Well, I was finally able to get out to the range again with the "Good Ammo" that I had on hand. I am a bit less than pleased.
Initial Review was here: https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/christensen-arms-mpr-initial-review.6879393/
But, I wanted to post this as a thread of it's own due to the issues I found today.
The last time I shot this I was having consistency issues which I attributed to "bulk ammo" and other things (insert random excuse). So this time I decided to take my Tikka with me as well. My Tikka is a 20 inch CTR in 6.5 Creedmoor with leupold QR rings and some cheap scope Bushnell(?) "Legend HD Mildot" I had from a friend, however it is a known good shooter.
MPR is 26 inch, 6.5 CM
Plan: Fire 5 round groups of each ammo type, 2x per rifle & compare the groups. All groups fired at 100M off same rest & sandbag.
I will do the pt 2 review in the second posting. I will stick to issues for this section.
ISSUE 1: CONSISTENCY
I would get 2 or 3 rounds tight then flyers, and at first I was thinking it was just me. So after last time I double checked the torque on EVERYTHING on the rifle. I began to notice as it got warmer, the groups shifted big time (an inch or more), and we are talking just a few shots. I tried taking a few moments between shots and that didn't help either. So I decided to put 25 rounds through the rifle ( had 2x 10 round and 3x 5 round mags with me) and fire a steady pace to see what the group looked like.
This was fired from a caldwell "tac driver" front bag and a rear bag.
First 3 shots were tight on the right, the next few were around the middle, then the rest began walking down and left as it got hotter. I experienced the same issue with a Atlas bipod and sandbag as well. I did the same test with my Tikka in the next photo.
This is 25+ rounds, fired in relatively quick succession. I did not take my time near as much as I did with the MPR and got much better results. I did pull a few slightly.
I understand a hot barrel will open up, but this is not "opening up" its walking low and left the hotter it gets. Anyone got any ideas wtf is wrong with it?
PROBLEM 2: Ammo pressures -
I've seen pressure signs on several loads, many of the "match" loadings are showing some primer distortion, but nothing too serious. Till I tried this:
I cleaned up the bolt and checked the rifle, everything appeared fine. I only fired 2 rounds of this ammo and both did this, and I experienced a sticky bolt as well. The other 18 rounds fired flawlessly through my Tikka with no pressure signs. I was under the impression most ammo was made for longer barreled 6.5 CM. I do not understand why 6 inches would show that much of a difference. All other rounds of other ammo types were fine.
Overall, I like the rifle itself. The chassis is nice, I like the trigger, I like the brake, I like the action too. But it is just not "shooting like a 2500 rifle." My "budget" 308 SPS Tactical shot 3x better than this with that shitty hogue stock on it. Hell my Ruger GSR shoots better than this. At least more consistently. I'm pretty irritated with it in general right now. Debating talking to Eurooptic & Christensen about it. I don't see myself getting another CF barrel.
Initial Review was here: https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/christensen-arms-mpr-initial-review.6879393/
But, I wanted to post this as a thread of it's own due to the issues I found today.
The last time I shot this I was having consistency issues which I attributed to "bulk ammo" and other things (insert random excuse). So this time I decided to take my Tikka with me as well. My Tikka is a 20 inch CTR in 6.5 Creedmoor with leupold QR rings and some cheap scope Bushnell(?) "Legend HD Mildot" I had from a friend, however it is a known good shooter.
MPR is 26 inch, 6.5 CM
Plan: Fire 5 round groups of each ammo type, 2x per rifle & compare the groups. All groups fired at 100M off same rest & sandbag.
I will do the pt 2 review in the second posting. I will stick to issues for this section.
ISSUE 1: CONSISTENCY
I would get 2 or 3 rounds tight then flyers, and at first I was thinking it was just me. So after last time I double checked the torque on EVERYTHING on the rifle. I began to notice as it got warmer, the groups shifted big time (an inch or more), and we are talking just a few shots. I tried taking a few moments between shots and that didn't help either. So I decided to put 25 rounds through the rifle ( had 2x 10 round and 3x 5 round mags with me) and fire a steady pace to see what the group looked like.
This was fired from a caldwell "tac driver" front bag and a rear bag.
First 3 shots were tight on the right, the next few were around the middle, then the rest began walking down and left as it got hotter. I experienced the same issue with a Atlas bipod and sandbag as well. I did the same test with my Tikka in the next photo.
This is 25+ rounds, fired in relatively quick succession. I did not take my time near as much as I did with the MPR and got much better results. I did pull a few slightly.
I understand a hot barrel will open up, but this is not "opening up" its walking low and left the hotter it gets. Anyone got any ideas wtf is wrong with it?
PROBLEM 2: Ammo pressures -
I've seen pressure signs on several loads, many of the "match" loadings are showing some primer distortion, but nothing too serious. Till I tried this:
I cleaned up the bolt and checked the rifle, everything appeared fine. I only fired 2 rounds of this ammo and both did this, and I experienced a sticky bolt as well. The other 18 rounds fired flawlessly through my Tikka with no pressure signs. I was under the impression most ammo was made for longer barreled 6.5 CM. I do not understand why 6 inches would show that much of a difference. All other rounds of other ammo types were fine.
Overall, I like the rifle itself. The chassis is nice, I like the trigger, I like the brake, I like the action too. But it is just not "shooting like a 2500 rifle." My "budget" 308 SPS Tactical shot 3x better than this with that shitty hogue stock on it. Hell my Ruger GSR shoots better than this. At least more consistently. I'm pretty irritated with it in general right now. Debating talking to Eurooptic & Christensen about it. I don't see myself getting another CF barrel.