Christensen Arms' Sub-MOA Guaranteed THE MESA Plunges into Burnt Bronze Cerakote
Christensen Arms has had The Mesa rifle on the market for approximately one year. To commemorate this simple milestone, they are adding a splash of color to it by the way of a Burnt Bronze Cerakote. All of the original specifications remain the same, but now you have the ever-popular choice of a Cerakote finish in the tactically-attractive Burnt Bronze.
Christensen Arms delves into the qualities of The Mesa that have strongly pushed it through its first year on the market:
The Mesa was created as a premium, yet accessible lightweight rifle with a featherlight-contour, stainless steel barrel and a carbon fiber composite stock. Weighing in at only 6.5 pounds (short action) and carrying the Christensen Arms Sub-MOA Guarantee, the Mesa is the perfect rifle to carry deep into the backcountry.
With an accuracy guarantee from the factory, The Mesa can be added to your gun safe in 7 different calibers.
- 6.5 Creedmoor | 22″ Barrel | 1:8″ Twist
- 7mm-08 Rem | 22″ Barrel | 1:9″ Twist
- 7mm Rem Mag | 24″ Barrel | 1:9″ Twist
- .28 Nosler | 26″ Barrel | 1:9″ Twist
- .308 Win | 22″ Barrel | 1:10″ Twist
- .300 Win Mag | 24″ Barrel | 1:10″ Twist
- .450 Bushmaster | 20″ Barrel | 1:16″ Left-Hand Twist
This rifle comes in at an MSRP of $1,295 for the first 6 calibers named. The .450 Bushmaster retails for an extra $100 if you choose to go big or go home, and it does not carry the Sub-MOA guarantee that the rest of the calibers do.
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I was about to say it isn't that lightweight, but then again it is pretty cheap.
Most of these factory accuracy guarantees are a risk. Most companies know that the guy behind the gun can't shoot that well to start with, or they use various tricks. For example some test their rifles at only a fraction of 100 yards and simply extrapolate the group size. Others use a pet handload they know works well with their chambering, others test the barreled rifle out of the stock in a vice/jig so the light/flexy/poorly fit stock is taken out of the equation. Others just don't meet their spec and know 99% of buyers will never complain. I purchased an HS precision .300 mag a few years ago for an elk hunt, had a ragged hole test target, I'd wager the center to center on the test target was under 0.3". Tried all sorts of ammo, nothing would print under 1.5" or so, sent it back to them, they tested it, they also could not get it to shoot to their 1/2" MOA spec and could not explain why. They did rebarrel it and it shot better, but still not great. That however took months, and by that time my elk hunt was long over, and that gun went away. I've had similar disappointment with guns that give accuracy guarantees like the Nosler M48, Kimber Mountain rifle, Weatherby Sub MOA, etc. Including a M700 5R that looked like it was crowned with a rock. On the other hand sometimes you get lucky, I have a Remington LTR that happens to shoot right with my custom builds, but it's the huge exception to the rule.
Moral of the story is if you want a rifle that shoots tight groups, and you are looking at factory rifles that already have high price tags, have something built by a reputable custom rifle smith. For me, I'll gladly pay a reputable smith to build me something that I have faith will really perform as opposed to being frequently disappointed by the performance of these "guaranteed" factory guns, even at 2-3x the cost.