Christensen Arms Mesa first blush evaluation

[rtraverdavis]

Obviously not core AF.

Fuggin’ sigmas.

Had to look up what that meant. Apparently it’s the man bun of personalities.

 

[cahunter805]

Bedded the rings while I had it apart. We’ll head to the range late next week.

View attachment 253375

Did you bed them to the action as well?

 

[rtraverdavis]

By the way, the rifle looks sweet, @JLS. Hope it kills an Arkansas bull next year.

 

[TheJason]

Did you bed them to the action as well?

I did not. Loctite and torque.

 

[timcaiello]

After owning this rifle for two weeks, figured it was worth a quick hitter from the cheap seats.

1. Balance is very good. Very.
2. Fit and finish is nice.
3. I like the cerakote.
4. Trigger is nice and crisp.
5. Bolt and action are very smooth.
6. Bolt feels very robust
7. Recoil is very manageable with the factory brake, I’ll be using a thread protector in the field for future hunts.
8. Accuracy is good with the bullet of choice.
9. The stock design is excellent, very trim.

I gave it a good cleaning last night. I absolutely beat the the shit out of it bear hunting, and it appeared no worse for wear. I have nothing negative to say about this rifle at all.

I’ll check zero on it this week. I’m curious how the Leupold fared through the pack out Tuesday night. I also need to put a light crimp on my hammer loads to see if that’ll tighten the groups up a bit.

Thanks for the review - was considering one of these myself recently.

 

[TheJason]

Messing around with a Lee FCD for my target loads (165 grain Sierra BT). I found this rifle is very sensitive to cheek pressure. Cheek pressure = 1” vertical deviation at 100. No cheek pressure = holes inside of holes. I’ve often wondered how many rifles that wouldn’t shoot are simply because of folks who don’t shoot light rifles well.

It’s not easy and it takes some patience for sure. This rifle is trickier to shoot tight groups with than my Mountain Rifle and I’m assuming that’s because of more recoil and more influence from shooter input.

With H4350 I’m seeing 3295 fps with this load. Very close to my Hammer hunting load. With the brake, 15 rounds is quite easy.

 

[BackofBeyond]

Messing around with a Lee FCD for my target loads (165 grain Sierra BT). I found this rifle is very sensitive to cheek pressure. Cheek pressure = 1” vertical deviation at 100. No cheek pressure = holes inside of holes. I’ve often wondered how many rifles that wouldn’t shoot are simply because of folks who don’t shoot light rifles well.

It’s not easy and it takes some patience for sure. This rifle is trickier to shoot tight groups with than my Mountain Rifle and I’m assuming that’s because of more recoil and more influence from shooter input.

With H4350 I’m seeing 3295 fps with this load. Very close to my Hammer hunting load. With the brake, 15 rounds is quite easy.

I’m trying to figure out why. Any theories? Is the cheek pressure somehow bowing the stock, no matter how slight, and tweaking the whole shebang?

 

[TheJason]

I’m trying to figure out why. Any theories? Is the cheek pressure somehow bowing the stock, no matter how slight, and tweaking the whole shebang?

Shooter form creates changes in how the rifle recoils. Everything I’ve read on shooter form says that minor things like thumb pressure, thumb on the side or over the top, shooter being square, etc all play a role in accuracy. My guess is light rifles are just more sensitive to shooter inputs, and the heavier the recoil the more it affects accuracy.

I’m not sure exactly how cheek pressure changes POI, but I witnessed the exact same pattern last week. Two shots touching. Two more touching about 1.5” below. Today I think I finally isolated the issue.

 

[cahunter805]

Shooter form creates changes in how the rifle recoils. Everything I’ve read on shooter form says that minor things like thumb pressure, thumb on the side or over the top, shooter being square, etc all play a role in accuracy. My guess is light rifles are just more sensitive to shooter inputs, and the heavier the recoil the more it affects accuracy.

I’m not sure exactly how cheek pressure changes POI, but I witnessed the exact same pattern last week. Two shots touching. Two more touching about 1.5” below. Today I think I finally isolated the issue.

Are you shooting off a bipod? Bags? Lead sled?
I’ve seen vertical show up like that when the rifle isn’t preloaded or your rear bag isn’t below your cheek when apply pressure.

 

[TheJason]

Are you shooting off a bipod? Bags? Lead sled?
I’ve seen vertical show up like that when the rifle isn’t preloaded or your rear bag isn’t below your cheek when apply pressure.

Bags on a bench

 

[winmag]

Forgive me for not reading the 6 pages, but have you bedded it? My Ridgeline stock had some big voids from the factory that certainly weren’t going to help accuracy/POI consistency. I bedded it before ever shooting it so I don’t know if it made a difference.

Could just be difficult to shoot such a light rifle though. Shooting groups with a very accurate featherweight 22lr is great practice as it also highlights any form issues.

 

[noharleyyet]

Shooter form creates changes in how the rifle recoils. Everything I’ve read on shooter form says that minor things like thumb pressure, thumb on the side or over the top, shooter being square, etc all play a role in accuracy. My guess is light rifles are just more sensitive to shooter inputs, and the heavier the recoil the more it affects accuracy.

I’m not sure exactly how cheek pressure changes POI, but I witnessed the exact same pattern last week. Two shots touching. Two more touching about 1.5” below. Today I think I finally isolated the issue.

Just whay my ocd psyche needed...a cheeky secret handshake

 

[TheJason]

Forgive me for not reading the 6 pages, but have you bedded it? My Ridgeline stock had some big voids from the factory that certainly weren’t going to help accuracy/POI consistency. I bedded it before ever shooting it so I don’t know if it made a difference.

Could just be difficult to shoot such a light rifle though. Shooting groups with a very accurate featherweight 22lr is great practice as it also highlights any form issues.

Completely rebedded it.

 

[TheJason]

This photo is a good illustration of the challenges of shooting a lightweight rifle. Bottom four rounds are holding the foreend of the rifle. Top is holding my off hand over the top of the scope.