Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Christensen Ranger .22

This rifle looks very nice

Anyone have one?

Roughly $800

I like my Christensen Mesa. I could be tempted into one of these, but I'll let someone else guinea pig them. Street prices should be in the upper 600s.

I saw and handled it at SCI. It was a pre-production model and I wasn't overly impressed. I'll reserve judgement until I get to see a production model.

I held the same one at SCI. I also was not impressed. Fit and finish was pretty bad.

Someone at RFC said early July was earliest release according to CA. It certainly looks good on paper.

Supposedly out this week.......

Cool looking....🙄

Pre ordering is available at Christiansen Arms.

Just checked their web site. Looks pretty neat. MSRP of 795. Wonder what the real world price will be ?

Not sure. I like CA rifles but my next bolt RF will have Tikka stamped on it

If I were buying today, I'd probably go with this CA rimfire. That TIkka looks nice as well but not having a stainless option is a big mistake IMO.

I just looked up the specs and I like that it has a hand lapped barrel (hopefully taper lapped by someone who knows how to properly do it - it's a skill) but I was not excited to see that it has a Bentz match chamber. Bentz match chambers are designed for semi-autos like the 10/22 match barrels. IMO they should be using a match chamber more suiting a bolt gun with it's better camming action. Everything else looks fine.

I’m waiting on a 16” bbl. Tikka or CA, who’s first?

Haven't had one inmy hands, but I've heard/seen the same comment from others that fondled one a SHOT.

Im interested in one as well. Still waiting for the lgs to get one so I can put my hands on it. I watched a tikka take 1st place at "precision" 22 match. They shot 50yrds to 300yrds. There was a few voodoo owners that were pretty butt chapped. Lol

Christensen's new .22 bolt gun is listed in the Cabela's/Bass Pro ad, due to start on Aug 8th, but I had my doubts they'd actually have any in stock. I've been waiting to see one in the flesh. I stopped by Bass Pro, yesterday afternoon, and I was pleasantly surprised to spot one in the rack. After a quick fondle, I decided it needed to come home with me.



First impressions are positive:
-- It sure is light and handy! It weighs 5# 2 oz, bare, and an even 6# with a Leupold 2-7x rimfire with Vortex Pro Series rings.

-- The stock feels good, has a high comb and double-palm swell. The butt plate is kind of squishy, like all Limbsavers, but it's not sticky.

-- The trigger is truly exceptional! It's not match-trigger light, like an Anshutz, but it has an amazing trigger for a hunting rifle.

-- It takes 10/22 magazines, and the particular mag it came with is an actual, Ruger factory magazine (10-rounder). It does not drop free, when you hit the release lever; it's kind of a 2-handed operation...the trigger finger hits the lever, and the other hand plucks the magazine. I'm not sure if I like this or not.



I shot the new Christensen Ranger, today, side-by-side with my Tikka TX-1. My observations:
-- The Ranger shoots well, as well as the Tikka with many of the same types of ammo. They both shoot really well.

-- The feeding on the Ranger isn't nearly as smooth as the TX-1, though, and the extraction/ejection requires a firm flick of the bolt to get the empties to clear the action on the Christensen. If you're lazy on working the bolt, the empty drops on top of the magazine and causes a jam. I hope this smooths out with some more use, because it's pretty annoying.

-- The threaded portion of the Christensen muzzle is LONG. There's about a 1/4" gap, after screwing the suppressor on all the way. There's a gap on the Tikka, as well, but it's only an 1/8-inch, or so. By comparison, the suppressor screws up tight on my Tactical Solutions 10/22 barrel. I'll have to look for a spacer/adaptor, or something, for the two bolt guns. Any ideas?

-- The trigger on the Christensen is amazing, better than the Tikka trigger...which is no slouch.

-- The Ranger is lighter than the TX-1, and feels much more handy. The Tikka stock has a chunky feel to it, compared to the Christensen.

-- The TX-1 action has a more solid feel to it, though, and it feeds MUCH smoother...even with the fugly Tikka magazine.

-- The Limbsaver butt pad on the Christensen stays put on my shoulder. The Tikka buttplate slips and slides around quite a bit. I never noticed it before shooting the Ranger, but I sure do now.



Retail prices at Cabela's/Bass Pro are $499 for the Tikka TX-1 and $749 for the Christensen Ranger.

Dan, thanks for that report! I want to like this Christensen and it sounds like I might.

I hope they sell well enough to be able to launch a 22Mag version.........

