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GARY S
December 12, 2022
Just an update on my review, having successfully used the rifle on a cow elk hunt last week. After going through the prescribed barrel break-in process, I sighted it in with 139 gr. Hornady CX Super Performance ammo--while the press of time kept me from thoroughly wringing the rifle out to see if it met the accuracy degree, I was comfortable hunting with it when I could land my first round in the bull at 200 yards using a folding shooting table and lead sled rest. The upside for hunting--it's LIGHT, and recalling last year's hunt with a 30-06 that runs 2.5 lbs heavier, I really appreciated that, especially after a horse wreck left me with limited use of my right arm. I took a single offhand shot at a slowly walking cow elk in a gap between pinyons, and it went down in about ten yards--the round was through-and-through, heart shot. Unfortunately, the elk was more angled than I realized, and the exiting round did frag the offside upper shoulder with consequent meat loss. The downside, I discovered, was the lovely light FFT carbon fiber stock is VERY slippery when wet. I am not a fan of tacky-sticky grip inserts, and I found a work-around using a leather-palmed glove which did offer reasonable purchase--but three different "rubber dot" style gloves (two with leather finger patches) left me feeling like I was carrying a greased pipe. I may look to doing some kind of applique grip surface for next season, though. In sum, it carries beautifully, shot to point of aim at the critical moment, and did exactly what I hoped it would--bring home an elk!
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GARY S
November 27, 2022
I dithered a long time about purchasing a high-end rifle, but I'm glad I did! Last year's elk hunt taught me that my trusty 30-06 was just too heavy to lug at my age, and my lighter 7-08 wasn't shooting well--so I landed on this Ridgeline 7-08 Remington FFT. It is, in a word, amazing--scoped with 2.5-8 midrange scope, I'm coming in just over six pounds empty. Action is slick, execution excellent on all points. Just finished barrel break-in today, firing last two 3-shot strings with Hornady ELD 140 grain and Hornady CX 139 grain rounds, and both came in at about one MOA with squirrely winds and a wobbly bench--not to mention I'm not back in the groove. I did spring for a titanium radial brake versus the steel side vent that comes with it--in fact, I wonder why they put the side vent on it in the first place, as Christensen says on its site that it uses the radial on hunting rifles to reduce (somewhat) muzzle blast/sound for the shooter. The radial is very effective, taking recoil down to about an AR-15 in 5.56. Other oddity is that they don't include a thread protector so you can do without the brake when hunting and further reduce sound impulse--recoil is just not that much on a 7-08 and it shoots softer than my old Remington 700 Mountain Rifle ever did. So a little work to do--tweaking and practice, but this is a handsome, handy, and effective firearm--wish all my rifles were Christensens!
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