christensen arms ridgeline, I need help.

[bcstoneram]

Night force NXS 3.5-15 I trust it. Night force base, Bedded, Night force rings,
I am handloading, But all my other rifles with handloads shoot well enough to suit me.
I can shoot my 7 pound 30-06 with 160-180 grain bullets under half inch. Hand loads and they are hot.
I can shoot my 6 pound 308win under half inch
My rem 5r 300wm will cut one ragged hole and I can hold better that MOA out to 750 yards.
I am going to shoot some factory loaded stuff when I get a chance, before I send it back. But I would be very surprised if they out shoot my handloads. But I will try them. I am also going to get a friend to shoot it with factory loads.
I am concerned if Ca will give me a song and dance or not. I spent a good chunk of money {for me} to get a good hunting rifle. More than a little disappointed

If you're cleaning the copper out, and following the break in procedure, they do promise you it will hold a 1" group with factory ammo. I have a Ridgeline in 300 RUM, and it groups 3/8" at 100, and sun moa out to 1,100. When I worked at Barnes, I had wonderful results with IMR4831, Federal 215M primers, and I'm sure it will work in your rifle. If you're shooting a 165-180 grain bullet, and following the preferred seating depth procedure for your given bullet type, I'd doubt you will have any issues shooting moa. I would pull the barreled action and check your bedding on the recoil lug to ensure your not over bedded into your barrel channel. A dollar bill will work for checking all of that, but I did remove some bedding compound from my barrel channel where they had gotten a little carried away. The Triggers they use are adjustable, and you can easily take it down to about 2-1/4 pounds. I'd suggest that as well. They come over 3-1/2 from the factory. If you still have issues, I'd not feel like you can't trust them, as I have found them to be very friendly, and as helpful as they can be. They follow factory specs to the t, so be aware of that, in case you decide to do anything radical. Call them on the phone and they will treat you well. I visited them in my way to elk camp, and they treated me awesome. Torque all your screws on the action and scope down to the appropriate torque specs as well. My barrel was broken in by 8 rounds of cleaning after every shot. I've been nothing short of impressed with my Ridgeline.

Hope this helps man!

 

[bcstoneram]

I've had this exact issue where the top of the action wasn't flat.
I could actually see about a 1/16th inch gap between the base and receiver.
That was literally the day I decided to only use custom actions or Tikkas for every one of my bolt guns.

I bed my base with JB Weld, on all my guns.

 

[bcstoneram]

I was not able to get a load developed easily at all with my Mesa in .300WM. I needed the rifle so ended up ordering some Barnes 180gr factory ammo and it seems to shoot these much better. A buddy of mine also has a Christensen in .300WM that will shoot decent at 100, but opens right up at 200 yards.

I was having issues with my Bergara until I bedded the stock - so maybe consider bedding it. I think the Christensen's might prefer lighter 180gr bullets in a .300WM. The best groups I see from these guns online tend to be with the lighter bullets.

CA beds their Ridgeline

 

[bengineer]

I found a Ridgeline in 280AI (no, not a 30 magnum) at local pawn shop. A crackhead had "fixed" the bedding with a Dremel and some intoxicants. Price was right so I thought I'd try it. Even with the barrel buried in the tip of the forend and shooting off the hood of the truck filled with kids and dogs, it showed promise (MOA) with handloads. With the stock properly bedded and the barrel channel re-filled with with bedding (barrel free-floated) to undo the intoxicated Dremeling, it often shoots bullets touching at 100 yds. My 12 year old just made hits on steel at 960 yds with that gun. Given its storied past, I am quite happy with it.
As an aside, I am using 162 SST, formed brass from commerical '06 and IMR 4831, getting 2950fps.
There is hope.
Contact CA directly and find out. The only way I can nicely reference FDR is to paraphrase: The only thing you have to fear is fear itself. If they won't fix it, you can. I would start with bedding the action in the stock and the rail on the gun. Coat receiver and rail with Kiwi if you want to be able to remove it later.

 

[schmi015]

My experience with their warranty is, sell the gun. Buy something else.

I've known so many people with CA issues. Buy a Tikka veil wideland and don't look back.

