Tikka vs Christensen arms build 6mm CM

[nphunter]

I’m just getting some funding together to purchase / build a new suppressed hunting rifle. I’ve decided on 6CM but want a short barrel and pretty much nobody make a barrel under 20”.

I’m on the fence about which direction I want to go, it’s pretty obvious that the RS community loves Tikkas. I’ve looked at several options and probably the one that makes the most sense is just buy an action, carbon barrel and stock separately and will end up around $2K’ish depending on the stock.

I can buy a CA FFT in 6mm CM with a 20” barrel for around $2K but I would really prefer a shorter barrel for the suppressor.

I can also buy a CA RL for like $1200 and rebarrel to 6mm CM with a 16” carbon barrel and still be about $2K total.

This rifle will be used for hunting and plan to be able to kill at 6-800yrds and will be topped with a Maven 1.2 scope which I already have.

Would love opinions or other options. I can also pick up a 6 ARC CA with a 16” barrel, but I’m not sure if it’s going heavy 6’s. I’m wanting to shoot 105-115gr bullets and I think all the CA are 1-8 barrels which might not be fast enough for heavy’s anyway.

I’d like to stay around $2K ish with the build.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

I have the FFT in 280 AI and love it. If weight is a consideration, you likely wont be able to build one as light as the FFT for under $2k.

 

[khuber84]

An Ace #2 sporter at 18in will support 5/8x24 threads for your can, it'll be under 3# for barrel, likely within 3-4oz of a carbon and half the price. A Tikka with that barrel in a rokstok will be around 6.3#. Lightweight is cool and all, but the lighter the rifle, the more attention to all the little details is needed for accurate shooting.

Tonight I just installed the 21" carbon 6.5prc pipe on my Tikka, in a rokstok. It was right at 6.5# naked, once the nx8, suppressor and bipod were attached, it's 10.5#. This is a very shootable weight. Many years back I had a 20in 65saum proof sendero lite, titanium lone peak, McMillan edge, vx6hd, that was under 7#, that rifle was very unstable even prone, wind would blow and reticle would dance around.

 

[nphunter]

An Ace #2 sporter at 18in will support 5/8x24 threads for your can, it'll be under 3# for barrel, likely within 3-4oz of a carbon and half the price. A Tikka with that barrel in a rokstok will be around 6.3#. Lightweight is cool and all, but the lighter the rifle, the more attention to all the little details is needed for accurate shooting.

Tonight I just installed the 21" carbon 6.5prc pipe on my Tikka, in a rokstok. It was right at 6.5# naked, once the nx8, suppressor and bipod were attached, it's 10.5#. This is a very shootable weight. Many years back I had a 20in 65saum proof sendero lite, titanium lone peak, McMillan edge, vx6hd, that was under 7#, that rifle was very unstable even prone, wind would blow and reticle would dance around.

I have a semi-custom 700, 280AI now, 25” #4, H&S stock, comes in at like 11-12lbs loaded with a scope and sling. It’s been great and I’ll be keeping it but toss a can on it now it’s super long and heavy. I shoot it without a brake now. It’s a tack driver but my wife and boys shoot it too and it’s just too big of a rifle for a lot of hunts, impossible for them to use off hand and it gets heavy on backpacking trips. I’ve packed it hundreds of miles and it’s killed a couple dozen big game animals but I’m wanting to build something light, low recoil and suppressed. That’s where the 6CM comes in.

A 7-8lb scoped/suppressed gun would be perfect and is the end goal. Ideally I will go 16-16.5” which puts me at 22-24” with the can.

 

[khuber84]

I have a semi-custom 700, 280AI now, 25” #4, H&S stock, comes in at like 11-12lbs loaded with a scope and sling. It’s been great and I’ll be keeping it but toss a can on it now it’s super long and heavy. I shoot it without a brake now. It’s a tack driver but my wife and boys shoot it too and it’s just too big of a rifle for a lot of hunts, impossible for them to use off hand and it gets heavy on backpacking trips. I’ve packed it hundreds of miles and it’s killed a couple dozen big game animals but I’m wanting to build something light, low recoil and suppressed. That’s where the 6CM comes in.

A 7-8lb scoped/suppressed gun would be perfect and is the end goal. Ideally I will go 16-16.5” which puts me at 22-24” with the can.

I have a few 6cm but have not gone under 18" barrels as I want to keep mv at or above 2900 with heavy high bc stuff, without being super high psi. My 18in runs 112s at 2950 but I'm using rl26. 20in and 22in are 109eld at 2950-3000 with H4350.

 

[orangeblu]

I own the Tikka tac a1 in 6.5 creedmoor. The mags work fine for me. Sometimes you need to push the mag up into the rifle to feed it. I've read you can adjust the "wiggle" of the magwell with a screw but haven't attempted it. It's a great shooter. I felt the Christenson at the store multiple times. I didn't like the bolt design. I'm sure both will work but everyone is lit up with praise for the tac a1. Do your research though. It was a big investment but worth the price to me.

 

[bojangles808]

rokstock +tikka + 18" or 20" .750 taperless 6cm prefit from PVA for me. that barrel should be in the 2.5-2.75lbs range. (PVA should have a black Friday sale and their turnaround is pretty quick compared to others). Other options are PBB tikka lite contour or have McGowan do the PBB tikka lite contour as a custom. Christensen just seems like such a crap shoot. Plus the ergonomics are poor there's zero reason to shoot a sporter stock in 2024

 

[wind gypsy]

A pva .680 taperless will be lighter than many carbons.

