Christensen Arms Mesa Thoughts

I ordered one last fall and was very excited to start shooting it. A buddy of mine had bought one first and it was a tack driver, so he convinced me to buy the same gun but in different color.
I didn't have the same luck he did. Right out of the box the chamber was so tight and rough cut that you couldn't even close the bolt on factory ammo.
I called up CA, and although their customer service person was friendly and easy to work with, he made it seem like it was no big deal and it happens all the time, and that I'll have to send it in "to get the chamber polished." May not be a big deal to them but I was really hoping to take this on my mule deer hunt in a month.
Taking it to my own smith would've voided the warranty, so with my hands tied, I shipped it back to CA.
I get an email 3 weeks later saying they put a new barrel on it, and made sure it would chamber and extract a factory loaded round, and said it was good to go.
Well I had just left for my mule deer hunt (in which I had to sadly bring my old rifle instead of this new one that I was excited about) so the repaired CA would have to wait at my FFL until I got back.

After the hunt I picked up the new barreled rifle, mounted the scope again, and headed back to the range. Like they said, it would chamber and extract a factory round, but after extraction you could see scratches on the side of the bullet where some imperfections were left in the freebore of the chamber. Oh well, at least I could shoot now. And man did it shoot great! I will give it to this gun, it shoots factory ammo very well!
But I like to develop my own loads, so I began loading up some test loads with many different powders and bullet combos, all starting at the minimum charge weight (sometimes even lower). And once again I was very disappointed in what I found. Didn't seem to matter what combination of components, charge weight, or seating depth, I would hit pressure very early and would get creedmoor speeds out of this 6.5 PRC.
I ended up taking it to a local smith and he checked the headspacing with his go no go gauges. The bolt closed on the go gauge, but would not close with a piece of masking tape on the back of the go gauge, so extremely tight headspacing (and probably a dull reamer at the CA factory ) is my issue.

Not wanting to have to send it back again, I decided to live with it and just bought a bunch of that factory ammo that it loves to shoot, and decided I'll just rebarrel it myself once this barrel has ran it's course.
Thank you for sharing your experience with this rifle! Great info! I am thinking that I may just keep it and stick a scope that I currently have on it and seeing what happens. Thanks again!!
 
I have a CA Mesa, in 6.5 CM, that I bought in 2019. I have about 300 rounds through it, and I'm very satisfied with it. I bought it on somewhat a sale at Sportsman's Warehouse for I believe approx $1200.

It was very easy for load development for a few recipes. I'm below .450 moa with 3-round groups with 140 BT, 140 AB, and 143 ELD-X bullets. I think the Trigger Tech trigger is very consistent and breaks cleanly. The action is pretty smooth and the rifle feels well balanced in my hands. The stock feels a little plastic-like, but not as bad as some rifle brands.

I think it's a solid working hunt rifle, and I'm not afraid to use it in rough conditions. I drew a very good mule tag this fall, and I'm trusting that tag with this rifle.
 
I have a CA Mesa, in 6.5 CM, that I bought in 2019. I have about 300 rounds through it, and I'm very satisfied with it. I bought it on somewhat a sale at Sportsman's Warehouse for I believe approx $1200.

It was very easy for load development of s few recipes. I'm below .450 moa with 3-round groups with 140 BT, 140 AB, and 143 ELD-X bullets. I think the Trigger Tech trigger is very consistent and breaks cleanly. The action is pretty smooth and the rifle feels well balanced in my hands. The stock feels a little plastic-like, but not as bad as some rifle brands.

I think it's a solid working hunt rifle, and I'm not afraid to use it in rough conditions. I drew a very good mule tag this fall, and I'm trusting that tag with this rifle.
Awesome! Thank you for the info!! Good luck on your Mule Deer hunt!!!
 
Awesome! Thank you for the info!! Good luck on your Mule Deer hunt!!!
I know CA had some issues with the 300 WM and 7mm RM in the Ridgeline a few years back, but I think that's over. I know there are members on this thread that have had issues with the Mesa, and I believe no manufacturer is completely faultless. I feel badly for them and anyone else who shells out hard-earned money, only to have to fight with the manufacturer to make it right. Is mine a 99/100 example, a 50/50, or was I just lucky? I can't answer that, but I'd buy another one.
 
I know CA had some issues with the 300 WM and 7mm RM in the Ridgeline a few years back, but I think that's over. I know there are members on this thread that have had issues with the Mesa, and I believe no manufacturer is completely faultless. I feel badly for them and anyone else who shells out hard-earned money, only to have to fight with the manufacturer to make it right. Is mine a 99/100 example, a 50/50, or was I just lucky? I can't answer that, but I'd buy another one.
Completely agree! Thanks!!
 
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