Dont Buy A Christensen Arms!!!

[Anthonywv]

Hey there everyone, I just want to give everyone a heads up warning about a manufacturer that claims to produce high end rifles. Christensen Arms. I purchased a CA BA Tactical in 6.5 Creedmoor 26" Carbon fiber barrel. This is a $2,700 Rifle, not to mention i put a Vortex Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27X56. So here I am with over $5K into this package for distance shooting, and I get to the range to sight her in. I'm already 30 rounds in, and unable to keep a zero. This gun is shooting 1.5 inches to the left, then out of no where it's shooting an inch to the right. I'm sitting there feeling like an idiot, I'm a competative PRS shooter. I then let my two buddies try it who were with me at the range. My one friend is a PRS shooter who trained with the Navy Seals, and he even said the gun sucked. He was still shooting inches off the target. We let the barrel cool down, then shot 3 rounds and they were near perfect. But the next 5 rounds we shot were 2 inches off. Keep in mind this is at 100 yards. My other friend who has been competing for years noticed that it was the barrel making contact with the stock. And not just a little contact, the barrell was touching the entire left side of the stock when you look down the bore. We can't even fit a dollar bill through the chanel. We take off the action and barrel and notice a complete crap bedding job. It looked like some amature bedded this thing. There was significantly more bedding material on one side of the rifle. The action litteraly sat crooked in the stock. I'm at the range and I call Christensen Arms. I wish I had this conversation recorded. The guy basically said, "well you can send the gun in at your expense, and we can grind out the stock." Ok, No! The gun needs to be bedded right, any gunsmith can do it, but the guy at CA said it would void my warranty. I asked how long it would take for them to fix this issue. Im assuming a week or so. "Nope, it will take about 2 month's." Now I'm pissed, this guy then went on and basically said, "Sorry. I can't help you." "Since you removed the barrel you voided the warranty." Are you kidding me?! I spend thousands on a gun that is supposed to be gods gift of shooting, and my 20 year old Weatherby 270 shoots better groups!!!! I've been sharing this story at all my matches with professional competative shooters to get the word out, so that no one makes the mistake of buying a CA. I now learned that their quality control sucks, their customer service is even worse. And the most unfortunate part, is that they don't stand behind their products at all. I am a very unsatisfied customer, and they didn't offer anything like a partial refund, or exchange. I'm telling all of you. Just get a Tikka, they will stand behind their products, and they definatly produce a better rifle. I will continue to post my story on forums and word of mouth. If you read this, please tell your friends. No one deserved to get screwed out of thousands of dollars. I really hope CA can correct this or offer me a refund, it's just sad to see a company with such a cool story have this happen. I hope someday they can produce a nice rifle.

CA, if you see this and want to help me out, if be very greatful. Email me at [email protected]. and anyone who wants pics of the gun to see the issue, email me, and I'll send them over.

Anthony Valtierra

 

[W54/XM-388]

My one friend is a PRS shooter who trained with the Navy Seals, and he even said the gun sucked.

Sorry to hear your rifle is a bit of a mess I hope you are able to get them to take care of it for you.
That being said, joining up to this site specifically to start bashing a company (as your first post none the less), with statements like the above, is going to get you a fair bit of ribbing... just so you know....

 

[Jackalope]

You could’ve fixed it in the time it took you to bitch about it.

 

[steve123]

Unfortunately a friend's good friend had a similar experience. I told him to buy another brand but he wanted the rifle now and it was right in front of him. After that I washed my hands of the situation- askhole.

 

[b6graham]

this isn't the first report about them. especially with the customer service...seems about the equivalent of working with a doorknob compared to say Tom Manners or Kasey at B&T who actually back their products

 

[Anthonywv]

Sorry to hear your rifle is a bit of a mess I hope you are able to get them to take care of it for you.
That being said, joining up to this site specifically to start bashing a company (as your first post none the less), with statements like the above, is going to get you a fair bit of ribbing... just so you know....

I understand, I hate to bash the company, I really hope they can step up their game. It's a cool company, and great story. I just don't want anyone to go through this, that's all.

