Christensen Arms Mesa Journey

OXN939

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I've been updating a previous thread, but feel it's an appropriate time for this to get its own.

Purchased a CA Mesa in .308 a few months ago for a mid-long range hunting rig. It's a great rifle in a lot of ways- fit and finish was nice, Triggertech trigger was great, stock was comfortable and aesthetically pleasing. Assembled everything to recommended torque settings and with blue Loctite, checked alignment and lapped rings, and threw a Vortex Viper 4-16x44 on there. Good looking setup.

Screen Shot 2019-09-06 at 7.56.30 PM.png

02 SEP- First range day. Try three different kinds of factory ammo. Abysmal groups, from 2.5-5 MOA. Go back home, take everything apart, re-check alignment, reassemble.

05 SEP- Second range day. Same groups, shown below. Verify scope on another rifle; shoots MOA groups on rifle #2. Submitted the following pictures to CA with a repair inquiry.

Screen Shot 2019-09-05 at 8.02.27 PM.png

06 SEP- Waited til the end of the day, called Christensen Arms. The gentleman I spoke to was very nice, found my repair inquiry. Said to send it in. Check. Everything off, shipped back to them.

19 SEP- No comms from CA after they've had it for a few weeks. Decided to call and check in, since I have a tag I wanted to use it to hunt in October. Same gentleman I spoke to initially checked on it for me. Said they found the same poor accuracy I did, so they were going to rebarrel it, cerakote it and get it back to me. I asked how long this would take; he said it should be headed my way in a few days, definitely in time for my October hunt. Cool.

30 SEP- No comms from CA. Called to check in. "It's been rebarreled; still needs to be cerakoted. Should be headed your way tomorrow at the latest." Hmm. That's not what was discussed. Good thing I prepped a backup.

09 OCT- Still no comms. Leave tomorrow for WY. Guess I'll call when I get back if it's not here by then.

To be continued.
 

X-file

Lil-Rokslider
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Thank you for sharing. I would be extremely frustrated too. I have gone back and forth with getting a CA several times due to similar stories I’ve read and ended up with a Bergara. Couldn’t be happier with my decision

Good thing you have a backup plan and good luck with the hunt


Here’s to hoping your backup gets the job done so that you can send the pic to CA


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Dvidos

Lil-Rokslider
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Thank you for sharing. I would be extremely frustrated too. I have gone back and forth with getting a CA several times due to similar stories I’ve read and ended up with a Bergara. Couldn’t be happier with my decision

Good thing you have a backup plan and good luck with the hunt


Here’s to hoping your backup gets the job done so that you can send the pic to CA


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+1
BB.jpg
 
Joined
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Frustrating. I'd say a large portion of us on here have more than a few options for hunting guns, what if on the other hand you were a new shooter and saved up a bunch of money for your first rifle for a big hunt? What a crock, terribly disappointing.
 
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Hate that you don’t get to use the new gun. Would be very frustrated as well.
But no way would I expect to send a gun in to a manufacturer that late and expect it back in time. (And trust me I don’t say that against you, more like don’t trust them)
Unless I was given word that someone would get it walked through the process immediately, I wouldn’t think there was anyway I’d get it back in time. And still wouldn’t count on it then.

Secondly I hate to hear this because a CA was possibly next on my list.


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EastMT

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This isn’t the first I’ve heard having this problem. As with any growing company I think they are having growing pains trying to keep up with demand. Hopefully they slow down, people would rather wait a month or 2 for a rifle than wait a month or 2 for repairs.


I have yet to be begin to procrastinate.
 
Joined
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Good luck on your Hunt! Hopefully they can get it right this time. While any manufacturer can have a lemon It’s more important to me how they handle the situation as a whole than the actual repair. Communication is key IMO and many companies now a days are terrible at it.
 
OP
OXN939

OXN939

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Fresh update. Got a return shipping label, which is the first communication I've received from Christensen Arms without actually calling them... my rifle is estimated to be back by October 18th (42 days after I sent it to them, for those keeping score at home). To be clear, I agree that purchasing a rifle in August for an October hunt is a tight timeline. This is why I had a backup ready. However, when they say in late September that it should be "just a few days" and you don't get the rifle back until almost a month later, I think you have a right to be disappointed.

The very least they could have done would be to send it by some means other than the cheapest, slowest way possible. If I owned the company and were weeks behind schedule for a repair, I'd overnight it back to the customer. But that's just me.
 
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I purchased a Mesa earlier this year in 6.5 CM and also experienced pore accuracy, although not nearly as bad as the OP. Fortunately, I also purchased a Barrett Fieldcraft in the same caliber, with the plan to only keep the one I liked the best. The FC turned out to be even more accurate than I had hoped for, so down the road the Mesa went. To the OP, I hope CA got your rifle straightened out and you end up with a shooter, they definitely have a very nice fit and finish to them.


