The Caldwell Kill Zone Magnum Rifle Gong was positioned 330 yards away, across an alfalfa field at a friend’s Wisconsin dairy farm. Strips of blue painter’s tape were affixed to either side of the white gong, done by me for a better sight picture. Set up prone on a small hill, I laid my Christensen Arms Modern Hunting Rifle (MHR), chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, across a shooting bag. 

I adjusted my ZeroTech Thrive HD 2.5-15x50 riflescope for the distance, turning the elevation know up 4.75 MOA, rested the crosshair just to one side of the right blue tape line and squeezed off my first shot. Followed by two more shots. All three were hits and pretty close together, I could tell through the scope.

Later, I measured the group at 3.25-inches. And the last shot, which hit a bit wide right, I knew I’d pulled slightly thanks to a slight hitch in my trigger pull. Still, any of those three shots would’ve filled a deer tag all day long, and the MHR could clearly do so at 400 yards, and likely even further.

Christensen Arms has done it again: built a highly accurate bolt-action rifle for the longer-range hunter that comes complete with a great trigger, a user-adjustable stock, and a carbon-fiber wrapped barrel, and weighs just 7.4 pounds. The MHR is available in eight hunting calibers from 6.5 Creedmoor to 300 PRC.  

My test MHR sported a black nitride finish on the barrel, and Tungsten colored receiver, and a Black Hardcoat Anodize finish with Tungsten Cerakote highlights on Christensen’s all-new FFT stock, forearm and grips. The other color options include a black receiver and black cerakote stock finish, and a Desert Brown receiver with a matching stock and forearm.

The “FFT,” by the way, refers to Flash Forged Technology, an aerospace technology of Christensen’s that melds the carbon fibers into a super hard outer shell. The FFT process uses less material to make the same size stock of other carbon fiber options but does so with a finished product weighing a whole pound less.

The FFT stock features a built-in cheek riser that is adjustable simply by pressing a rectangular button located on the right side of the stock. Length of pull is also easily user adjustable by removing the butt pad. One LOP spacer is included with the rifle. The forend of the rifle has a flat bottom — perfect for laying the rifle across a shoot house window ledge, the top of a fence post, or a large rock — and also features built-in M-LOK attachment points on either side, plus a length of picatinny rail beneath. 

High-tech and innovative, the MHR is a pricey rifle, too, with a suggested retail starting at $3,449.00. But in the hands of a hunter who knows how to shoot, the MHR is a long-range tag filler and meat getter, essentially a custom rifle right out of the box and ready to go long.

Of course, with that price tag, it’s also a rifle for those customers with better than average discretionary income who are intrigued by the potential of taking game at distances unheard of two decades ago — intrigued and willing to ante up fairly large for the experience.

An Ammunition Test

I started using the MHR for another assignment, actually, this one to review Federal Premium’s long-range hunting ammunition, Terminal Ascent. One of the Terminal Ascent calibers I’d received for testing was 6.5 Creedmoor loaded with a 130-grain bullet boasting a G1 Ballistic Coefficient of .532. 

As I was deciding on how to go about that article, the MHR arrived at my FFL. So, it made sense to pair up this longer-range hunting rifle with the longer-range hunting ammunition.

At my outdoor range, I first zeroed the MHR and ZeroTech Thrive at 50 yards, using various brands of ammunition. I also made sure to follow the barrel break in instructions recommended by Christensen Arms, which included 50 rounds of ammunition through the rifle and frequent bore cleanings. 

Once the break in was complete I ran the MHR with the Terminal Ascent 6.5 Creedmoor. The MHR comes with a SUB-MOA guarantee, when using quality ammunition, and the Terminal Ascent and the rifle paired up exceptionally well. Shooting off bags, I had no difficulty pegging three-shot groups of 1.0 inches and under at 100 yards.

My two best groups with the MHR and the Terminal Ascent Came in at .60 and .70 inches.  