 

[MuleyFever]

My last few Tikka rebarrels (20") have been with McGowan and I had them match the stock barrel profile and flare the end for threading.

 

[pacoalcracker]

Tikka, the foolish man's answer to a Christensen Arms FFT. Can't say poor man's answer since you spend more and end up with less.

 

[199p]

Tikka for sure

 

[LostWapiti]

Tikka, why take the chance on the Christensen?

 

[amassi]

Tikka, the foolish man's answer to a Christensen Arms FFT. Can't say poor man's answer since you spend more and end up with less.

Only fools shoot reliable rifles with rifling in the barrel and the correct bolt face feeding rounds reliably from functional magazines.
You might get a good Christensen, probably won’t. QC isn’t there
Customer service isn’t there on the back end when you inevitably get a turd
Fan base sure is though, oddly the average Christensen fan doesn’t shoot enough to notice


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lawnboi]

I wouldn’t take the CA for free.

 

[Hnthrdr]

So I have 6.5 CA fft ridgeline, it shoots lights out. I have a .308 MPP aka my ( sig cross bastard clone, took an MPP and swapped the 12” barrel for a 16” barrel from CA) that is very meh with factory ammo. Still haven’t got it better than 1.8ish moa Eurooptic had the CA mesa in 6mm for around 1300 bucks, was super tempting but I decided to go the tikka route and have the action, barrel, and chassis on order and will assemble next year when all components arrive. Thankfully i haven’t had a major CA issue, but you hear about them pretty frequently… of my 4 tikkas they are all GTG and have been super easy getting set up and shooting factory ammo

 

[dsotm]

Friends don't let friends buy CA

 

[The Guide]

I bought my wife a CA ELR in 300 WM 6 years ago. At the time, it was the best combination of parts available in a production rifle. The parts were available individually but they had long wait times. In the last 6 years parts availability, new cartridges, and bullet design have changed what we have easily available to us. If I had it to do over again with what is available now, I would build her a non carbon fiber barreled rifle on a Tikka stainless steel action in a lighter recoiling cartridge so she could practice with the "system" more. With the 300WM she can shoot a maximum of 2 groups before she's overstressed by recoil. She then needs to shoot 20 to 50 rounds of 223 or 243 before she's able to shoot the 300WM accurately. In my defense, she wanted the 300WM because I had one and killed lots of elk with it.

With all that said, it is my opinion that there are better parts available to you right now to build your own rifle than any time in history. If you just want something off the shelf, CA has great parts on paper but often the sum of those parts don't add up. If you are at all handy or have some patience to have the work done for you, you can get a firearm with as good or better parts for around $500 (or more) less than what you can get a CA rifle for. That allows you to put a bunch more money into a good scope which makes the system work at peak performance.

Jay

 

[nphunter]

I have a few 6cm but have not gone under 18" barrels as I want to keep mv at or above 2900 with heavy high bc stuff, without being super high psi. My 18in runs 112s at 2950 but I'm using rl26. 20in and 22in are 109eld at 2950-3000 with H4350.

I’m also considering a 6UM, maybe that would be a better option if I end up doing a custom short barrel. I don’t have an issue with forming brass. I’ve been doing it with the 280AI since before Nosler saami’ed it.

I also want to shoot heavies so most likely I’ll want a faster twist than CA offers.

Essentially I need to decide if I want the SS tikka regular action or a CA fluted, SA, one plus I see with the CA is the hinged floor plate. For a hunting rifle I prefer not to have to deal with mags, the only real advantage I have found is they are nice when teaching kids to hunt for safety reasons. Other than that I can’t see any upside to a mag in a hunting rifle.

I guess I need to decide if the FF is going to more of a hassle or dealing with a longer barrel to keep velocities reasonable for longer range stuff.

I’m also curious how the tikkas trigger compares to the CA. Most factory triggers I have used aren’t great. My current rifle uses a Shilen and I have another with a timmney.

I feel like either rifle is going to be pretty sweet for under 2K.

 

[grizz19]

I just got one of the new Christensen MCR’s and I love. Shoots great and I love the feel of it. Super kite. Right around 2100

 

[khuber84]

I’m also considering a 6UM, maybe that would be a better option if I end up doing a custom short barrel. I don’t have an issue with forming brass. I’ve been doing it with the 280AI since before Nosler saami’ed it.

I also want to shoot heavies so most likely I’ll want a faster twist than CA offers.

Essentially I need to decide if I want the SS tikka regular action or a CA fluted, SA, one plus I see with the CA is the hinged floor plate. For a hunting rifle I prefer not to have to deal with mags, the only real advantage I have found is they are nice when teaching kids to hunt for safety reasons. Other than that I can’t see any upside to a mag in a hunting rifle.

I guess I need to decide if the FF is going to more of a hassle or dealing with a longer barrel to keep velocities reasonable for longer range stuff.

I’m also curious how the tikkas trigger compares to the CA. Most factory triggers I have used aren’t great. My current rifle uses a Shilen and I have another with a timmney.

I feel like either rifle is going to be pretty sweet for under 2K.

6um/6saum/6prc si, all 71-76gr of each other, 75fps spread between em at same psi. I have a 20in 6saum getting spun.

Tikka triggers..........they're good. I was shooting my Tikka 65prc today(trigger is oem spring, I just shortened and backed out the factory setting screw quite a bit, bout 20oz) also shooting my full custom bat 300 norma imp with a BixnAndy $300 trigger. The Tikka trigger is nearly on same level of crispness and clean break. Don't sweat a Tikka trigger, no other oem even comes close.