Thoughts on fierce or christensen?

[Dialing Long Distance]

Within the next couple of months, I am going to be looking into purchasing a new rifle. I love the idea of the carbon barrels and stocks. I want a 338 Lapua. I have always loved this round, and have wanted one for a long time. I will be shooting off my bench, and I will also be using it to hunt with, which is why I am not looking so closely at something like a Ruger RPR. The Ruger is not out of the question, but I prefer to have the option to effectively carry my rifle and hunt with it, as well as bang steel with it. I have been seriously looking at a Christensen BA model, it has everything I'm looking for in a rifle at a good price from what I can gather.

Then my shooting buddy showed me the Fierce rifles....

My question is, can anybody give me the pros or cons of the Christensen vs a Fierce? I'm seeing a 1/2 moa guarantee on the Fierce and a sub moa guarantee on the Christensen. Is one brand much better than the other? I understand there's going to be allot of opinions, one way and the other, but does anybody here have allot of experience with these rifles? Any differences in their carbon barrels? Quality of build, real world accuracy, weight and feel....(?) One thing I've noticed that I like is the muzzle brake on the Christensen over the radial design I've seen on the Fierce. I like gasses expelling from the sides verses all around for prone shooting, and from what I've seen on the internet videos, (it's on the Internet so it has to be true), the Christensen brakes are really effective. Although brakes can be changed out easy enough...

Any thoughts are much appreciated, especially from personal experience with either of these makers...

 

[tmmcampbell]

I have a Christensen barrel on my 300. It shoots sub .5 most every outing. The slayer break is like shooting a .243. It is also tunable so you can watch your bullets hit at 100 yds and out. I would not hesitate to buy one. I've heard good things about fierce but a little concerned about a product made in Canada if there ever is an issue. Probably just me being paranoid but still something I would consider.

 

[brian b]

Within the next couple of months, I am going to be looking into purchasing a new rifle. I love the idea of the carbon barrels and stocks. I want a 338 Lapua. I have always loved this round, and have wanted one for a long time. I will be shooting off my bench, and I will also be using it to hunt with, which is why I am not looking so closely at something like a Ruger RPR. The Ruger is not out of the question, but I prefer to have the option to effectively carry my rifle and hunt with it, as well as bang steel with it. I have been seriously looking at a Christensen BA model, it has everything I'm looking for in a rifle at a good price from what I can gather.

Then my shooting buddy showed me the Fierce rifles....

My question is, can anybody give me the pros or cons of the Christensen vs a Fierce? I'm seeing a 1/2 moa guarantee on the Fierce and a sub moa guarantee on the Christensen. Is one brand much better than the other? I understand there's going to be allot of opinions, one way and the other, but does anybody here have allot of experience with these rifles? Any differences in their carbon barrels? Quality of build, real world accuracy, weight and feel....(?) One thing I've noticed that I like is the muzzle brake on the Christensen over the radial design I've seen on the Fierce. I like gasses expelling from the sides verses all around for prone shooting, and from what I've seen on the internet videos, (it's on the Internet so it has to be true), the Christensen brakes are really effective. Although brakes can be changed out easy enough...

Any thoughts are much appreciated, especially from personal experience with either of these makers...

Both of these makers charge huge amount's of money for semi-custom rifles. for this kind of money I want full custom with a proof research barrel. think I would have Steve at elkmeadowsperformance make me a custom over a Christensen 10 times out of 10.

 

[Aoudad shooter1975]

I have a buddy that has a fierce...I have shot it a good bit and I like it...I'm a lefty and have always had my stuff built--but I like the fierce--I have built a 300WSM on a c Christensen and it was a tac driver--and so is the 7-08 that my smith just finished with a Christensen barrel...but for 4K you can build a pretty nice rig too--pick what you want and get it fitted.

 

[LongBomber]

I have both, but not in 338L. A ba tac christensen and a ti edge Fierce. Both are accurate, the Fierce has a bit of an edge there. The action tolerances are much tighter on the fierce, both function but the fierce is smoother and feels much more positive. For a hunting gun I prefer the sako style magazine and release, I prefer to have nothing sticking out to catch on things.