Then I switched over to other brands of ammunition, including Winchester’s Deer Season XP firing a 125-grain Extreme Point bullet. I did four, three-shot groups and all came in at or under 1.0 inches.

Then, I moved onto my 330-yard shots described earlier with the Terminal Ascent.

Other Features 

I was damned impressed with the MHR’s accuracy though not really surprised. The MHR, you see, owes much of its design to the Modern Precision Rifle (MPR) that Christensen launched several years earlier. I was fortunate enough to attend that rifle’s official introduction. While there, I used an MPR chambered in .308 Win. to shoot one of my best three-shot groups ever: 2.5-inches at 500 yards.   

Clearly that accuracy tradition continues with the MHR and its match-grade stainless steel barrel wrapped in carbon fiber. Gun shops serving longer-range hunters will want to consider stocking this new rifle.

One feature a salesperson needs to mention to a potential MHR customer is the Trigger Tech trigger. Mine very cleanly broke at 1 pound, 14 ounces, on average. The trigger itself is shaped to “cup” the index finger, plus features vertical lines cut into the trigger face for a very tactical interface between finger and trigger. 

The MHR’s trigger guard has a rather unique elongated shape, and a gloved index finger will easily fit inside the guard. 

Ammunition is held in the rifle’s internal magazine, with a four-round capacity for standard caliber and three rounds for magnums.

The MHR’s barrel is tipped with a titanium muzzle brake featuring side baffles. The brake can be removed for the addition of a suppressor. 

Always Be Selling

Independent FFLs can buy Christensen Arms firearms direct from the company or through distributors that include Lipsey’s, Davidson’s, Sports South, RSR, Bill Hicks, Zander’s, Chattanooga Shooting Supplies and MGE wholesale. 

However, to qualify for factory direct ordering, the dealer must meet a minimum threshold in dollars for the year. This is managed by the account manager assigned to the dealer. Many Christensen dealers switch up their ordering process, making direct purchases at times, and in other situations using a distributor.

So, once the MHRs are in store, how to help move them out the door?

“The Modern Hunting Rifle, or MHR, is a modular rifle in a hunting platform that utilizes an aluminum mini-chassis to host the barreled action with the modular components available to tailor the rifle to the specific needs of the customer,” says Jeff Bradley, Christensen Arms brand ambassador.  

“We have options in the stock, the handguard, pistol grips and even the option to change how the rifle feeds. The pistol grip options include a narrow and wider version of the typical hunting angle of approach and a more tactical vertical approach to the trigger.”

Those options can be viewed via the Christensen website at: christensenarms.com.

As noted earlier, the MHR employes an internal magazine, but can be switched to feeding from a detachable AICS box magazine in a matter of minutes with the small conversion parts kit offered by Christensen. 

Let customers also know that the MHR is covered by the limited lifetime warranty which includes the accuracy guarantee. 

As far as in-store marketing help, Christensen Arms has a Direct Dealer Program and associated levels of in-store marketing, which includes thoughtful and effective product displays, counter mats and banners.

“Christensen Arms is very active in providing extensive in-store training conducted by the appropriate account manager, and doing so on an ongoing basis,” Bradley notes. “We do offer some opportunities for co-op advertising, though this is not one of our primary methods of advertising. We also have a Dealer Rewards program in place that allows qualified sales folks to earn points toward ordering a Christensen Arms firearm for themselves.”

In the larger marketing sense, the MHR got a nice push to start 2023 with multiple reviews featured on YouTube and Instagram by content creators who saw the MHR at the 2023 SHOT Show. 

“The Hunt Fish Shoot YouTube channel just finished up a Texas Aoudad hunt with one of our MHR rifles,” Bradley adds. “The rifle is also being reviewed by multiple writers for publication in the near future, including a dedicated feature in a major hunting publication in the next coming months.” 

Longer-range hunting continues to gain in popularity, and while actual hunting and shooting distances will depend upon the specific hunters themselves, the MHR will allow those hunters a fine chance of filling their tags at whatever distances they feel are appropriate.