rate: | 1:11 |
| Muzzle Thread: | 5/8×24 |
| Finish: | Cobalt Cerakote |
| Magazine/Capacity: | Detachable, 3+1 and 8+1 rounds |
| Trigger: | Single Stage |
| Trigger Pull Weight: | 2 lbs., 12 oz. tested |
| Stock: | Injection molded, Terra camo finish |
| Length of Pull: | 14 inches |
| Overall Length: | 40.5 inches |
| Free-floated Barrel: | Yes |
| Guaranteed Sub-MOA Accuracy: | Yes (3-shot group at 100 yards) |
| MSRP: | $1,249.00 |
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Performance
| Ammunition | Avg. Group Size (3 shots, 100 yards) | Best Group | Avg. Velocity |
| Barnes Vor-Tx 168-gr. TTSX | 1.42 | 1.36 | 2,576 |
| Hornady American Whitetail 150-gr. IL | 0.75 | 0.59 | 2,695 |
| Federal Non-Typical Whitetail 150-gr. SP | 1.10 | 0.49 | 2,692 |
| Nosler Whitetail Country 165-gr. SP | 2.15 | 1.96 | 2,705 |
| Hornady Superformance 165-gr. SST | 2.22 | 2.13 | 2,735 |
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