Issue with Christensen arms

[ehuffaker]

I am having an issue with my Christensen Mesa FFT 7mm rem mag. I have had this rifle for about 9 months now. I broke the barrel in following the instructions that Christensen has on their website. After breaking the barrel in I started shooting the Hornady ELD-X 162g to sight my gun in. I have not been able to get a group at 200 yds. Ive heard that Christensen may be on the downhill and that their quality isnt what it used to be.

Has anyone else had this issue or have any ideas on what is going on?

 

[Raghornklr]

Have you tried any other ammo? Gun might not like the eld

 

[ehuffaker]

Have you tried any other ammo? Gun might not like the eld

I have not tried other ammo yet. That is the next thing to try. Do you have any ammo that you would suggest?

 

[IdahoBeav]

Yes, this is common. It seems about half of CA rifles have to be sent to the factory to be made right. Reach out to CA, and they will send you a shipping label. You will have to pay the FFL transfer fees, though. Given's CA's reputation for poor QC/QA, they should supply a reusable plastic shipping box with every new rifle they sell.

 

[Amos Moses]

My 300wm ridgeline is picky. Couldn’t get a decent group with nosler trophy grade ABs. Switched to TTSX and they shoot better than I can. Try a few different options.

 

[Raghornklr]

I have not tried other ammo yet. That is the next thing to try. Do you have any ammo that you would suggest?

155 terminal ascent, 168 Berger, 160 AB depends on what construction you want for a bullet.

 

[Jack321]

Lots of rifles are picky about ammo, even the higher end ones.

Almost all of my rifles shoot different bullets.

Like Amos Moses says, find one that you like as construction and try it in different grains.

And if that doesn't work, keep trying til you find "the one."

Bonded bullets (like Noslet Accubonds, Swift Scirroco II, Federal Trophy Bonded Tip are excellent choices) Copper/Monolithic bullets (like Barnes, Trophy Coppers, hornady GMX, or Nosler E-Tip) are also great with 99% weight retention, and the "ol Trusty" Nosler Partition is THE bench mark bullet by which all other bullets are measured against. Any of them will be sure to provide what your looking for--a great bullet that does its job.

People even swear by standard Cup-n-Core bullets (like Remington Cork-Lokt, Hornady Interlok, Hornady SST, Remington Core-Lokt Tipped or Winchester Power-Points), but ammo is usually the cheapest thing on a hunt. So most guys grab the premiums bullets (Bonded or Monolithic) in case they have a less-than-stellar shot angle.

Bought a Tikka 300 WM recently and tried 3 different manufacturers bullets and none shot better than 1.5" groups, drilled the bedding out from hitting the chamber and put a metal block in it to see if that made a difference (never had to do any of this on any of my other "budget" rifles) and still, 1.5" was the best group.

Switched to Federal Trophy Copper 180 gr. and boom, clover-leafs. So I found my ammo!

Strangely, you can have the same rifle from the same manufacturer in the same model & bought on the same day from the same store and they'll shoot different ammo.

 

[northernalpine]

Try different ammo.

Worst case, I had an issue two years ago with a new 300WM Ridgeline, wouldn’t shoot 180-200gr from any brand. Took it to a semi-local CA distributor and had their in-house gunsmith send some various rounds through it, he agreed something was up.

They got a service slip from CA in 24 hours, shipped it to CA, they checked it out and decided to replace the barrel and did the ejector spring update, shipped it back to the distributor and was ready for pick up in 12 business days…no charge.

It now shoots everything well, 180gr TTSX to 215g Berger handloads.

Bottom line: Shipping a new rifle back is less than ideal, however, their customer service crushed it. Every semi or full production company has issues, not every company is willing to fulfill their guarantee.

 

[rodney482]

My CA mesa ranged from .75 to 2" while testing factory ammo.

 

[Wyo_hntr]

I would try different ammunition at 100yds.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

their quality is exactly what it has always been. very easy to find stories about sub-par CA's going back 15 years.

that being said, you can't say it's not up to par if you've only tried 1 type of factory ammo, and there could also be issues with your scope, scope mounts, or yourself.

 

[Axlrod]

Call them, they will tell you the exact ammo they use to test before shipping.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Have 2 CA, both are solid rifles, my fft ridgeline loves 143 eld-x. I understand they had some issues before but I have only good things to say about them… although I still love my tikkas

 

[PackHeavy]

This is kind of getting into the weeds. But sometimes CA rifles don't like certain lot numbers of factory ammo. Sometimes if you shoot a different box of ammo with different lot number it will shoot better.

Also I would make sure you are shooting it out of a gun vice completely taking out human error. Not saying you are not a good shot, but this just makes it easier to be consistent.

 

[farmermail]

If you reload, might look at adjusting the COL. Had a couple CA rifles where ogive length was critical for grouping, regardless of bullet.

 

[edwal]

My CA Ridgeline 7 mag shoots Norma 150 grain Whitetail rounds ( cheaper practice rounds) impressive. Shoots Federal 168 grain Berger hybrid hunters incredibly accurate ( out to 650 yards which is as far as I can shoot in that area). Not as impressive with Hornady or Barnes.

 

[doepatrol]

I am having an issue with my Christensen Mesa FFT 7mm rem mag. I have had this rifle for about 9 months now. I broke the barrel in following the instructions that Christensen has on their website. After breaking the barrel in I started shooting the Hornady ELD-X 162g to sight my gun in. I have not been able to get a group at 200 yds. Ive heard that Christensen may be on the downhill and that their quality isnt what it used to be.

Has anyone else had this issue or have any ideas on what is going on?

Friends don't let friends buy CA

 

[pacoalcracker]

I have a 308 Winchester and a 7PRC, both are Ridgeline FFT TI and both shoot great. Zero complaints.

 

[HuntHarder]

FFT in 300 win shoots lights out. Try more ammo.

 

[deerhunter628]

Here is the ammo recommended by Christensen Arms. This is a couple years old but im sure it is still the same.