Christensen Actions Suck - Or Just Mine Does?

[MTMeatHunter]

Figured an inflammatory title might bring about more feedback. I bought a Mesa in 6.5 Creedmoor a few months ago. Overall, I really like the rifle and am impressed with it. It shoots five shot groups .75MOA with factory ammo, cleans easy, and IMO looks great. But I find the action lacking! I’m not a guy who prioritizes smoothness of an action, but I find that with this rifle it’s pretty finicky on closing with a round in. Once the bolt is pushed forward and a round is in the chamber, the initial movement to close the bolt sometimes requires a bit of a wiggle, or a hard push forward with downward pressure. It kind of catches. It’s not what you’d call smooth to close, to the point where I’m worried that in the heat of battle my wife might have trouble chambering a follow up round on a critter. It’s that noticeable. Anyone else!? It seems to be the case with a variety of ammo. Like I said, I’m not bashing the rifle overall as I really like it, but the action seems lacking.

 

[The_Yetti]

No experience with that rifle, but years ago I bought a Ruger 77 MkII That had a really rough action. I spent a lot of time while watching TV or whatever just cycling the action. It has really smoothed out and is probably one of my smoothest rifles I own now. Of course I think my rifle was in a whole different price range than your rifle.

 

[jacknifejc]

The Christensen rifles are accurate, but I don’t care for them because of the actions. Every one of them I’ve seen after fifty rounds feels super sloppy.

 

[2muchhp]

Have you tried different cartridges? Does it do the same on a spent case?

 

[Superprime]

I'd suggest that you try different cartridges...

 

[BPollard]

Is the brass new? ones fired? I noticed on my one rifle the brass chambered fine and I reloaded that same cartridge for a Christianson arms gun same caliber and I had to re-set up my sizing die because the chamber was tighter nothing to do with the action and bolt

 

[MTMeatHunter]

I’ve tried three different brands of factory ammo and it feels about the same with a spent case from a round fired through the rifle. It seems to get caught in this section of the action, and you can actually see where it’s rubbed the cerakote and perhaps even some of the metal down on the leading edge. It DOES have a tight chamber. No doubt about it. But it shoots so good I’m afraid to send it to Christensen for them to check over… who knows what I might get back.

 

[SDHNTR]

It’s supposed to rub there! That the cam for primary extraction.

 

[tdhanses]

Just shoot it, have your wife shoot it a ton so she develpos a good feeling for how it cycles, I doubt she’ll have an issue.

 

[MTMeatHunter]

Well yeah, rub, but not supposed to hang up so bad that it makes it hard to get a round in, I’d think? Sometime I have to back it off a bit and retry! If this is just normal for a 700 clone, maybe I’ll update the thread title to just “Christensen Actions Suck”, or maybe even better, “Sticking with Tikka!”.

 

[BULLBLASTER]

It is likely the extractor popping over the rim of the cartridge. If you manipulate the bolt a little faster and with some force you may not notice it as much. Or the extractor may need some work to pop over the rim easier.

 

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

I've been really disappointed with most factory actions aside from Tikka/Sako.
Other than Tikkas I use custom actions now

 

[MTMeatHunter]

And that’s exactly it. I like the rifle enough to keep it, but I find the action just a little disappointing. Overall, smoothness of an action isn’t make or break for me. I just need function and reasonable hunting precision.

 

[archp625]

CA actions are R700 actions. I was never a fan of R700 actions because of some of the reasons you stated. I had a ridgeline for a little over a year. Very accurate rifle and no issues except for my dislike for the stock.

With all this said I went back to a tikka action that I am building a shorty off of.

 

[Hornpout]

I have a mesa and I have no problems with the action. It cycles just like a standard 2 lug Rem 700 Action to me. In regards to how smooth it closes, this is something I have never even taken note of. I was always taught to cycle a bolt rather forcefully.

 

[35WhelenAI]

It is likely the extractor popping over the rim of the cartridge. If you manipulate the bolt a little faster and with some force you may not notice it as much. Or the extractor may need some work to pop over the rim easier.

^^^This^^^ In a push feed action, the extractor has to engage the cartridge rim. The only way for that to occur is at the end of the chambering process when the cartridge is pushed up in the chamber and there is resistance to "pop" it over. CRF engages the rim as the cartridge rises out of the magazine, so no issue with them and that extra nudge to engage the cartridge.

 

[Lawnboi]

The Christensen action isn’t anything special. Imo just the opposite. I found it very clunky as well, bolt lift is heavy.

One thing you can do is replace the tiny knob with something a little bigger and longer, will make cycling easier.

 

[MTMeatHunter]

I have a mesa and I have no problems with the action. It cycles just like a standard 2 lug Rem 700 Action to me. In regards to how smooth it closes, this is something I have never even taken note of. I was always taught to cycle a bolt rather forcefully.

I may need to just give her the beans. I may’ve gotten lazy with my bolt cycling from my Sako and Tikka. Totally fair that it might just need more force than I’m used to.

 

[General RE LEE]

Should of bought a Tikka.

 

[Ens Entium]

When you have a rough bolt that means a jerky action to load/unload a round. That could mean losing your sight picture while loading/reloading and that could be important in a hunting situation.