Christensen Mesa FFT off to a bad start.

[Nicaburns]

Well, I wanted to snag a second 6.5 PRC but favored a shorter barrel this time. The Christensen Mesa FFT seemed perfect at 5.5# with a 20” barrel.
I picked it up from my FFL on Saturday and he came out with me to go through break in. It took about 20 patches to get them to not turn blue from copper before I fired the first shot which was surprising. We stopped short of the 50 suggested rounds at about 30 rounds because bolt lift was increasingly difficult but we didn’t note pressure signs on the Norma bondstrike factory ammo.
I took it home and gave it a good cleaning and inspected the bore really well and it seemed to cycle ok on fired cases so I went back out and fired a round of Hornady ELDX. That case caused hard bolt lift and minor pressure signs so I fired one more shot. The bolt required a ton of force to lift and the case had blown the primer out entirely and had huge pressure marks on the rim.
I sent in a warranty claim and hope to get things taken care of in good order. (Another rokslider had a similar problem and said they took care of him and had the rifle back in a month.)
I will update thread on how customer service unfolds.

 

[voltage]

Why do people continue to buy from Christensen?

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Why do people continue to buy from Christensen?

especially for any cartridge that ends in "PRC" these reports have been rampant for years.

 

[Nicaburns]

well... they responded pretty quickly and sent out an RMA and prepaid shipping label... fingers crossed

 

[IdahoBeav]

Why do people continue to buy from Christensen?

Because no other manufacturer offers a plain M-700 clone.

 

[LIWolverine]

Why do people continue to buy from Christensen?

I’ve had two, a Traverse and Ridgeline. Not a bad thing to say about either one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Nicaburns]

Well, after having my rifle a month, CA responded and said it was “carbon buildup” and that they “polished the chamber” and were going to send it back. I called BS since I had the rifle less than 24 hours and not much more than a box of ammo through it including cleaning. They agreed to give it to the gunsmith again prior to determining that it was “fixed.”
I can’t believe any rifle company would state that the reason their rifle is blowing primers and locking the bolt down is “carbon buildup”!

 

[Nicaburns]

Well, they stand by their “it was carbon ring in the barrel” explanation along with stating twice that “hornady makes inferior ammo” nonsense… we will see how it shoots when it returns

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

Well, they stand by their “it was carbon ring in the barrel” explanation along with stating twice that “hornady makes inferior ammo” nonsense… we will see how it shoots when it returns

I had the same issue with the same cartridge. They had it back to me in 2 weeks with a brand new barrel. Hope it works out for you…. doesn’t sound promising.

 

[Nicaburns]

I had the same issue with the same cartridge. They had it back to me in 2 weeks with a brand new barrel. Hope it works out for you…. doesn’t sound promising.

I’ve heard that from a few folks… I even reminded them of the Backfire and Ron Spomer recently videos and how their reputation is failing when they gave me the carbon ring garbage. They have had it five weeks… Glad I wasn’t counting on this for the upcoming season

 

[hiker270]

I had the same thing happen with my Christensen FFT 7 PRC. Hornady 175 gr ELD-X. was the ammo. Turns out it was the Hornady ammo. Anything in Federal or my reloads were fine. The rifle turned out to be a tack driver. Couldn't be happier.

 

[Nicaburns]

My last email to them:

 

[ResearchinStuff]

polishing the chamber, if they opened it up a bit, might actually solve the problem. CA seems to use reamers too long, creating lots of issues with PRC family chambers being cut too small.

 

[Nicaburns]

polishing the chamber, if they opened it up a bit, might actually solve the problem. CA seems to use reamers too long, creating lots of issues with PRC family chambers being cut too small.

Consider my fingers crossed

 

[Fartrell Cluggins]

Why do people continue to buy from Christensen?

Same reason they continue to buy Ruger and Smith and Wesson.

 

[Nicaburns]

Well, I gotta say, I don’t know what they actually did but the barrel I got back is doing well! No signs of over pressure and it seems to like the Norma Bondstrike!

 

[rustynail27]

Lots of good info

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[R7RMag]

Why do people continue to buy from Christensen?

My personal reason was they seem to be the only manufacturer that offers rifles that aren’t cheap/ugly looking, gaudy af and have an fugly muzzle brake or threaded barrel on the end. Mine does have a muzzle brake, but it is seamless and can get a seamless thread protector if I want to take it off. Unfortunately, I was tempted to toss it in a fire pit after putting a good few hundred dollars worth of different ammo through it, trying to find anything that grouped worth a damn. Finally tried the Norma bondstrike and am very pleased with those results, so hopefully they don’t go discontinuing that load any time soon

 

[hunting1]

Mine is packed and ready to ship back so I hope my results are the same. They were extremely helpful on the phone but none the less a PIA for a $1500 rifle that won't group.

 

[Nicaburns]

Mine is packed and ready to ship back so I hope my results are the same. They were extremely helpful on the phone but none the less a PIA for a $1500 rifle that won't group.

Agreed… the only way anyone would want to buy one is with the knowledge that it is a roll of the dice… they did a great job making mine right but it should have been right out of the box. Seems it would be cheaper for them to test group each rifle before it goes out than repair as many of these as it appears they do. Plus, they wouldn’t have to do reputation damage control if they went out the door right.