Rifle and manufacturing quality today

[JohnJohnson]

It sounds like the fieldcraft is a great rifle. It’s a shame they don’t offer a left-handed action.

Yeah and also they've stopped production of them so they can concentrate on military contracts. I've been beyond surprised at how it checks all of the boxes of what I needed in a hunting rifle. As a lightweight suppressor host it's basically perfect.

Good point on the 22LR's. My earlier post neglected to mention that one of my factory rifles has been less than stellar. A marlin 60 I bought for about $150. Can't expect too much at that price point but it still shoots lights out at 50 yards with the right ammo. Complaints are all finish issues: plastic-like wood, terrible machining, cheap screws, action jams a lot, etc. But it still shoots decent and it's not like it costs as much as most factory centerfires.

My hunting .22lr is a Tikka T1X and that's a great one, though expensive for what most people think is .22lr pricepoint. My target .22lr is a Vudoo which kind of dwarfs that pricepoint but it serves a different purpose.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Christensen arms sucks. Lots of stories like this.

 

[hodgeman]

Duds rolling out of the factory isn't a modern issue at all...back in the Ye Olde days, 3-4" at 100 was considered pretty OK and a true 1" gun was rare and mentioned in your will.

Now, 1" is the more or less standard and it's been a long time since I've seen one that wouldn't shoot that good with minor tinkering. True duds do escape from time to time. My Christiansen in one of the most boringly accurate rifles I own. 5 shot groups of 1/2" happen regularly.

Of course, back in the early 90s I bought a Colt Gold Cup that somehow made it out the door without rifling in the barrel. How it managed the test target in the box will forever be a mystery to me but I strongly suspect a .45 caliber pencil was involved.

 

[Mr. October]

Yeah and also they've stopped production of them so they can concentrate on military contracts. I've been beyond surprised at how it checks all of the boxes of what I needed in a hunting rifle. As a lightweight suppressor host it's basically perfect.


My hunting .22lr is a Tikka T1X and that's a great one, though expensive for what most people think is .22lr pricepoint. My target .22lr is a Vudoo which kind of dwarfs that pricepoint but it serves a different purpose.

I picked up a Thompson Center TCR .22 this year. It's their version of the 10/22. I'm really pleased with it. I mounted up the cheap optic that came with it and the darn thing just shoots great. I think after deer season I'm going to take it out and terrorize the squirrels with it.

 

[Mr. October]

Duds rolling out of the factory isn't a modern issue at all...back in the Ye Olde days, 3-4" at 100 was considered pretty OK and a true 1" gun was rare and mentioned in your will.

Now, 1" is the more or less standard and it's been a long time since I've seen one that wouldn't shoot that good with minor tinkering. True duds do escape from time to time. My Christiansen in one of the most boringly accurate rifles I own. 5 shot groups of 1/2" happen regularly.

Of course, back in the early 90s I bought a Colt Gold Cup that somehow made it out the door without rifling in the barrel. How it managed the test target in the box will forever be a mystery to me but I strongly suspect a .45 caliber pencil was involved.

Hopefully they can make mine shoot. I really didn't want a project. For my purposes, I'd have been happy with a consistent 2" group. But groups at 100 yards off a solid rest were 4-6" no matter the ammo.

 

[hodgeman]

Hopefully they can make mine shoot. I really didn't want a project. For my purposes, I'd have been happy with a consistent 2" group. But groups at 100 yards off a solid rest were 4-6" no matter the ammo.

I'm pretty confident they can make it shoot. I've seen a number of these that are just scary accurate rifles. I picked up mine after shooting a buddy's 7-08 that shot bugholes at 100 yards.

 

[Mr. October]

So to update this, my gun is on it's way back from Christensen Arms. I got an e-mail that it didn't pass their accuracy testing so they put a new barrel on it. It now passes their accuracy tests. I'm impressed. We'll see how it work when I get it back. Maybe I can get it sighted in in time to bag a doe with it in rifle season.

 

[Gobbler36]

Please update this when you get the chance

 

[Mr. October]

Please update this when you get the chance

My rifle arrived back from CA the week before deer season here in PA. As it is, I filled my buck tag in archery season but I DO have a doe tag I can use starting this coming Saturday. (Expected to be a washout at this point.) That said, I got it to the range and started a new break-in process since they put on a new barrel. My plan was to get 1/2 way (or so) through the 50 round break-in and if it seemed better I'd hunt with it then finish break in. I don't think 1-2 shots afield are going to hurt much. The big question is . . does the rifle shoot? And, happily, yes it does. I had a whole bunch of Winchester Super X that isn't super-duper high quality stuff but IMO any rifle should shoot just about any factory ammo reasonably well to whack a deer at 100 yards. It does better than that. I don't know if the rifle with shoot 1/2 MOA with that particular ammo but early tests indicate it is much, much better with groups around 1" or so at 100 yards on a cold, windy day. I suspect if I am ever able to buy primers and powder again that groups will greatly improve with proper handloads.