 

[Lunchbox27]

Pretty sure the customer service rep misunderstood you. There is no way removing the barreled action from the stock voids the warranty. I would call back and ask to speak to someone else. Understand that this will take time to resolve as you're not their only customer with issues. There was another member here a few weeks ago that just got his back. They went above and beyond to test the rifle with a new barrel to his standards, so I'm sure CA will take care of you if you send it back.

 

[RTH1800]

My CA expirence was very similar years ago.

 

[j741]

CA, if you see this and want to help me out, if be very greatful. Email me at [email protected]. and anyone who wants pics of the gun to see the issue, email me, and I'll send them over.

Anthony Valtierra

After reading the start of your post, I'm confused by you ending it this way. The old saying of getting more flies with honey does actually apply. I can understand being upset, but when you start off with saying you're posting everywhere about how bad they are and how everyone should avoid them, it doesn't seem like you would really want to work with them to try and resolve it. Understand you're pissed at what you're seeing, but take a step back to think what you want done and then think how best to accomplish it. It's very likely that railing on them will be less productive than engaging with them in a less confrontational or aggressive manner.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Your account with CS is either a misunderstanding or BS. They would not say what you claim they did given the circumstances, the CS reps won't even tell you any possible repair procedures over the phone because they're unfamiliar since they're CS and not gunsmiths. They'll tell you that their gunsmiths have to look at it, and if you go on the website and fill out the RMA form under the "returns and repairs" tab they'll email you an RMA and they send a return label.

You should try that if you actually want to get this resolved instead of bitching on the internet because you were possibly unfortunate enough to get a bad apple. Or you could call and speak Jeff Bradley and try to have a little bit nicer attitude.

It's pretty ironic that you claim to be a "competitive PRS shooter" to qualify your shooting abilities, yet you don't show up on the PRS site as having a profile. Nor did a search put your name under any match results. This claim which is not backed up pretty much disqualifies anything you say, at least for me.

And I gotta ask, did you even bother testing the optic on another rifle afterwards, or putting another optic on this rifle to eliminate that possibility?

 

[ruebarb]

It's a Vortex, I'd question the scope before the rifle, Vortex has great warranty, they also produce alot of defective optics.

 

[m6z]

From the threads I've read over the years the quality has always been hit and miss at CA. I'll never be one of their customers after all of the horror stories I've read. They make some interesting stuff, but not worth the risk IMO.

 

[b6graham]

It's a Vortex, I'd question the scope before the rifle, Vortex has great warranty, they also produce alot of defective optics.

not sure if serious or trolling

 

[redneckbmxer24]

From the threads I've read over the years the quality has always been hit and miss at CA. I'll never be one of their customers after all of the horror stories I've read. They make some interesting stuff, but not worth the risk IMO.

One thing you need to keep in mind, to my knowledge CA is who started the carbon wrapped barrels. The early ones were very hit or miss and IMO mostly miss. Carbon fiber wrapping has come a long way in recent years and CA as well as other companies are putting out some very solid barrels now. The core of the barrel is great, but there's room for error when laying the carbon. If you think that you can't get a bad proof barrel, or even a bad non CF you're sadly mistaken. There's certainly more of a risk with the carbon wrapped barrels, and you're still most likely to get a good one but if you get a bad one CA will certainly take care of it. It's as simple as that.

They can't shoot 20+ rounds to zero and accuracy test every gun before it leaves the factory though. There's added cost involved + time, both of which the customer base will complain about because people are unreasonable. Not to mention the gun will look "used".

If you only bought from companies who never put out bad guns, you wouldn't own any guns. They all do, even the best custom gunsmiths with the highest attention to detail have stuff go back. It's who will make it right and who will tell you to kick rocks, and CA will make it right.

 

[ruebarb]

not sure if serious or trolling

I've had a red dot die right out box the box, RMR with a bad dot out of the box, scope that had bad cap threads, flew off when shooting the 1st time, they're cheap and customer service is great. But don't assume because it is a Vortex it may not be defective. They lack in QAQC.

