Self Defense

New Christensen Rifles Shine in Field Testing

By Mike Dickerson

Springtime on the Texas plains typically means three things: turkey season, tornado season, and rattlesnake season. It also means windy, challenging shooting conditions, as I discovered on a recent trip to the excellent shooting facilities at the Spur Ranch near Lubbock, Texas. I was there with a group of fellow gunwriters, who were no slouches behind the trigger, to test two new rifles from Christensen Arms.

Christensen’s new Modern Precision Rimfire Rifle is an accurate bolt action gun that uses Ruger 10/22 rotary magazines. The gun’s folding stock makes it trim enough to be packable.

We had no issues with tornadoes or rattlesnakes, but we did have to contend with a lot of wind during two days of rigorous testing of the Christensen Modern Precision Rimfire rifle, chambered in 22 LR, and the Christensen Modern Carbon Rifle chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor. We were aided with great spotting, wind calls, and coaching in positional shooting provided by the excellent instructors from Outdoor Solutions, who have built two ranges on the ranch. One traditional range has paper targets at 100 and 200 yards, and three-MOA steel targets every 100 yards after that out to 1,000 yards. There are also targets at 1,250 yards and 1,500 yards, as well as a one-mile target. The rifles were topped with Zeiss Conquest and LRP scopes.

The new Christensen Modern Carbon rifle weighs just 6.7 pounds thanks to its carbon fiber stock and carbon-fiber-wrapped stainless barrel. It is suppressor-ready and is equipped with an adjustable TriggerTech trigger and a 20-MOA rail.

A second range, built to simulate field hunting conditions, consists of life-size game animal targets, including deer, elk, black bear, pronghorn, hog, and coyote targets, semi-hidden in a series of steep, rugged canyons at distances of up to nearly 600 yards. The shooter’s challenge is to find the animals, correct for distance and windage, and ring the steel plate placed behind each target’s vital zone.

Before the wind kicked into high gear, the author found it easy to get hits at 300 yards with the Christensen Modern Precision Rimfire Rifle.

The guns were more than up to the task, and I quickly concluded that Christensen got things right with both new rifles. I began the first day of shooting with the Modern Precision Rimfire Rifle, which is well-named. My zero group at 50 yards was nearly a single-ragged hole with one flyer slightly outside of the group. Thereafter, I easily got hits out to 300 yards before the wind kicked in, gusting to more than 15 mph at times.

The Christensen Modern Precision Rimfire Rifle, chambered in 22 LR, proved to be superbly accurate despite windy conditions, as the author’s 50-yard zero group demonstrates.

That made things a little challenging shooting the new centerfire Modern Carbon Rifle at distance, but the rifle turned in an excellent performance shooting Federal’s Gold Medal CenterStrike 6.5 Creedmoor 140-grain ammunition. Once I got the scope properly zeroed, I had no difficulty working my way out to 1,000 yards from the bench before we switched to working on positional shooting techniques in the afternoon.

The author put the new Christensen Modern Carbon rifle to the long-range test at the Spur Ranch using a Zeiss scope and Federal’s Gold Medal CenterStrike 6.5 Creedmoor 140-grain ammunition.

Day two, spent on the simulated hunting range shooting at life-size game targets, proved to be much more challenging because wind can do fickle things when you’re shooting across a series of ridges and canyons. The wind gusted to nearly 40 mph at times, humbling all of us on some of the trickier targets. The highlight of the day for me was nailing a black bear target, which was giving other shooters fits, with my first shot at 400 yards. We all learned some valuable lessons on doping the wind that day. Here’s a closer look at each of the new rifles.

The author shot the Modern Carbon Rifle out to 1,000 yards in testing at the excellent range facilities at the Spur Ranch in Texas.

The Modern Precision Rimfire Rifle is not your granddaddy’s .22. It’s a sleek little turn-bolt chassis gun that weighs just 6.2 pounds thanks to its trim aluminum receiver with V-block bedding, carbon fiber handguard, and carbon fiber tension barrel. A folding stock makes it packable or handy as a truck gun for dispatching varmints.

Christensen gives you lots of options with this gun. It’s chambered in 17HMR, 22LR, and 22 WMR, and is available with barrels measuring 16, 18, or 20 inches. You also have a choice of black, desert brown, or tungsten Cerakote receiver finishes. The handguard has plenty of M-LOK attachment points, and the gun has six QD flush-cup mounts. The cheek riser has one inch of adjustability, while length of pull is adjustable from 12.5 inches to 14.5 inches.

Day two of the Christensen event consisted of shooting challenging courses of fire involving life-size game animal targets at distances of up to nearly 600 yards in wind gusting to 40 mph.

The action, topped with a 0-MOA optic rail, features a bolt with two locking lugs and dual extractors. It has an excellent TriggerTech trigger, and Christensen wisely chose to equip the rifle with a Ruger 10/22 rotary magazine. The hand-lapped, button-rifled barrel is threaded 1/2X28. The rifle has a sub-MOA 50-yard accuracy guarantee. MSRP starts at $1,249.99.

The other new rifled tested, Christensen’s bolt-action centerfire Modern Carbon Rifle, weighs just 6.7 pounds and has a host of innovative features. The free-floated, button-rifled, hand-lapped barrel is made of 416R stainless steel with an aerograde carbon fiber wrap. It has a match-grade chamber and is threaded (5/8X24) for a suppressor. It comes with a removable RFR-style stainless muzzle brake.

In addition to great shooting ranges and facilities, the Spur Ranch boasts brand-new, comfortable cabins for guests. The ranch is one of the primary locations for long-range and hunter-preparation shooting schools conducted by experienced instructors from Outdoor Solutions.

The precision-machined stainless action has a Remington 700 footprint. It sports a 20-MOA rail on top and has a TriggerTech trigger that’s adjustable within a range of 2.5 pounds to 5 pounds. The skeletonized bolt handle is tipped with a carbon fiber bolt handle. Detachable magazines hold four or three rounds, depending on chambering.

The FFT carbon fiber stock on this rifle departs from traditional stocks in both appearance and function to provide the flexibility that today’s shooters want. For starters, it has a hybrid, nearly vertical grip that I really liked. I found it helped in achieving a consistent, straight-back trigger pull. The stock has a full-length M-LOK forearm with an integrated Picatinny rail section at the bottom front end. There are front and rear QD sling attachment points. Length of pull is adjustable with spacers, and the stock has a push button-adjustable carbon fiber cheek riser.

That’s Greg Ray of Outdoor Solutions, explaining how the range facilities at the Spur Ranch are set up and how shooters would be engaging targets during two days of testing two new Christensen Arms rifles.

The Modern Carbon Rifle is available in 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 PRC, and 308 Win. — all with a 22-inch barrel. Guns chambered in 7mm PRC, 300 Win Mag, and 300 PRC have 24-inch barrels. Rates of twist vary but are appropriate for each chambering. The rifles have a sub-MOA 100-yard accuracy guarantee. MSRPs start at $2399.99.

I came away impressed with the quality and accuracy of both guns, as well as Christensen’s renewed commitment to customer service. That operation has been revamped and moved to Texas. For more information, contact Christensen Arms; Tel.: 888-517-8855; Web: https://christensenarms.com.