This is a non-traditional review of a Christen Arms Ridgeline in 300wm. It now shoots 1/2 moa but the journey to get it there was long and arduous.
In August 2021 I bought a Ridgeline because it was on a fire sale; $1425. I knew quality control was hit and miss with CA but I decided to roll the dice at that price. My rifle was the tan stock and had a 24" barrel (this is important later in the review) because I was going to shoot this suppressed. The rifle shot about 2.5 moa with everything (yes 2.5 moa not .25 moa). I followed the CA break in procedure (which is a lot of work) but accuracy never improved. I shot match ammo, Remington Corelokt 180 gr, Winchester 150 gr sp, Barnes 180 grain match and other things but 2.5 moa was all it would do. I did careful load development with Hornady 208 ELDm but no dice; 2.5 moa.
I sent the rifle into CA for warranty work. The returned it within two weeks and said they did another "spot bedding" job. The rifle now shot "to acceptable standards" and their claim was the accuracy issue was due to a "lose muzzle break." They sent me two phots of their test groups with 180 gr Barnes Tripple Shock. One group was 1.25 moa and the other was just over 1 moa. The muzzle break was secured with some type of thread locker and I couldn't get it off. CA told me to send it back. I didn't like that idea and they said to use a torch with a wet rag on the barrel; I did and it was still a chore to get it free.
So, back to the field and I got 1.75 - 2 moa with all factory loads I had tried before. I tried load development again and could get about 1.25 moa but not consistently. I decided to do a bedding job myself. Upon removal of the stock I found a crack all the way through a block just below the rear action screw. I contacted CA and they asked me to send it in. By the way, the spot bedding job was poor (sorry, I don't have the phots).
CA contacted me after two weeks and said the crack shouldn't affect accuracy. I said, "so, you're telling me on a precision rifle a crack is acceptable?" The representative said, well, we don't make tan stocks anymore. I told him I didn't care about the color and he said, "how does black with grey webbing sound?"
I then got an updated email with a list of repairs completed. New stock, new bedding job, new bolt handle (not sure why), new recoil lug and new barrel. The next line said, after these repairs "the barrel failed." So, they put on a new barrel and re-did the bedding job. Two test targets were shown in a photo. One was just over 1 moa and the other was .8 moa. I thought I had a chance.
I got the rifle back and had to remove the break again, despite requesting it not be thread locked to the barrel. Upon receiving the rifle, I noted it had a 26" barrel now instead of a 24". I shot some factory ammo and got about a 1.25 moa group (with the remaining factory ammo I had but it was not match ammo).
So, I loaded up some 225 ELDm's with Ramshot Magnum, Winchester brass and Winchester LRM primers. I got a 1/2 moa load at two different charges. So, that made me happy. The journey to get here was frustrating. A couple of times I was going to drive 100 miles to Sportman's and see what they would give me for it, knowing it wouldn't be much.
Does CA have good customer service? Yes..mostly. Despite getting a 26" barrel instead of the 24" I wanted (for suppressor reasons only) and having to ship and wait two times, the rifle does shoot. I think the displeasure of having to go through this process take some time off my life.
First image is my original 100 yard groups. Second with 76 grains is some of the reloads at 100 yards, the last two are the 225 eldm groups.
I have heard of several other people having to send the rifle in two times to get it right. Ultimately, they fixed the problems. I would expect a rifle in the 2k range to be better out of the box. Anyway, for what it's worth, that was my rifle's journey to 1/2 moa. I have never had so much trouble with any rifle I own.
In August 2021 I bought a Ridgeline because it was on a fire sale; $1425. I knew quality control was hit and miss with CA but I decided to roll the dice at that price. My rifle was the tan stock and had a 24" barrel (this is important later in the review) because I was going to shoot this suppressed. The rifle shot about 2.5 moa with everything (yes 2.5 moa not .25 moa). I followed the CA break in procedure (which is a lot of work) but accuracy never improved. I shot match ammo, Remington Corelokt 180 gr, Winchester 150 gr sp, Barnes 180 grain match and other things but 2.5 moa was all it would do. I did careful load development with Hornady 208 ELDm but no dice; 2.5 moa.
I sent the rifle into CA for warranty work. The returned it within two weeks and said they did another "spot bedding" job. The rifle now shot "to acceptable standards" and their claim was the accuracy issue was due to a "lose muzzle break." They sent me two phots of their test groups with 180 gr Barnes Tripple Shock. One group was 1.25 moa and the other was just over 1 moa. The muzzle break was secured with some type of thread locker and I couldn't get it off. CA told me to send it back. I didn't like that idea and they said to use a torch with a wet rag on the barrel; I did and it was still a chore to get it free.
So, back to the field and I got 1.75 - 2 moa with all factory loads I had tried before. I tried load development again and could get about 1.25 moa but not consistently. I decided to do a bedding job myself. Upon removal of the stock I found a crack all the way through a block just below the rear action screw. I contacted CA and they asked me to send it in. By the way, the spot bedding job was poor (sorry, I don't have the phots).
CA contacted me after two weeks and said the crack shouldn't affect accuracy. I said, "so, you're telling me on a precision rifle a crack is acceptable?" The representative said, well, we don't make tan stocks anymore. I told him I didn't care about the color and he said, "how does black with grey webbing sound?"
I then got an updated email with a list of repairs completed. New stock, new bedding job, new bolt handle (not sure why), new recoil lug and new barrel. The next line said, after these repairs "the barrel failed." So, they put on a new barrel and re-did the bedding job. Two test targets were shown in a photo. One was just over 1 moa and the other was .8 moa. I thought I had a chance.
I got the rifle back and had to remove the break again, despite requesting it not be thread locked to the barrel. Upon receiving the rifle, I noted it had a 26" barrel now instead of a 24". I shot some factory ammo and got about a 1.25 moa group (with the remaining factory ammo I had but it was not match ammo).
So, I loaded up some 225 ELDm's with Ramshot Magnum, Winchester brass and Winchester LRM primers. I got a 1/2 moa load at two different charges. So, that made me happy. The journey to get here was frustrating. A couple of times I was going to drive 100 miles to Sportman's and see what they would give me for it, knowing it wouldn't be much.
Does CA have good customer service? Yes..mostly. Despite getting a 26" barrel instead of the 24" I wanted (for suppressor reasons only) and having to ship and wait two times, the rifle does shoot. I think the displeasure of having to go through this process take some time off my life.
First image is my original 100 yard groups. Second with 76 grains is some of the reloads at 100 yards, the last two are the 225 eldm groups.
I have heard of several other people having to send the rifle in two times to get it right. Ultimately, they fixed the problems. I would expect a rifle in the 2k range to be better out of the box. Anyway, for what it's worth, that was my rifle's journey to 1/2 moa. I have never had so much trouble with any rifle I own.