 

[b6graham]

I've had a red dot die right out box the box, RMR with a bad dot out of the box, scope that had bad cap threads, flew off when shooting the 1st time, they're cheap and customer service is great. But don't assume because it is a Vortex it may not be defective. They lack in QAQC.

it's been pretty well discussed that cheap stuff is just that cheap and more total units means more incident reports. also big difference between a $100 red dor and a $2500 razor...

and you can see the barrel rubbing. come on now

 

[redneckbmxer24]

it's been pretty well discussed that cheap stuff is just that cheap and more total units means more incident reports. also big difference between a $100 red dor and a $2500 razor...

and you can see the barrel rubbing. come on now

I'm not going to sit here and claim that Gen 2 Razors are the biggest turds on the planet because they're not, but they do fail. I personally know two people who have received them that were defective out of the box. It happens.

If you're going to call out a manufacturer like this you should have already verified every other possible source of the problem, including the optic. There's no mention that was done.

Yes there's a pictured of the barrel contacting the stock. That proves nothing other than that the barrel may be contacting the stock. Lots of rifles with pressure points shoot bugholes, and lots of floated rifles shoot like shit if something else is amiss.

So not only is there no mention that this "competitive PRS shooter" (who has no profile on the PRS site) has verified the optic and mount, there's also no mention of testing to see if it's the stock. We all know how difficult it would be to take this barreled action that has a Remington 700 short action footprint from it's stock and drop it into a chassis to test this possibility. I can only imagine how difficult it would be for a "competitive PRS shooter" to source a 700SA chassis to test since they're as rare as a unicorn shart!

There's a lot wrong with this story from the PRS claims, to the CS agents statements, to suggesting he's at a $5K loss and including the price of the optic. Based on the PRS claims I wouldn't even rule out shooter error.

 

[Gil P.]

It's sounds like when you called customer service, you told the rep that you removed the barrel... Or at least he understood it as such. Call back and explain to them that you simply removed the barreled action, it would be ridiculous for them not to make this right, it should have never left the factory that way.
When you get it back, double check the torque on your mounts, sight in and check the scope tracking.
Let us know how it turns out, sometimes things like this teach you a lot.

 

[BOLTRIPPER]

It's sounds like when you called customer service, you told the rep that you removed the barrel... Or at least he understood it as such. Call back and explain to them that you simply removed the barreled action, it would be ridiculous for them not to make this right, it should have never left the factory that way.
When you get it back, double check the torque on your mounts, sight in and check the scope tracking.
Let us know how it turns out, sometimes things like this teach you a lot.

this

 

[ThePretzel]

The BA Tactical comes with a sub-MOA guarantee (for 3 shots, anyways). This leaves only a couple of options as to what happened

- Christensen doesn't shoot test groups with their rifles (entirely possible, if not likely, since I work for a dealer and have never seen a test target)
- Your scope is having issues due to mounting/defect
- You're a poor shot

Let's discount options 2 and 3 for the time being and assume it's option 1 (though I encourage you to test option 2 out, by checking torque and setting up the scope on a second rifle to test it). Here's what the Christensen Arms warranty says about what it takes to void their warranty.

This limited warranty is null and void if the firearm has been misused; damaged (by accident or abuse); fired with hand-loaded, reloaded or otherwise improper ammunition; fired with an obstruction in the barrel; damaged through failure to provide reasonable and necessary maintenance as described in the manual accompanying the firearm; or if unauthorized repair or any alteration, including of a cosmetic nature, has been performed on the firearm by a party other than CHRISTENSEN ARMS. This limited warranty does not apply to normal wear and tear of any parts.

Removing and re-installing the barreled action would not be something that voids your warranty, if I'm reading this correctly, because it's not a repair nor an alteration. In fact it would be considered by most to be just a maintenance operation since a complete and thorough cleaning of the rifle and trigger practically requires it. Sanding down the stock or attempting to fix the bedding job would be something that voids your warranty (as would likely be removing the barrel itself from your action). If you haven't done those things, I would recommend you give them a call and make sure to clarify that you simply removed the barreled action and not the barrel itself from the action.

