Just passing along the info that we were told from CA about their Carbon Barrels. Three shots and let it cool completely.
- Thread starter jb1000br
- Start date
Just passing along the info that we were told from CA about their Carbon Barrels. Three shots and let it cool completely.
I get you're just the messenger but this is ridiculous for a company to say as if it justifies the problem.
Of course you need to let the barrel cool, but cool completely after three shots? Lol. Why not just say "Our Barrels are suboptimal"? Nobody in their right mind would ever buy a precision barrel that needs to cool completely after 3 shots. Or maybe I just haven't seen enough competitions where you take 3 shots
According to them, their Carbon barrels aren't "precision" barrels but "hunting" barrels. At least to the rep I talked to about it. Im not trying to change people's minds about them. I sell them and our gunsmiths does Canada's Warranty work on them. We've had only a few come back for warranty issues. These generally have the barrels swapped to a Proof Carbon barrel and out the door they go. I don't remember ever seeing a steel barrelled CA rifle come back due to accuracy issues.
I personally went with a steel barrel because the rep told me that I could shoot longer strings between cooling. That being said I wanted a Carbon Barrel Ridgeline go through probably 200 rounds of 6.5 creedmoor in one and a half days without losing accuracy. The barrel got hot enough to at least partially melt the sticker on the barrel.
Pardon me RO, could you please be so kind as to pause the timer indefinitely while my barrel cools?
In all fairness, the rifle is a Christensen Arms MPR, which stands for Modern Precision Rifle, according to their marketing materials. I think it is reasonable to presume that a modern precision rifle with a sub-MOA guarantee will do better than 2"-5" groups that are all over the place. I get there can be a bad barrel now and then. My frustration is that they say they have met their guarantee and won't do anything to make it right. I just want what I paid for, a sub-MOA modern precision rifle.
I'm with you on that. If you were in Canada I'd say send it in to me and I'd personally look at it and shoot it and give an honest opinion. I don't doubt your claims and I understand your frustration. In my opinion you deserve a replacement barrel.
Update on the CA 300 WM. I contacted CA again and had a candid discussion regarding the options. I also sent them pics of targets. They said I should just use the one factory load that they used to test the gun and that appears to shoot relatively okay in the rifle. They will not do anything else; no refund, no barrel swap, no retest, nothing. Guess I won't be a CA customer anymore, ever. I hesitated buying a CA because of some of the online reviews but I ultimately decided to buy it, thinking it couldn't be as bad as some say. Well....it really is that bad. Horrible firearm!
Hi bud, What factory load did they tell you to use? Just fyi, I have two of there rifles the CA-10 DMR .308 Win Match 18" & the Christensen Arms Modern Precision Rifle .308 Win 16" 1:10" All I do is casual target shooting. The Mpr i shoot a hundred rounds at a time usually hand loads or Fed 168 grain match and it has always been rock solid. DMR I shoot about the same and can normally drill out a bullseye at 100 yards. Both my rifles are 2-3 years old. I dont know if they have changed them much over the last few years. I am old and shaky and figured they could shoot better with a better shooter. The reason I went with those two rifles was purely one factor - they were the lightest weight i could find. I have some health issues and have found the lighter the better. I wish I loaded 300 WM so I could see if that would help you. I would call and ask them to talk to the owner. Maybe that would get there attention. For an American Co, they should be bending over backwards to help their customers.
This still bugs me that they are treating you like this. We literally just rebarreled a rifle because it wouldn't shoot under 2 MOA and it was covered by warranty.
Hi All, there appears to be a new version out and was referenced above with the different carbon pattern. Is that the only update or is there more to it?
Trying to work out which 338LM to go.
Thanks
Trying to work out which 338LM to go.
Thanks
Yup, everything is same except the Carbon Pattern.
Thanks for the quick response!
Christensen is really turning out junk these days in the big bores. Folks in our group who have a 6.5, .223, .308 from them are shooting good sub-moa accuracy, but EVERYONE I talk to that has a CF in a 300 win mag, 300 PRC, etc is having accuracy issues (2 shots touching then massive flyer, or 2moa or worse in general). On top of that, they aren’t supporting their warranty, in many cases claiming “shooter error”. I don’t get it and will not be buying any more guns from them. Too many other makers who give a rip.
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Well I originally bought a Christensen 308 MPR competition and shot some LC Lr though it. Couldn’t get it to group below 2 MOA.
I thought it was maybe the ammo or just me being a shitty shooter.
Well traded it in for an MPA Curtis action 308 and got .3 MOA with the same lot ammo.
I think if I was to ever own a CA again it would be for a 6.5 creed hunting rig.
The carbon hand guard was neat but it had too much flex on it.
I thought it was maybe the ammo or just me being a shitty shooter.
Well traded it in for an MPA Curtis action 308 and got .3 MOA with the same lot ammo.
I think if I was to ever own a CA again it would be for a 6.5 creed hunting rig.
The carbon hand guard was neat but it had too much flex on it.
