Christensen Arms

Majority of feedback will be older models were better than the newer stuff. QC has really suffered and so has their reputation the last few years.

Several in my camp shoot them and they all shoot great. Not sure which model.

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Wouldn't touch them. Too many problems. Get a Sako.

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This. Christensen has a questionable QC and customer service record.

Don't make this more complicated than it is

Budget = tikka
Premium = sako


It's DEFINITELY going to be very reliable and DEFINITELY going to shoot very well. No need to get cute with it. I'm not sure why anybody would even consider a semi-custom or full custom rifle these days.

Have a traverse 30 Nosler, ridgeline 28 Nosler, and mesa 6.5 CM models, all purchased before the private equity sale. I hand load for them and they are very accurate rifles.

They sold to Ancor capital in 2019 just when word was spreading about them. They got super popular and ramped up production right as covid happened. They went from boutique gunmakers with experienced staff to high production with whoever they could get to run the machines. They changed things internally to increase profits. QA/QC went to dogshit, rifles weren't grouping, machining looked like shite in the chambers.

My buddy bought a mesa 6.5 CM in 2021 and it looked like they reamed the chamber with a shrimp fork. LOTS of people had to send back their rifles for warranty work and the company wasn't always the nicest about it. Go to any Cabelas or Scheels and you'll see plenty of CA rifles on the used rack from this period.

The internet hasn't been very kind to CA about it either. Hopefully they've been listening and got their shite together. Outdoor Life has an article saying the new Evoke is the shite, but I'm sure Ancor pays for ad space too.

With the Evoke at $1k and with CA's track record, get a Bergara.

Here, form your own conclusions. There are good ones out there, but there are bad ones out there. For what they cost (for a fancy remington 700 clone at that) there are MUCH better options.

LINK

For the sheer volume of Tikka rifles out there, you NEVER hear of one having an accuracy or reliability problem. Both issues are easy to find with christensen and most other boutique rifle brands.

Stick with European bolt actions (Tikka, sako, sauer, blaser, etc) and you don't have to worry about that stuff. They ALL work well and shoot well.

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Like what?

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Accuracy, feeding, paint peeling. Their QC is shite. Don't buy shite when theres better to pick from.

Ive had 2 of them. Both of them had to go back to CA. One came back and would get 1" with one factory ammo I found. The other shot no better when I got it back than it did went I sent it in. Apparently 1.5" groups is within their specs. I got rid of both. Too many better options in that price range. Go with Seekins or Tikka and you'll be well satisfied. CA makes rifles for folks who want people to think they have a nice rifle. Seekins builds rifles to be shooters. Same for Tikka. If you want a ready to go rig buy the Seekins. If you want a lower price rifle that can you can make upgrades to later on buy the Tikka

I'm sure there's far more good ones than bad ones out in the wild. It doesn't change the fact that your money is better spent on lower risk options.

American's rifle buying habits, particularly the average whitetail hunter, are almost purely emotionally driven and many American rifle companies like Christensen market specifically to that. There's no REAL value there - at best it will shoot as well as a tikka and be as reliable as an off the shelf european rifle. At best. Same goes for winchester (the premium option 80 years ago), weatherby (the OG "Fancy" rifle), remington (your pappy's rifle), etc etc.

At worst, you get one with a smoothbore barrel, feeding problems, and bitchy customer service resolving it. But, you get to brag about how cool it is to your friends and that's what separates the average whitetail hunter from his money at the gun counter, not whether or not the bullet is reliably going to exit the barrel and reliably land where you wanted it to land.

You can buy a Sauer 100 from eurooptic for $450 right now. You can get that rifle in .308, a decent scope, and a pallet of ammo for what that CA rifle will set you back. The Sauer is DEFINITELY going to be reliable and accurate. The Christensen? Probably. It's DEFINITELY going to look cool and solicit some oohs and ahhs from your buddies. What do you want to accomplish with your money?

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DownshiftAndFloorIt

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That's spot on. If I were to have only one rifle it would most likely be a Tikka. To be honest my tikka's action is smoother than both my CA rifles.

I love my Bergara 6.5cm, it is definitely more accurate than I am.

Just inherited a Sauer 202 .270 from an uncle, also looking forward to getting that in the rotation.