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OP
OXN939

OXN939

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I purchased a Mesa earlier this year in 6.5 CM and also experienced pore accuracy, although not nearly as bad as the OP. Fortunately, I also purchased a Barrett Fieldcraft in the same caliber, with the plan to only keep the one I liked the best. The FC turned out to be even more accurate than I had hoped for, so down the road the Mesa went. To the OP, I hope CA got your rifle straightened out and you end up with a shooter, they definitely have a very nice fit and finish to them.


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To everyone who bumped this today, your timing in serendipitous. Had her out at the range today for the first time since she's been back. They did, indeed, fix it. Shot several sub-MOA groups with factory ammo off of a backpack. I'll take it. Load development to follow.20191024_132255.jpg
 
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OP
OXN939

OXN939

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now you have me scared! Just bought a mesa in the 6.5 creedmoor!

Even Lamborghinis have lemons. Statistically speaking, you probably won't have any such issues. Let us know how it goes. I'll have mine out this week as well and will provide more updates.
 
OP
OXN939

OXN939

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I purchased a Mesa earlier this year in 6.5 CM and also experienced pore accuracy, although not nearly as bad as the OP. Fortunately, I also purchased a Barrett Fieldcraft in the same caliber, with the plan to only keep the one I liked the best. The FC turned out to be even more accurate than I had hoped for, so down the road the Mesa went. To the OP, I hope CA got your rifle straightened out and you end up with a shooter, they definitely have a very nice fit and finish to them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And, the journey continues! Had her out today with the hopes of developing a dope card to 300. As it turns out, only one of the ten 3 shot groups I shot with the CA was anywhere near MOA. BTHP, ELD-X, TSX, PSP... nothing would group consistently. I don't even want to know how many hours of my life and dollars this has wasted so far. Actually kicking myself big time right now for missing the opportunity to get a picture of the easily sub-MOA groups from my Howa 1500 (the MSRP of which is almost exactly 1/2 of my Mesa's) right next to these sloppy, inconsistent groups from my CA.

20191029_121852.jpg
 
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That sucks.

surprisingly enough kimbers CS is far better than what you received from CA... at least in my experience, and people say Kimbers CS sucks. I had my Subalpine restocked and back in my hands within 2 weeks.

sorry you’re having to go through this. If I were you I’d get it fixed one more time and send it up the road. No sense in wasting more time and money on it.
 

archp625

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And, the journey continues! Had her out today with the hopes of developing a dope card to 300. As it turns out, only one of the ten 3 shot groups I shot with the CA was anywhere near MOA. BTHP, ELD-X, TSX, PSP... nothing would group consistently. I don't even want to know how many hours of my life and dollars this has wasted so far. Actually kicking myself big time right now for missing the opportunity to get a picture of the easily sub-MOA groups from my Howa 1500 (the MSRP of which is almost exactly 1/2 of my Mesa's) right next to these sloppy, inconsistent groups from my CA.

View attachment 129984
When they sent it back did they tell you everything was fixed and the gun was shooting excellent? Did they send you a target with proof? Are you using the same ammo they recommend?

I'm not saying you are wrong just curious as I am leaning towards purchasing one myself.
 
OP
OXN939

OXN939

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When they sent it back did they tell you everything was fixed and the gun was shooting excellent? Did they send you a target with proof? Are you using the same ammo they recommend?

I'm not saying you are wrong just curious as I am leaning towards purchasing one myself.

They said it was good to go when they sent it back. I'm calling them this afternoon after work. The CA guarantee for Mesas says "Sub-MOA with high quality, match grade ammunition." All of the ammo I was shooting was high quality factory stuff; actually, the best groups of the day, one of which is seen on the top of that target, were with the cheapest ammo I had- Winchester Super X 150 grain PSP. These were just under 2 MOA.

I honestly would be starting to question myself at this point, except like I said, I was shooting repeatable sub-MOA groups within minutes of the above target using a different rifle. Bases are torqued and Loctited, rings are lapped, scope is proven, ammo is new, high-quality factory stuff, barrel was allowed to cool, action screws were torqued correctly...
 

Ryan Avery

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I have been around lots of Mesa's, I would guess ten or so now. All shot under an MOA. Some out of the gate and some with a little tweaking. It's very odd it would shoot that first group then fall off that much.
 

archp625

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They said it was good to go when they sent it back. I'm calling them this afternoon after work. The CA guarantee for Mesas says "Sub-MOA with high quality, match grade ammunition." All of the ammo I was shooting was high quality factory stuff; actually, the best groups of the day, one of which is seen on the top of that target, were with the cheapest ammo I had- Winchester Super X 150 grain PSP. These were just under 2 MOA.

I honestly would be starting to question myself at this point, except like I said, I was shooting repeatable sub-MOA groups within minutes of the above target using a different rifle. Bases are torqued and Loctited, rings are lapped, scope is proven, ammo is new, high-quality factory stuff, barrel was allowed to cool, action screws were torqued correctly...
Man not good at all. Now you have me worried on the quality of CA.
 
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