 

[Hogkane]

Stop wasting ammo and send it back. I sent back a 300wm, they re-barreled it and test fired, no questions.

 

[blvette75]

I have a ridgeline in 300wm, I can not for the life of me get it to group consistently better than 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards. I have shot it off a bench with bipods, sandbags, and a rest, . Prone off of bipods.
I am about ready to throw in the towel and send it back, My fear is they will just bounce it back and say no its normal.
I shoot other rifles and they all can hold better than one inch at 100 yards. So I am pretty confident I should be able to shoot this rifle under an inch off the bench at 100yards.
Any one have any experience with Christensen arms warranty?
Not trying to bash any manufacturer. I was just curious how they handle things like this

Well heard about the CA issues on this forum decided to stay away from the carbon fiber barrels and bought a 300 win mag mesa. At on sale price of $750.00 after the rebate, thought it was a good price for a production rifle. Preliminary inspection; Bore scope, no tooling marks or other noticeable imperfections, trigger pull was a consistent 3.2 lbs, a bit heavy for my taste. I don't like the action was a bit stiff reminded me of my old savage vintage early 90s that is fine now. Muzzle brake is not my preferred. After I replace the bottom metal for a detachable mag , will like the rifle better. The requirement to shoot 60 rounds for a break-in, tells me this rifle from a performance perspective will not be an upgrade from my Bergara or Browning or my Savage with all the mods plus new barrel. But I am hopeful it will be the light weight all purpose hunting rifle I have been wanting. As my Savage weighs in at about 11.5 lbs now instead of 8.5lbs it used to weigh with scope. As far as the CA being comparable to a custom not even close, maybe fit and finish is close. Will post accuracy results when I get it to the range. Do not tell CA you are shooting hand-loads will void your warranty. I had Nosler build me some custom 200 grn accubonds that I will shoot after break-in.

 

[blueprairiedog]

There's a reason I only shoot custom rifles. A long time ago, I had experiences similar to yours and others. Shortly thereafter, my lesson on how a capitalist society functions was complete. I learned that there is a spectrum of price for each type of item we buy. Those at the higher end of the spectrum universally out perform those at the lower end of the spectrum, with extremely rare exceptions. This is true of everything except aesthetics. You can spend a ridiculous sum of money on how something looks, that doesn't fit/function/perform any different than a cheaper item. Consider fancy stocked blued rifles that are heavily engraved. There is a vain ego driven portion of the economy, to be sure. Though it is a very true reality that factory rifles will not provide the value a discerning shooter is looking for very often.

Then, understand that even the most uncelebrated least-known custom rifle smiths can frequently turn out $2500-$3500 rifles which will outshoot a $2500 factory rifle every time. There is no substitute for paying someone to take responsibility for the result. Factory rifle manufacturers, even those which try to claim a "custom" level of performance... simply can not put as much care into each unit. Their businesses are not setup to function that way, and they would likely fail if they tried... as they would never be able to hire enough people that cared to the degree necessary to ensure the result was desirable every time.

I apologize for cluttering up your thread requesting help with this diatribe. However, how many threads like this must there be before people start realizing the fiscal reality of what a quality rifle must cost today? How many more threads like this SPECIFICALLY about christensen, before people stop buying them?

Click here and consider this google search.

Virtually every popular rifle forum can be seen with threads of folks having a poor experience. In just the last month, on this forum alone, I recall at minimum 3 separate threads where people are mentioning poor performance, function issues, pressure issues, or all of the above. Yet people are still buying them instead of supporting a custom rifle smith that actually cares.

Now consider this article from Wideners.

I understand you're probably not accustomed to spending $2k on a rifle. However, I feel obligated to point out that the percentage of disappointed customers in the $2k price range, is significantly higher than it is in the $5k-6k price range. It's not 1970 anymore.

People's perceptions have a tendency to stray from reality. Most people simply have too much going on in their lives to devote enough time, effort, and money to this discipline to properly form perceptions which line up nicely with the truth. There is indeed a truth to all of it, despite how many argue so viciously based entirely on uninspired opinion.

