Christensen Mesa issues

[Baboltin]

I own two CA and one is a ridgeline it shot under .5 moa with reloads and then I had it bedded and now it's even better, my other one is a summit TI and they did a great job cleaning that bedding job up but they should for a nearly 5k rifle.

 

[skipglo]

My friend bought a Christansen (carbon barrel can't remember model) in 7RM in early spring 2020 I want to say. He was very excited as this was his first "magnum" rifle. He started sending me pictures of his groups at 100 yards and I was surprised. He had never shot anything really bigger than his .243 win that he had for 20 years, so I figured the 6" groups at 100 yds were from poor recoil management. Then I shot the rifle surprised that the recoil was surprisingly low. We tried almost every factory ammo available at the time and nothing grouped under 5" @100 yds. He sent the rifle back twice and Christansen said there was nothing wrong both times. It wasn't the scope and it was mounted correctly. The only fix was to return the rifle and he ended up getting a browning hells canyon, which shot MOA out of the box with factory ammo. I was frustrated for him it took a lot of time and a lot of wasted ammo right before ammo quickly came unavailable. I will not recommend Christansen to anyone.

X2.....sloppy poor machine work, poor fit-up!

 

[kobermannt]

I don't have a lot of experience in gun smithing and this is really my first "higher end" rifle. How do I check for a bad bedding job or should I just take it to a local professional gun smith?

 

[JAYgs8163]

What is the barrel contour? Most of the Mesa's I have seen have very thin barrel contours and require you let it cool some when shooting for groups. I will let a barrel cool 5-10 minutes sometimes after 2-3 shots, especially on a light contour barrel.

Before you switch factory ammo are you cleaning the barrel? You can't switch to a different factory load before cleaning the barrel when shooting groups, especially when shooting solid copper Bullets. Many bullets have different alloys that will react differently, especially when you have a fouled barrel and you then switch to a different load/bullet. When I switch to a different handload I always clean the barrel before testing the next load string. Every time you switch ammo clean the barrel and start fresh!

Have you let someone else shoot it to take the human element out of it. A lightweight 7 mag usually carries a heavy dose of recoil so I would let another experienced shooter take a crack at it also.

 

[JAYgs8163]

Mes

I don't have a lot of experience in gun smithing and this is really my first "higher end" rifle. How do I check for a bad bedding job or should I just take it to a local professional gun smith?

Mesa's are only spot bedded if bedded at all. As are the Ridgeline models only spot bedded. Your Mesa is not full length bedded or skim bedded. I have a Ridgeline and it shoots 1/4 MOA all day long but I did some things to it. Adjusted trigger, skim bedded it, etc.

Before throwing good money at it though eliminate all the other variables that cost nothing to do. Some I mentioned above.

 

[Quintus]

I have a 6.5PRC and the bedding was like a wad of gum squeezed into the lug area, laughable. I had a lot of flex in the stock. It still shot MOA to well under MOA if I was very consistent loading the bi-pod. I switched stocks to an H-S Precision and that gun is now absolutely lights out.

 

[nealm66]

Always hard to say. Especially with lightweight magnums. I ruined a scope once shooting an unbraked weatherby with bipods off a hard surface. Having a 2 piece rest that allows recoil and learning where a rifle likes to sit and finding your position behind it will probably bring your groups together even with a sub par stock and trigger. Sometimes having a light hold down on the front will help. I do a lot of load development at a public range that's close by and I see guys that struggle with magnums all the time. I feel sorry for them busting through a box of expensive ammo but I've learned not to try and help unless asked as so many guys get all puffed up about it. There's nothing macho about shooting good groups with a magnum. It just takes practice and money

 

[stovepipe]

Torque the action screws to 65 pounds..open floor plate..use your fingers to see if the box magazine will move freely on both ends..if it does good..if it doesn't take the box out and lay it on the flat side of a grinding wheel taking off a little bit at a time ..clean off the edges with a file..repeat this until you have a little play in it..when you get some play use some type of bluing on the edge and your done...make sure that you use 65 pounds of torque every time you check it

 

[ENGUNEER]

Be careful, the stock screw torque should be in inch-pounds. Foot pounds will tear-up the stock.

 

[claybreaker]

Tagging in. I'm have been hunting a certain Mesa for the right price. So I'm very interested to see what the issue is on this and how it is resolved. So kobermannt please update us as you proceed.

Thanks

 

[kobermannt]

Thank you all for the info! I will try a few things and keep you all posted

 

[Centxshooter]

Had the same rifle. Could not get it to group. Sent it back and they said cleaned and verified. It would not shoot factory or any handloads. I had it rebarreled for 6.5prc that shoots great now. Absolutely was the barrel or fit of the barrel

 

[RMorris]

There is a CA Facebook group that has numerous posts of Mesas with cracked skim bedding. Mine could be better. It is 1- 1.5 with hunting ammo. I haven't messed with it in a couple of years. I'm not impressed with stock shape either and need some more cheek height. I'm thinking about changing stocks and rebedding it.

 

[700Sendero]

I wouldn't own one after how they treated me with a Carbon Classic .308 several years ago. Wouldn't shoot any factory or hand load under 1.75. I sent it in, and same story as yours, passed their "accuracy test" so they sent it back. Pretty poor customer service if you ask me.