They’re very hit or miss (no pun intended) I’ve found. Mine I can cold bore a 3/4 MOA target at 1000 consistently but my buddy’s can’t hit the broad side of a barn (and he’s the better shooter than me when we’re using the same equipment)
I’ve written this before so I’ll save the long version but tell your buddy to call CA and they’ll make it right with shipping on their dime. They went above and beyond for me with a loose hinge on the folding stock and replaced the barrel without asking after I had put 600 or so rounds through it thinking it was ok for me shooting it. 1 moa for 10 shot groups before they replaced it for “not being to their accuracy standard”.
i got very lucky, my rifle is just blessed, it shoots amazing which is why it’s a sad day to let it go. I hear ya, they have mixed results. This was a winner after coming back from factory
I will say that it’s probably the best looking gun out there. But very sad, I’m thinking that maybe it would be much better if you throw a custom reamed barrel on it.
Seems to be very hit or miss, I recently purchased a MPR in 300wm and I'm impressed with the accuracy. Haven't done a ton of shooting yet but I have consistently shot .5 - .75 moa groups with factory ammo
I've been looking at them for a while, if I do end up buying one, I'll probably get the MPR Competition model since it has the heavy barrel. Not really a fan of the carbon fiber wrapped barrel for a target gun.
I have had a early Christensen since 2013. A Rem 700 action and carbon fiber wrapped barrel I installed a HS precision detachable Magazine kit to it. A 338 Win Mag and one of my most prized rifles to hunt with in Alaska.
IMR 4350 @ 71 with 225gr Swift A Frame in Nosler Brass with WLRM primers.
The things I like about the carbon wrapped barrel is less weight / stiffness and cooling factor. I have harvested 4 bull Moose with this rifle. I did add a Timney Trigger to it. It has a Sako extractor and dual ejectors. It’s a tack driver.
IMR 4350 @ 71 with 225gr Swift A Frame in Nosler Brass with WLRM primers.
The things I like about the carbon wrapped barrel is less weight / stiffness and cooling factor. I have harvested 4 bull Moose with this rifle. I did add a Timney Trigger to it. It has a Sako extractor and dual ejectors. It’s a tack driver.
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So I’m trying to decide between the sig cross and Christensen arms modern precision in a 308. Will be used mostly for hind but would like to ring some steal also. Any advice pros and cons. Thanks
I have both, I shoot both(a lot) and they are both tack drivers.. One in 6.5cr and one in 6.5prc. I reach for my cross most of the time. The lighter, smaller package is just so convenient and easy to carry around. I find myself mainly using the MPR for the occasional NRL hunter match or similar.
I bought my MPR in 6.5CM back in 2018 with the Carbon Fibre barrel. It was wonky at first with shifting accuracy. I went back and retightened all the screws including the 20moa base. Then i finished breaking the barrel in using CA's procedure. Still quirky until around the 150rd mark, after which both factory and reloaded ammunition worked great. I shot a 13rd group at 500yd as fast as i could get back on target and all shots were just a bit bigger than my palm (~4in) and it was the 14th round that starting shifting significantly, then the 15th and by the 16th, i stopped as all rounds were high right by about 8" from POA.
My carbon fiber MPR .308 is an absolute hammer, it shoots 1/2 moa accuracy w factory loaded Hornady ELDS, both standard and super performance loads. It stacks them. It’s a very accurate rifle, it’s repeatable and I love it. I want to get another one chambered in a .223 .
BTW my .308 is a 16”
BTW my .308 is a 16”
I own the MPR in 6.5 and absolutely love it. That being said I was using it to shoot competition ground hog shoots not knowing anything about overheating barrels at all. I just went out and had a blast with it. It lost accuracy after approx 600 to 800 shots. I finally sat down and did a lot of research and decided to get a new barrel for it and keep it as a hunting rifle. I am now trying to decide if I want to get a custom job for competition shoots or if I want to try a AI. Any suggestions out there?
Ok with 308 win your talking 600 to 800 yards maybe you stretch it to 1K on steel plates.
A Bergara B14 HMR in 308 Win would work perfect under $1000.
Brownells was just blowing out the MPR Chassis for around $800, so I bought one, haven't been wanting to try a folding stock. Light, good ergos, kind of crappy adjustments, but decent for a hunting rifle. Lots of sharp edges unexpected places, and their included pic rail was a razor blade. Wish I would have found this thread before and I'd have gone in a different direction.
You want to sell it?
Local store had a 16" 7.5" twist MPR in 6mm ARC with the carbon fiber barrel... Decided to pick it up, too. I'll post picks this weekend. 
Meet the twins…
16” 6mm ARC (top) / 16” .308 Win (bottom)
With matching new Kahles K624i CCW RSW SKMR4 scopes in Seekins Precision 1.00” high rings. They just barely clear the handguard, but 1.00” rings are G-2-G on the MPR with a factory 20MOA rail, and 56mm objective.
If anyone is wondering, that is my Otter Creek Labs Hydrogen-S 7.62 on the 6mm ARC, and my Dead Air Nomad-LT on the .308 Win. Both cans are running an Otter Creek Labs ZR0-DTA direct-thread mount. The fit is superb.