Having dealt with Christensen customer service in the past several times I haven't had many issues. They've got lead times (2 months, from what you stated), but so does any gunsmith out there (and many people wait more than 2 months after ordering a rifle built by a gunsmith, unfortunately). It's definitely inexcusable for the barrel to leave their factory with the stock contacting the barrel (they should do at least a dollar bill free-float test), but it's also possible that the gun wasn't exactly treated nicely by whoever shipped it to your FFL.

As far as the 2 month lead time itself goes, I wouldn't say it's longer than industry standard even if it may be longer than anyone wants. I bought a Ruger Mark IV before the recall and when I called to see how long the recall would take to fix I was told it would be about a 3-4 month wait before my gun shipped back to me. I've read up on people's experience with warranty repairs from Savage or Remington and they seem to be in the 1-3 month ballpark (with some on Rimfire Central reporting Savage repairs/replacements taking almost 6 months).

I understand the frustration of not having the use of the gun you just bought, but if you're unwilling to go through their warranty process and the time it involves I'm not sure what you expect the company to do to fix the problem. There was a miscommunication about you removing the barrel that needs to be cleared up, but once that is clarified (unless you did, in fact, remove the barrel from the action) they can help you by offering customer service and not much else.

 

[MTS308]

I personally own a CA mesa in 308 ( pencil barrel not carbon wrapped) and I had a similar accuracy problem as you. When I first bought the rifle I mounted a leupold vx3 4.5-14x40 cds 30mm on it with leupold rings and bases to use as a hunting rifle. After breaking the barrel in I was getting between 1.5 and 2 Moa 3 shot groups at 100y with match ammo.(federal gmm nosler custom competition and hornady match) I called the dealer they said to call CA and talk to them so I did. When I explained to the cs rep what was going on he asked me what ammo I was using and what my round count was. I told him that I had put 40 rounds of different match ammo they it and he laughed and told me to keep shooting and if it hadn't got any better by the time I reached 100 rounds to call him back and they would fix it. So I kept shooting and by the time I reached 75 rounds I was consistently getting 3/4 moa groups and a few 1/2 moa groups at 100y. So my experience with CA customer service was ok. But that being said I have looked at the ba tactical in 300 win mag and I keep telling myself to have a reputable gunsmith( i.e. Ga precision LRI spartan precision etc....)build what I want instead buying ba tactical. Just my 2 cents take it for what it's worth. Here is a few gfoups I shot with my mesa.

 

[davidwiz]

There is this new-fangled invention called "paragraphs". Look into it.

 

[MTS308]

There is this new-fangled invention called "paragraphs". Look into it.

If you are talking to me. My bad.

 

[Earnhardt]

Bad deal bro...

 

[Dai Bando]

I find it funny they let that go out the door.

It's kinda funny you didn't notice it either.

Had a buddy got a 6.5 CM with a 1-9" twist.

They charged him to put on a 1-8". Ha!

 

[Boltfluter]

CA has always been hit or miss for as long as I can remember. A hard lesson to learn. Good luck.

Paul

www.boltfluting.com

 

[Sheldon N]

This limited warranty is null and void if the firearm has been misused; damaged (by accident or abuse); fired with hand-loaded, reloaded or otherwise improper ammunition; fired with an obstruction in the barrel; damaged through failure to provide reasonable and necessary maintenance as described in the manual accompanying the firearm; or if unauthorized repair or any alteration, including of a cosmetic nature, has been performed on the firearm by a party other than CHRISTENSEN ARMS. This limited warranty does not apply to normal wear and tear of any parts.

Firing hand loads or reloaded ammo nullifies your warranty? What a crock.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

I'm not aware of a single manufacturer who doesn't state in the manual that the warranty is void if firing handloads. They've got no control over what the end user is doing. There's a lot of idiots who have no idea what they're doing and fuck up guns.

