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Is Christensen REALLY That Terrible?

M-61 said:
Never had a Savage that wasn’t accurate.
Some unbelievably so.
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Had one that was .010" larger at the muzzle than the breech. If you started a dead soft slug at the breech, it was practically no effort to push at mid-bore length and would literally fall out of the barrel if it was inclined toward the muzzle. Returned it to Savage. They said it shot within specs.

That was all I needed to know.

Never sent a target back with it.

I wonder why?

I despise Savage for this reason.

I never expected bug-holes. But 2 MOA? Ridiculous.

But they're sold in bulk at 'box stores' for cheap, so there's that.

Ridiculous describes the bolt lift also.
 
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If the $1700 is for rifle only, my choice is a Seekins PH2. I’ve seen them for $1650 at Scheels but price is a little higher as I did a quick search now. Their guaranteed accuracy is the best in the industry.

Second choice would be a Tikka. If you are thinking scope included in that price, it’s an easy choice and Tikka is the only choice. You’ll never regret a Tikka.

I’m not sure .270 win would be my choice though. Excellent cartridge no doubt but if your kid gets into reloading the components aren’t near as good as others. I think 308 or 7-08 would be my recommendation.

 
USMCsilver said:
I know there's a lot of hate in multiple circles towards Christensen. I've read lots of bad stuff (along with some of decent stuff) and I've kinda just chalked it up as people strongly dissing a company that they, for the most part, have zero first-hand knowledge.

I'll fess up. I own an MPR in 6.5 PRC. For me, it's great. It groups well, and is a "nice rifle" for my uses/purpose. Did I spend more than I should have on it? Dunno, as it was a pretty smokin' deal. But I'm not here to discuss that.

THE POINT OF THE THREAD: My kid turns 16 in December. He hunts, but doesn't care (at this age) for precision shooting. I have the opportunity to buy a new Ridgeline FFT (link to rifle) in .270 for $1,650. Is it worth that? I dunno. Could I build a "better" hunting rifle for $1,650 after tax, shipping, etc.? I kinda doubt it.

So, if you had a sub $1,700 budget, what would you suggest for a "nice" hunting rifle for a 16th birthday present? I'm not dead-set on any caliber. His present use is whitetail at 70-110yd and killed everything DRT with his youth model Mossberg .243. I'd not want to limit him too much, as this will be a rifle he'll hopefully keep for life. But I also don't think that he needs any boutique or magnum calibers, either.

The other rifle in the back of my head is a Bergara B-14 Wilderness in .308.

I looked through the classifieds, and nothing jumped out at me. What other "off the shelf" rifles should I consider?

Thanks very much!
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Get him something he can really lay the lead down with. That's what it's all about these days.

Danny
 
I have never owned a Christenson but have assisted maybe 8 or 10 club members with theirs. 50/50 on whether they even work or not. The good ones seem to be very good and the bad ones are a pain. A young shooter would probably be better off with a Ruger and avoid the possible frustration.
 
I bought a christensen mesa 6.5 prc about 4 years ago. I wanted another brand but they were all sold out. To me, not bad first impression for a light hunting rifle. Now at the time i had issues finding reloading components for it so i bought factory loads just in case i got drawn for a hunt. Off to the range i went. The accuracy was not good at this price point to me. I tried hornady 143's and 147's. This was when it was going for $60 a box if you could find it so this was not good. I found brass and bullets i wanted to use. Started handloading and could not get any load under 1 1/4 inch at 100 yards. I burned through a lot of things trying to find a load. About the 120 round mark, bam now its shooting very small groups. At 200 yards its 1/4 in 3 shots. Also it shows pressure when it shouldn't by published loads. My brass is very tight after resized, i had to grind down a shell holder for better sizing. None of this is an issue in a friends browning. Found a load with his 2nd trip out 15 rounds later. Fast forward 4 years, i found the rifle i originally wanted. Springfield 2020 waypoint. I found a load with in 25 rounds and checked it several times and still shooting the same. Its going with me on a deer hunt next week. While i want to like the christensen, i think it has a chamber issue and took way too long to break in the barrel. Id look at another brand first personally.
 
I've owned most brands of rifles in a multitude of configurations. Still own too many. I also own custom built rifles based on actions like Haverkamp, BAT, Borden, Solus and Remington. The custom built guns are most often dedicated F Class guns. My standards for any rifle in terms of both function and accuracy are very high. I've sent many rifles down the road because they did not meet my standards in one way or another. One of them that is a keeper is a Christensen Mesa in 6.5 PRC. The cheapest of the brand. The thing shoots 1/2 MOA to 3/4 MOA with that skinny contoured barrel. It cycles and functions flawlessly. Not the 1/4 MOA the comp guns will shoot but they are shooting custom developed ammo in 30+ inch 1.25 straight barrels. Most of the people I see bad mouthing the Christensen brand have never actually owned one. They are relaying stories other have told them. I want to meet these people. Do they even know how to adjust their scope let alone how to shoot small groups? Now I admit that I have heard of issues with the carbon fiber wrapped barrels from people I do respect. I would not buy a rifle with a carbon barrel if competition level accuracy was my goal even though I'm sure there are carbon wrapped barrels that can shoot at that level. I would however consider a hunting rifle with a carbon fiber barrel if I knew it would shoot at least 1 MOA.
 
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