Good review. I have the same suppressor issue on my Kidd 10/22 barrel. My suppressor comes with a 0.25” spacer, but using that gives me less thread engagement than I’d like (although Silencerco said it’s enough).

I took the new Christensen Ranger out today for its maiden range trip.

Before I dive into the performance at the range, I thought it might be useful to have a breakdown of the rifle.

As others have said, this rifle is light! 5.1 pounds without a scope!

The rifle has a unique feel, mostly because the stock is a scaled-down version of the Christensen Centerfire stocks. When I saw pictures of the rifle, I didn’t think I’d like the swept-back grip, but in hand...it’s not that bad. I still prefer a more vertical grip, but this one is useable.
T
he rifle comes with a TriggerTech Field trigger. While I absolutely love the TriggerTech Diamond, the Field is useable but heavier than I prefer. The trigger will be replaced with a TriggerTech Diamond very soon. The current weight is about 2.5 lbs...as light as it will go. That weight wouldn’t be so bad if the rifle weighed more. As it is, it’s heavier than I like it.

The fit and finish on the stock, action, and barrel is as good as I’ve seen from any factory rifle available. The carbon barrel is something I’ve always liked and this one looks great. At 18”, it will be perfect once my stamp comes in and I can put a suppressor on it.

The action looks good and comes with a zero MOA rail, but the bolt is very...minimal...almost toy-like. One odd thing though, the trigger guard is polymer...


The action uses Ruger rotary 10/22 magazines and the stock has cutouts on both sides, which makes it easy to pull the magazines out.

I had a hard time deciding on a scope, and don’t know if I’ll change what’s on there now...but I will say the current scope performed well today.

I had a Leupold Mark AR 6-18 on another rifle and decided to use it for the time being. This little scope has been reliable and I felt it would be a good fit for the Ranger. The Leupold is lightweight, bright, and sits low due to its 40mm adjustable objective. This really helps when you don’t have an adjustable cheekpiece.
I put a Harris S-BRM 6 - 9-inch bipod with notched legs on the front sling swivel to complete the package. With the scope and bipod added to the rifle, it weights 6.8 lbs, ready to shoot.

I’m a huge fan of the Ruger rotary magazines and have a bunch of them. The Ranger using them made this rifle even more appealing to me.
When I went to the range today, I took over 20 magazines, so I could load them all and then just shoot. No breaks to load mags...just drop the empty mag and slam another one home!

When I put targets out, I only put them at 50, 100, and 200 yards. I felt confident I could get it on paper quickly. After a few rounds at a leftover target at 25 yards, I started to put the rifle through it’s paces.

Chambering the first round, I noticed that the bolt does not run very smoothly. It’s almost like a 3 step process.
1 - You push the bolt until it hits the rim and then it stops.
2 - Next, you push harder and the round finally jumps out of the magazine and starts into the chamber.
3 - The third push chambers the round and you almost feel the bullet engage the rifling when you close the bolt...or at least that’s what it reminds me of.

The rifle shot well and I’m sure will shoot even better once I lot test it. Old SK Standard and old SK Rifle Match produced 5 and 10 shot groups at a little over 1/2” at 50 yards and just over an inch at 100 yards.

I didn’t have any ejection issues with the rifle, which I’ve read so much about, but I did have an ongoing and aggravating issue throughout the day. The magazines seem to set too low on the action to feed consistently. Sometimes when closing the bolt, the round will begin to go forward only to hit the mouth of the chamber and then become damaged when you try to close the bolt with the second shove.

Other times, the bolt will glide right over the top round in the magazine, resulting in a dry fire. This happened consistently, with every magazine I own, as well as ones that other guys who were at the range let me try from their KIDD and TacSol rifles.

Often, a magazine would start out with a few rounds chambering without any problems, only to have the other issues pop up throughout the rest of the magazine.

One other thing to note, the rifle shaves lead on every bullet that actually makes it into the chamber.

I’m going to try a few things and see if I can get the magazines to seat into the action without dropping down. They don’t go far, just enough to create the problems.

If you push up on the magazine, the feeding issues get better. I’m hoping a thin piece of felt at the back of the mag well might do the trick.

Ultimately, I really like the rifle and at least 2 of the guys I shot with today will be buying their own Rangers.

The bolt needs some work as it isn’t smooth at all and feels almost toylike. While I can’t see a way to add mass to it, hopefully, some polishing can help smooth it out.

Thanks! I despise operational issues so I’ll be waiting to hear your solutions.