 

[ruebarb]

Firing hand loads or reloaded ammo nullifies your warranty? What a crock.

The policy is comical, also that they are so arrogant. Compare it to MasterPiece Arms , they have a 3 shot 3/8 MOA guarantee and if you call them they will give load data for each caliber.

 

[jsthntn247]

Those fucktards used to have a hunting show. I watched 1 episode and thought no way in hell would I every buy one of their products.

 

[Sheldon N]

I'm not aware of a single manufacturer who doesn't state in the manual that the warranty is void if firing handloads. They've got no control over what the end user is doing. There's a lot of idiots who have no idea what they're doing and fuck up guns.

I grabbed another manufacturer's warranty to compare....

Remington does not warrant against any type of defect to the firearm that Remington did not cause, including but not limited to damage or defects arising out of:

1. Failure to provide proper care and maintenance,
2. Accidents, abuse, or misuse,
3. Barrel obstruction,
4. Hand loaded, reloaded, or improper ammunition,
5. Unauthorized adjustments, repairs, or modifications, or
6. Normal wear and tear.

Subtle difference, but one says if you damage the gun with handloads no warranty. The other says if you fire handloads at all, no warranty. I've got no problem with the former.

 

[generalzip]

My experience has been quite different. I own a CA Ridgeline in 28 Nosler. The bedded job was shit. There were parts of bedding material stuck to the bottom of the action. Wasn't too happy about that and the gun was pretty picky with my handloads. Once I backed the charge off a bit I got a 180 VLD hunting bullet going 3025 into about 1/2"-3/4" groups. I was pretty happy with that. I also own a Modern precision rifle in 6.5 CM and its a flat out laser. Love the rifle. Only bad thing about it is the magnet attracts rust a good bit, but that isn't their fault. Hopefully they make it right for you.

 

[Quarter Horse]

Anthony, you should check everything before recontacting CA. That includes action screws, scope base, rings and the scope itself. You need to be sure everything is torqued to specs. It seems clear the CS rep. thought you said you had taken the barrel off the action which would void the warranty.
Another member had a similar problem with a CA MPR. He contacted CA and was directed to return the rifle. He did so on the 2nd of May and he got it back on the 25th of June. The same time frame CA had given you. The member details his experience which he found satisfactory. Here is the thread https://www.snipershide.com/shootin...-mpr-follow-up-review-problems.6881986/page-3


It is clear you need to recontact CA CS. Please keep us advised of the results. A lot of people use SH to make informed buying decisions.

 

[Bradu]

The way I see it is if they did that piss poor of a job then I would spend a couple hundred bucks and have a good Smith mill it out and bed it correctly. I understand that everyone fucks up but that is a pretty obvious one by the pictures. Not to mention, they want him to pay shipping for their fuck up?

 

[TheGerman]

I may have missed where you said what stock it was, but is that a HS Precision stock?

If it is, I know what went wrong and its a mix of the stock was fucked up directly from HS Precision as the out of round, out of spec channel is a very common occurrence with them as well as whoever bedded the stock and then fit the rifle didn't know what they were doing/didn't pay attention to it/didnt QC it.

 

[QuietShootr]

I’ve seen a good number of fucked up brand-new CA rifles, enough that I wouldn’t touch one. The LGS I use ordered ~12 of them and there was something visibly wrong or janky with every one of them. All of them had to go back at least once, and the one the owner kept for himself went back twice for poor accuracy. Ridiculous for what they want for those guns.

 

[Quarter Horse]

The stock is branded as CA and they sell the stock alone. Considering their experience with carbon fiber lay-up they have the tech to do it themselves. In the this case it doesn't make any difference whether it's their construction or subbed. The OP needs to get the rifle back to them and give them the opportunity to correct the problem.

 

[aard3]

barrel should be free-floating...clearly that issue needs to get resolved before speculating about other possible issues...

 

[tree man]

Reading this makes me love my 900$ 1/4 to 3/8 MOA Tikka Ctr even more! Hope you get it straightened out.