The christensen brake is better than the fierce, the side baffles with the threaded top ports is nice. You can tune your barrel rise a bit by opening/plugging ports.

 

[ramrod79]

I'm like Brian B for that money I would build.
Not sure the cost of either down there but up here
Ridgeline model is $2600
Fierce is $4600
I can build one for less than the Fierce and a bit more than Ridge line and get what I want with custom touch.

 

[quarterman]

I have 1 of each, a Ridgeline in 28 nosler, I love this rifle , nice and light and it shoots .5 moa with my handloads. The Fierce is a titanium edge in 338 lapua also light weight actually 6 pounds according to my bathroom scale.(without scope) It shoots under .5 moa. Currently Im using 270 grain eld-x s in it. I haven't tried the radial break that came with, I had my gunsmith put a side vent break on it. I didn't go with a custom build because I didn't want to wait one to be built. I don't think you can go wrong with either brand of rifle.

 

[rharfo]

I have a Christensen ELR for sale in 300 WM. Bought it thinking I needed it but don't.

 

[FURMAN]

Both are great rifles. In the US you are not going to build a custom using the same quality components for the price you can buy either. In my opinion the Fierce is a much nicer rifle. I have owned several Christensens and have a CT Edge. I have also build several customs. The only reason I see going custom over one of these two is if you want a cartridge they don't chamber in or if you want a non SAAMI chamber. Most would be well served with a SAAMI chamber but only you can really decide that.

 

[brentc]

I've got three Christensens in the safe. Two Ridgelines and an MPR. Aside from changing out the muzzle brake on the two Ridgelines, they are straight out of the box. IMO the Ridgeline is the toughest CA to beat for the price. They can commonly be purchased for around $1700 and every one I've set up has performed very well for a factory produced rifle. CA guarantees 1 MOA with the Ridgeline and MPR , and they all easily exceeded the guarantee with factory ammunition and all are repeatable 1/2 MOA with handloads.

I'll eventually try a Fierce. The ones I've seen and held felt really nice. I'd like to get a Carbon Fury in 300 WM or 6.5 PRC to compare with CA in the same chambering.

 

[wildcat455]

I have all 3 rifles mentioned in the OP's first post.

My Fierce CT Edge is by far the lightest. I love the tikka style action it is built on. Very smooth. The barrel broke in the quickest of all the rifles in this group. I like the detachable mag feature. Still working on load development for this rifle, but only to shrink groups that are about .4" with the bullet weight and load I want to shoot, not the one they tested it with. The price is the only negative, but it's not really for what you are getting. More on this later.

I have 2 Christensen Arms rifles. One is the Ridgeline, one is the BA Tactical in 338 LM. The Ridgeline is a bit heavier than the Fierce, but then that's not an apples to apples comparison. Really good value for the price. So far, groups in the .3"s I especially like how this rifle is chambered.
The BA Tactical is also a great rifle for the money. Adjustable stock with inserts, accurate and light enough for me to hunt with, only down side is I have a 27" barrel that's a 10 twist. Would have been nice at 9 twist, like my Savage 338 LM.
Loading has been relatively easy for this rifle. It is chambered perfect for 300 Berger's.

On the price of production custom and full custom.

What you are actually paying for with a production custom is no wait, no wonder. So convenience, and immediate gratification. Believe it or not, there are allot of people who don't want the wait associated with full custom. That's OK. There are plenty of people in line to wait for full custom. Just different strokes for different folks.

Production custom Fit and finish may be off, but not so on the rifles I have. I had the benefit of having the rifles right before me when making my purchases, so really only likely on an online sale.

Any accuracy difference of a full custom will probably not matter too much to the typical person who would buy a production custom. A production custom is quite likely more accurate or as accurate as the people buying them to shoot.

Production custom involves a little less pride in ownership. If I had a beautiful full custom rifle, I might be a little more protective of it.

So really, if you want EVERY ounce of your hard earned dollar to be represented in the rifle you own, full custom is your ticket.

The extra you pay for a production custom vs. what you get, is attributed to immediate availability, instant gratification, and six months down the road, you're already tired of shooting that new rifle, while the other guy is just getting his!