Home Forums Hunting & Shooting The Lefty Forum Christensen Arms Mesa

Just read a post and learned Christensen Arms makes a lefty Mesa. Thinking about one in 7mm/08 or .308.

Can anyone offer any feedback on this rifle?

Thanks

Good looking gun, but for what it is, it seems like the price is a bit steep.

Was considering one in 450, but they don't offer it, and said they had no plans to, so moved on. Had a friend who looked at the RH version of the same, and he said it didn't seem like it fit the price they were wanting for it.

Price pretty steep? They do offer one in 450 maybe not in the LH version. 1100 bucks on gunbroker , I have one and think it is worth every penny 6.5 creed.

How's she shoot?

Shoots anything I put in it accurately. Shoots right with my T3x 06 and a Remington 700 VSSF in 223. I paid 1050 for it NIB, never had one issue with it. How does one build something with a decent stock, their own receiver and barrel for that kind of money?

Boringly accurate is the best description.

I've been pondering a prc in the mesa. And your exactly right, you couldn't come close to building one, with those features for the scratch...

Any links to one for these in the $1100 range? My searches bombed out

Yeah you can buy a project rifle(rem700, Winchester NH) put it in a bell and carlson stock and be over 1100 easy, None will have a triggertech trigger either and they have great customer service which I have never used except to get a gift certificate cashed. It's really a no brainer





Look at Broker , there were 2 last week for that amount in 6.5PRC

I must be searching the wrong gunbroker as I can not find any leftys in the $1100 range, let alone $1050

Sorry for the confusion, they must have been RH's I was looking at. I actually paid less then 1050 for mine but I bought it at a gunshop. The Christensen rep was there and they had a nice little discount.

No worries, story of my life, day late and a dollar short:)

I have one in 7-08 LH and love it. Very good shooter. They are pricy in the LH but I got my through Euro Optics and got a veterans discount which helped a little. I like it so much I'm going to sell my LH Savage 308 in a Boyds stock. At my age no use having to many guns anymore.

The left hand version is an extra $250.

Did not realize they offered a Military discount. How much is the typical discount?

I think it was 5%

Is the action a basic sort of Remington 700 clone? How is the quality of the stock?

I have the Mesa in 7-08 LH, very nice rifle for the price.

This rifle has been haunting me since I looked at it online and read the reviews so placed an order for a Lefty Mesa in 6.5 Creed. Could of easily went with a 7mm/08 but Buds only had the Creeds in stock. Buds is always slow to ship so doubt it will be at my dealers for about 10 days or so. Rifle has a nice combination of features and doubt I could duplicate it for anywhere near the cost. Would of loved to order it from EuroOptics but now they charge sales tax and $130 more is hard to swallow.

'Wolfe, you're going to like that rifle. i picked one up in 6.5 CM earlier this year. After taking it to the range, I sold my Ruger American Predator and Browning X-Bolt Micro Midas. The only complaint I have is the bolt doesn't lock. If that's the only thing, I'm not going to complain. Shoots great. Still in the breaking process here.

Enjoy!

The good: Build quality is VERY good. Rifle looks great and balances well. The stock feels great and is nice and stiff. Definitely not your standard Tupperware design. Already removed the brake and installed the thread protector as I just don't see any sense in a brake on a 6.5 Creed.

The bad: Advertised weight was 6.5 pounds. On my scale it weighs 6 pounds 13.8 ounces unloaded with no sling, swivels, or scope mounts. Still, it feels light and handles nicely. On another note, also picked up a new Tikka lefty, blued, walnut, 30-06, it weighed 6 pounds 8 ounces. Rifle feeds and ejects loaded ammo perfectly. The feel of cycling the bolt is quality.

Advertised as having a Match-Grade Trigger (2.5-3.5 lb). On my rifle its more like 4.25 according to my trigger finger. The let off is very crisp.


May get around to using it on a whitetail this fall and once sighted in can offer an opinion about accuracy but am sure it will meet my standards. Overall am highly impressed. Do not see anyway a person could build a similar rifle for the price. If they ever offer a lefty Mesa in 06 or 300 Win Mag I'll buy another. Even my FFL dealer commented on the rifle before I picked it up and said it was one of the nicest rifles he had seen in a long time.