 

[Alexander Cain]

I wrote a pretty lengthy page myself on my experience with CA. It was linked above by another user. I tried everything, retorque, diff loads, diff scope and rails, etc. Nothing worked. Posted a pic on their FB page and was contacted within a few hours. Sent it back with some decent documentation and pics of the issue.

Took a while to get back but it's stupid accurate now. They rebarreled it. Hornady bulk 6.5 shooting under MOA, 143 loads around half an inch, as well as some federal match loads under that. It's not a one hole gun, but I'm not a one hole shooter just yet.

As always, YMMV but I am content now. I had planned to sell it when I got it back till I saw the target and tried it again myself. It's now my hunting rifle.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

Damn, you didn't notice the barrel wasn't free floated when you went to pick it up? You should of sent it back right then. I just have one question? Why did you pick this manufacturer in the first place? It had to be based on something righteous and hopeful.

All these people are swamped with orders and if it wasn't for some basic tools and the barrel nut I would have stopped long ago. Learn to build your own fucking rifle. It is not that difficult.

 

[PinesAndProjectiles]

Damn, you didn't notice the barrel wasn't free floated when you went to pick it up?

My thoughts exactly. How does a guy not notice this? Should have left it on the shelf or told the FFL to send it back.

 

[lennyo3034]

While there is definitely something jacked up with that rifle, and it should have never left the factory like that. It should also have never left the FFL like that and I would never have accepted it.

I find the story about the CS hard to believe. I've called CS before with questions and while they weren't the sharpest tools in the shed, they were willing to help in every way they could. Unless you were just so incredibly abrasive that they just didn't want to deal with you.

None of the CA rifles interested me at all until the MPR. Chassis ergos, right side folder, lightweight package greatly appealed to me so I bought one with the idea to keep the chassis and sell off the barreled action. However I decided to test the BA first and was so pleasantly surprised by how well it shot, I kept it. It is now my primary hunting rifle and I may shoot a small match with it.

 

[QuietShootr]

[someguywithmoremoneyandegothanbrains]fuck you, man, it’s like you expect a $4000 rifle to be free floated, shoot better than a Mossberg 500, and not be finished by a drunk Mexican with a can of Kentucky chrome! Fuckin’ new guys!![/SGWMMAETB]

 

[r0ttie1]

While there is definitely something jacked up with that rifle, and it should have never left the factory like that. It should also have never left the FFL like that and I would never have accepted it.

I find the story about the CS hard to believe. I've called CS before with questions and while they weren't the sharpest tools in the shed, they were willing to help in every way they could. Unless you were just so incredibly abrasive that they just didn't want to deal with you.

None of the CA rifles interested me at all until the MPR. Chassis ergos, right side folder, lightweight package greatly appealed to me so I bought one with the idea to keep the chassis and sell off the barreled action. However I decided to test the BA first and was so pleasantly surprised by how well it shot, I kept it. It is now my primary hunting rifle and I may shoot a small match with it.

Glad to hear that, as just bought one.

 

[308pirate]

My one friend is a PRS shooter who trained with the Navy Seals

If I had a buck for every time I heard that.......

 

[SubOptimal]

If I had a buck for every time I heard that.......

Based on the number of times I have heard it, Seals must do nothing but train other guys to shoot.
I think the folks who claim such may have met someone claiming to be a Seal in a bar somewhere. Then again, I have never met anyone who claimed to be a Seal. I'm sure I have met a couple in my 76 years of running around this planet but they tend to be a pretty closed mouth bunch.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

Closed mouth bunch. You're being fictitious, right? The last one I trained with was moonlighting for Vivid Entertainment.

OP, did you get this resolved?

 

[SubOptimal]

Closed mouth bunch. You're being fictitious, right? The last one I trained with was moonlighting for Vivid Entertainment.

OP, did you get this resolved?

Closed mouth about being a SEAL. They usually get as drunk and loud as any other group, maybe more so than some. I have seen some epic fights as well but the guys to watch out for are normally quiet and listening rather than boasting.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

You must have missed the briefing where they were told to STFU. It must have been the lack of humidity.