By Jeff Johnston, FE Hunting & Shooting Editor
In testing rifles for outdoor publications, there’s always a chance that savvy PR people will ship us a particularly good-shooting rifle they cherry-picked rather than choosing one at random off the production line. They’d argue they’re just doing their job. I’d argue that they—and therefore we—are doing readers a disservice.
When I asked Christensen to choose a random Ridgeline FFT rifle for a review, they did me one better; they invited FE Managing Editor Charlie Benton and me to the factory in Gunnison, Utah, to assemble a couple of them ourselves using parts right off the line. That was pretty confident of them, as I can barely screw two boards together and Charlie can’t zip his own jeans, but we accepted anyway. Here’s what I learned:
For starters, I learned that Christensen Arms was started by Dr. Roland Christensen in 1995, two years after he applied all he knew about making state-of-the-art carbon-fiber parts for the aerospace and prosthetics industries and began applying it to rifle barrels. That’s right, Proof isn’t the godfather of carbon-fiber barrels … Christensen is. In 2002 the company began making carbon-fiber stocks, proprietary actions in 2011, and complete centerfire rifles for hunters that garnered a reputation for their light weight and accuracy. After the full factory tour, I learned that Christensen is one of the few smaller-shop rifle companies that actually makes its own barrels in house before wrapping them in carbon-fiber. (Barrel making is extremely tough to do well.) Uniquely, the factory uses a combination of robotics/CNC machines along with human hand-fitting and barrel-lapping to give the guns the best of both worlds in terms of efficient, cost-effective production and attention to detail down to the individual gun level. I believe you must have both to make supremely accurate guns that remain affordable.
When I say I assembled my rifle, I meant it, right down to arguably the most critical part of the assembly process, which is tightening the Christensen 416R SS Aerograde Carbon Fiber Wrap barrel onto the company’s proprietary receiver so that it is headspaced perfectly for the caliber chosen. I chose, of course, .300 Win. Mag., and so did Charlie—because straight friends don’t let straight friends choose Creedmoors. The headspacing process was easy, requiring nothing more than a torque wrench and some elbow grease, thanks to the precision engineering of the action and barrels long before they ever reached our untrained hands.
Next I installed the firing pin, springs, and extractor into the bolt, the bolt-release button into the action, then installed the Trigger Tech trigger (the only major component Christensen doesn’t make) and tuned it to three pounds. Then we proofed each barreled action to make sure it could withstand a 130-percent-power load and not kill us. They passed and earned their proof stamps. Then I laser engraved the barrel before mixing up epoxy and hand-bedding the barreled action’s recoil lug into the stock. Next came the mag well, hinged floorplate, and bottom metal before tightening it all together with an exact amount of torque placed on the stock screws. Finally, I installed a picatinny rail on which I mounted a Leupold VX-5 3-15x-44mm scope. Unbelievably, the whole thing weighs under six-and-a-half pounds.
With the new rig in hand, yet unsure if it would even function, I headed to Christensen’s underground testing tunnel where my 100-yard groups would be measured electronically so there could be no fudging. No bullshit, with three witnesses plus the computer umpire, my rifle shot .54-inch groups with Barnes Vortex hunting ammunition. To everyone’s shock, Charlie then bested me with a .3-inch group from his rifle. The next day we replaced our rifles’ muzzle breaks with Silencerco Scythe Ti suppressors and easily hit steel targets out to 1,000 yards despite an angry Utah wind.
If I wasn’t a fan of Christensen rifles before—honestly I just didn’t know a whole lot about them—I certainly am now. A sub-seven-pound .300 Win. Mag. that shoots half-inch groups for less than two grand? That’s just silly. Call me a fanboy if you wish, but either way I’m not selling you the rifle. Besides, it’s got my name on it.
Cost: $2,050
Pros: lightweight, sub-MOA guarantee, choose your chambering, custom gun quality
Cons: still looking for one