Thanks for the insights Randy. I'm seriously thinking about picking one up.

Here, as a lefty and also interested, is my take: they advertise the SA as about 6.5 lbs. I’ve read reviews where the rifles were 4 to 6 or 8 oz heavier than that. Certainly, the one I hefted in a LGS was way over the 6.5 lb Mark. It was as much a lightweight rifle as the blunt end of a carrot is streamlined. I find this irksome first of all because their advertisement is apparently untrue. Secondly, if there is that much variation in weight, what other features vary by that much. Pretty soon the “Mesa” is a bunch of different rifles.

I also find the $1200 + price pretty reasonable for the features listed...but, wait! That’s for right-handed Rifles; the lefties are $1500 + or $300 more.

I’m not sure at all it offers $800 of value over the Tikka; in fact, I doubt it.

George,
The more a rifle costs the less value you receive per $1 spent. We could all hunt with used Savages we picked up for $350 at a Pawn shop that shoot under MOA but where is the fun in this? Same thing could be said for the Ruger Americans

A shooter could always buy a lefty short action Remington 700. Next a decent stainless barrel and have a smith chamber and install it as well as a brake with a thread protector. Remember to pay to have the bolt skeletonized as well. Now buy a Triggertech trigger. Then send it off to get a good cerakote finish installed. Final step is to buy a decent carbon fiber stock and have a smith bed it. That would get you as close as you can to the MESA

Speaking for myself, variety is the key to keeping most of us older guys interested in this hobby. A rifle like a Mesa is not for everyone, but it sure is nice having the choice to buy one.

PS: I just bought a new lefty Savage Storm in .308

Snow-, I understand and maybe I am being too critical. I will admit the Mesa meets the “eyeball” test — it’s a good looking rifle and the bolt is slicked up with a Nitride finish and it has a good trigger. But when you see a fluted bolt, skeletonized bolt, even fluted shroud, you think “light” until you pick it up. I’ve also read of quite spotty “spot bedding” around the lug and action.

And then the extra $275-300 for being a lefty? That’s real discrimination..😉

I have 2 of the Mesas. They are extremely well built rifles and both are shooters. Definitely not lightweight though. All up, even with pretty light scopes, they are around 8 lbs. Only thing I wish they'd change other than weight is to have a matching thread protector instead of the knurled black one.

George, No debate from me on your points, especially the price difference. I'll only add the bedding on my rifle is "solid". It appears to go the full length of the stock, from the rear tang to the end of the forearm. There are no spots of bedding compound anywhere. Just one solid mass. Maybe this is why the rifles weigh more?

Ammo-, glad yours shoots. I’ve heard only good reports about general accuracy.

Snow-, that’s interesting. In the LGS, I could easily run a dollar bill between the barrel and forearm all the way to the action.

Edit: props to CA’s for making a lefty, but these are on Rem actions — does the Rem LA action justify several hundred dollars more? I don’t know.

George,
What I meant was there was no gaps in the bedding material. On some rifles the builder puts a glob of material around the recoil lug and calls it good. The inside of the stock is a mirror finish of the barreled action but the barrel is free floated. The inside of the stock looks as good as the outside.

Ok, good enough snow-. Good luck with yours; I may still go that way too but the $1539 lefty price tag in contrast with the $1239 right-handed one is a little tough for me to swallow at the moment.

On the other hand not too many semi-customs offer a lefty.

Do you remember that 458 Lott lefty MRC action I bought from you when you were still in AK?

I remember the rifle but not the name who bought it, sorry
Hope it still treats you well. Did you come to my house and pick it up in person? It was in a McMillan stock, correct?
Check Buds, the Mesa was $1,359.
Euro Optics had a similar price but unfortunately they changed their polices and added on my states sales tax. This added $130 to the price so I bought from Buds.

No, you shipped it to my FFL. It was a pretty nice rifle and shot well but as plans changed, “it went down the road.” I don’t think it was in a McM but I could be wrong about that.

That price is $200 less than my go-to store.

Picked mine up from Euro optics. At the time they were only place i could find em. I had s local dealer looking for one.

I forget price. But they knocked some % off the website price for using e-check instead of CC.

Just bought the CA larger bolt knob and replaced the small one that came with my Mesa. Much better when cycling...