Anyway, as payment for taking up space in your thread... if you'd like to confirm whether you've done due diligence to ensure the rifle is at fault and you or your methods are not, feel free to give me a call and I'll run through a few things with you and see if I can help in any way.


-----------
Follow on Instagram
Subscribe on YouTube
Amazon Affiliate

I see friends buy name brand rifles that don't shoot and I buy a bartlein barrel and put it on rem 700 action for less or about the same price and will shoot 3/4 at 200 but then they go buy another one you are spot on

 

[OFFISHN]

I got a new CA Ridgeline in 7mm and I put a new VX6 on it. I had the same issue with poor groups at 100 with hand loads. After many rounds and trying different bullets and powder this rifle would still not group. I like you never wanted to believe that my high dollar scope could be the issue. Finally I relented and returned the scope for inspection. When I got it back 8 weeks later they replaced the erector and you know the rifle started grouping like it should.

 

[VenatusDominus]

My buddy had the same issue with a CA in 30 Nosler. He bought it specifically for hunting in California, which requires lead free ammo. He could not get it to group less that 2" with monolithic bullets, after spending weeks on load development. He is an experienced reloader and regularly shoots sub 1/2 MOA with all of his other factory rifles (Savage .338 Win Mag, several Ruger 6.5 CM, Ruger 6.5 PRC and a Browning A-bolt in 7mm). He had a local gunsmith examine the gun. He scoped the bore and noted a land that extended into the throat saying that it would likely never shoot sub MOA, except with the heaviest bullets. My buddy was visiting family in Utah and stopped by CA factory and left the rifle with them. A few weeks later he was back in Utah and picked up the gun. They had fired it with factory 210 Accubond and produced a group just under an inch. My buddy explained that the rifle was for hunting in California and needed to be able to shoot copper free ammo. Their response was that the gun could shoot sub MOA, meeting their guarantee. Based on his experience with CA, I would never buy one of their products, especially after seeing many similar accounts online.

 

[Chas1]

Send it back and either fix it or get a refund.

 

[mhart1371]

I have a ridgeline in 300wm, I can not for the life of me get it to group consistently better than 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards. I have shot it off a bench with bipods, sandbags, and a rest, . Prone off of bipods.
I am about ready to throw in the towel and send it back, My fear is they will just bounce it back and say no its normal.
I shoot other rifles and they all can hold better than one inch at 100 yards. So I am pretty confident I should be able to shoot this rifle under an inch off the bench at 100yards.
Any one have any experience with Christensen arms warranty?
Not trying to bash any manufacturer. I was just curious how they handle things like this

My Ridgeline 7 mag shot like crap with factory ammo. I worked up some loads and shoots sub 1/2 moa at 100 now. Worked up bullet speed I wanted then worked up many different seating depths till I got to what it liked.

 

[Richard Bailey]

I have a ridgeline in 300wm, I can not for the life of me get it to group consistently better than 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards. I have shot it off a bench with bipods, sandbags, and a rest, . Prone off of bipods.
I am about ready to throw in the towel and send it back, My fear is they will just bounce it back and say no its normal.
I shoot other rifles and they all can hold better than one inch at 100 yards. So I am pretty confident I should be able to shoot this rifle under an inch off the bench at 100yards.
Any one have any experience with Christensen arms warranty?
Not trying to bash any manufacturer. I was just curious how they handle things like this

I have a Christiansen Arms 300 RUM winchester Model 70 components. I had a problem early on but it was not the gun. It was that I over torqued my scope rings on my Vortex scope. Sent it back to Vortex and they fixed it. Then I was having consistency problems using Factory ammo uptil my buddy hand loaded for me and Pulled to bullet out just slightly. I am using 180Gr. Barnes TTX bullets. My accuracy is with in a 1/4 - 1/2 inch at 100 yards

 

[bballard]

I almost bought a CA rifle, but after reading alot of reviews on line, it seemed like a crap shoot. Some were excellent but some were bad.....decided to go with a Nosler model 21 in 300 win mag, and I am glad I did. Well balanced and shoots well under an inch with my handloads. I think nosler had some feeding issues on certain calibers when they first came out, but mine has been awesome....