And they sound just as quiet as they look. 
16” 6mm ARC (top) / 16” .308 Win (bottom)
With matching new Kahles K624i CCW RSW SKMR4 scopes in Seekins Precision 1.00” high rings. They just barely clear the handguard, but 1.00” rings are G-2-G on the MPR with a factory 20MOA rail, and 56mm objective.
If anyone is wondering, that is my Otter Creek Labs Hydrogen-S 7.62 on the 6mm ARC, and my Dead Air Nomad-LT on the .308 Win. Both cans are running an Otter Creek Labs ZR0-DTA direct-thread mount. The fit is superb.
And they sound just as quiet as they look. Last edited:
I want to replace the barrel on my MPR 6.5, Do i need to use a Remage 1.061X16P?
Updated pics with the new (correct height) ARC M-BRACE 1.26” 34mm rings, and the scope caps installed.
6 ARC (top), .308 Win (bottom)
6 ARC (top), .308 Win (bottom)
I'm glad I found this page and spent about 90 minutes reading posts (the negative ones) and am going to avoid CA. Had a MPR .300 PRC in my cart from EuroOptic but going to just build one now. Wanted to save some money (about $1000) and just buy a factory built one but not worth the potential headaches. ARC Coupe de Grace, Timeny or TriggerTech trigger, XLR Magnesium chassis and Proof Carbon barrel here I come!
Don’t believe everything you read on the interwebz. Negative voices are often the loudest, because people who are happy with them don’t always jump straight online to give rave reviews…But where’s the first place people go to start bitching about or flaming a product…The internet.
Also, some people just can’t shoot or load precision ammo, and some don’t know how to give a barrel time to settle-in before bitching about groups, and some are trying to shoot factory shit ammo and expecting BR-level precision from it, and then when it won’t do that, they blame the gun.
I’m not saying this is always the case, just saying that after 15+ years on Internet gun forums, this is something I’ve noticed to be very prominent.
After talking to 3 sales guys from 2 of different dealers and 2 former CA customers they've provided enough feedback that I have spent my money else where.
All 3 sales guys are PRS, ELR and NRL Hunter competitors. They do not recommend CA at all. Even one of those sales guys bought a MPR 6 creedmoor but got a 6.5 creedmoor chamber (barrel is engraved 6 creedmoor). Not sure how this is possible since CA test fires every rifle. CA took over 6 months to warranty his rifle. From that point in he swore to never sell a customer a CA.
Of those 2 customers one had the handguard crack on the mlok slots. CA would not warranty it because they claim his polymer Magpul picatinny rail was over torqued.
Another customer who is a friend of mine and told me this week that his Mesa Titanium blew the muzzle brake off and never found it. He had lodged a .30 cal bullet in the muzzle. Next round blew it apart. CA claimed he wasn't using factory ammo which he was since he doesn't reload.
It's all water under the bridge now and my build has started a few days ago.
Your examples seem odd to me. I would like to see proof that a a 6.5CM barrel was stamped 6 CM and installed on a gun. That’s entirely possible it could happen, but highly unlikely. It has happened before with barrel blank’s from a manufacturer before, but it’s very rare, because they typically run them in batches of the same thing.
Handguard issues, sure, that’s possible, but most-likely the dude did over-torque the thing and caused it himself. But that’s at the mfg’s discretion to replace or warranty.
Your buddy with the Mesa should have checked his muzzle brake before shooting/hunting to ensure everything on his firearm was proper before shooting it. Blowing off the MB was entirely on him. And the fact he had a squib that lodged in the bore, and didn’t notice there was no hole in the target from a sighted-in rifle, and didn’t bother to stop and check, so he decided to just “fuck it, send another one”, and blew it up, was entirely on him, not on CA, and any high-powered rifle from any brand would have blown up if that same thing that had happened to it.
-Yeah it's odd to me. It's rare to have a barrel bore mismatch its engraving to even pass QC when they claim to test fire them before leaving the factory.
-What's even rarer that a team of sales guys that don't know each other personally refuses to sell CA when they have one of the best incentives for dealers to push CA products.
-Yes, my buddy with the Mesa was all on him. I'll give him some grace since he was zeroing at 200 and thought he just missed paper. It was the customer service feedback blaming him that he shouldn't be using reloads but he was using factory .300 PRC ELDX only. He got it back after half a year, sold it and went to Browning.
-You must be a CA schill, CA staff or CA Prostaffer? Look, I gave CA a chance and heard a lot of negative feedback in person that it made me uncomfortable enough so I did own research here to verify what I've heard and it generally seemed true. Have a great day.
Nope, none of the above. I have no affiliation to any company. Im just some random guy who knows how to make guns and ammo shoot really well, and I have been doing so for pretty much my entire life.
And I’ve been around guns, people, the average gun owner/hunter, the internet, and even worked in the industry before, long enough to know patterns of when something is probably the gun/mfg or ammo’s fault, or probably the person’s fault.
great write up!
New video is up with the Christensen Arms MPR 6mm ARC and Otter Creek Labs Hydrogen-S.
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