Christensen Arms has made influential strides in the world of bolt-action rifles with their offering, the Modern Precision Rifle (MPR). This distinctive firearm sets a new standard by combining cutting-edge features with a focus on weight reduction. Crafted on a lightweight aluminum chassis boasting a 20 MOA integrated rail, the MPR goes the extra mile with its carbon fiber barrel, carbon fiber comb, and carbon fiber handguard. These enhancements result in a rifle that is both lightweight and packed with useful modern features. Starting at a mere 6.9 pounds, the MPR lineup is backed by the Christensen Arms Sub-MOA Guarantee.
Purpose-built, the MPR combines versatility and performance. Its folding stock enhances portability, while the threaded barrel allows for mounting muzzle brakes or suppressors. Impressed by its features, my brother purchased the MPR chambered in .308 Winchester months ago and recently allowed me to borrow it to write a full review.
Chassis
Crafted from 7075 billet aluminum, the MPR chassis boasts a rugged construction. It is available in two options: a black hardcoat anodized finish or a protective Cerakoted Desert Brown™ or Tungsten finish. These Cerakote finishes not only enhance the chassis’ visual appeal but also provide an additional layer of protection against wear, corrosion, and the elements.
To enhance stability and accuracy, the MPR chassis utilizes V-Block bedding. This bedding system ensures proper alignment and support of the rifle’s action within the chassis, resulting in improved consistency and precision. Furthermore, the chassis is designed to be compatible with standard AR grips. This feature allows consumers to choose from an endless variety of grip options, ensuring optimal ergonomics and personalized comfort.
The Chassis utilizes a folding stock and features Christensen’s locking hinge and Magnelock™ Technology, ensuring a secure and reliable folding mechanism. When extended, the stock is locked in tight without any wobbling. When folded, the stock is magnetically held in place and will not flop around even when running around. The stock folds around the bolt, keeping it from being bumped out of place.
Stock
I am a huge fan of folding stocks as they allow for much easier transportation especially so when hiking or stuffing in a bag to head to the range. While the stock for this MPR folds, it is also completely adjustable. The carbon fiber cheek riser offers a 1″ adjustment range, ensuring optimal eye alignment with the optic. Similarly, the length of pull can be fine-tuned between 12.5″ and 14.5″. With a comfortable cheekpiece and minimalist rubber buttpad, the stock provides a comfortable shooting experience. Additionally, the MPR’s stock is compatible with a monopod picatinny mount. This caters to shooters who prefer to run a monopod over a rear sandbag.
Action
Christensen Arms put some thought into the action of the MPR. Featuring a skeletonized bolt handle and spiral fluted bolt, this system shaves weight, looks great, and decreased the bearing surface within the action leading to smoother cycling. The oversized bolt knob may be smaller than competition setups, but it works just fine while maintaining a sleek footprint. Additionally, one of my favorite features is the included 20MOA rail. This allows for increased elevation adjustment capabilities when using a mounted scope.
While the rifle used in this review is chambered in 308, the MPR is also available in 223, 6MM ARC, 6MM CRD, 6.5 CRD, 6.5 PRC, 6.8 Western, 7MM PRC, 308 Win, 300 PRC, 338 Lapua Mag with barrels ranging from 16-27 inches.
Trigger
Christensen Arms equips the Modern Precision Rifle (MPR) with an adjustable flat-faced Trigger Tech® trigger, which delivers exceptional performance. Trigger Tech triggers are highly regarded in terms of quality and are a popular choice among professional PRS (Precision Rifle Series) shooters. In my experience with the MPR, I thoroughly appreciated the trigger installed in the rifle. It had no discernible creep, and the 3 lb break was consistently crisp and clean.
Magazine
The Christensen Arms MPR, or Modern Precision Rifle, is designed to accept AICS (Accuracy International Chassis System) pattern magazines. These magazines are widely available and come in various capacities to serve different shooting requirements. While there are many options available, the MPR comes with Magpul magazine which has fed without issue for the past few months even in the dust bowl of western Oklahoma. These standard 10-round magazines are also great for target-rich environments where there is no time to worry about reloading.
Handguard
Depending on the variant, the MPR comes with either a 14″ or 17″ Flash Forged Technology (FFT) carbon fiber handguard. It features M-Lok slots at 3, 6, and 9 o’clock. The slim profile and ergonomic design are comfortable and lightweight. Unlike round-shaped handguards, this one has a rectangular shape, which I find advantageous for bolt guns. The flat bottom seems to offer greater stability when shooting from a sandbag or barricade. For being made from carbon fiber, the handguard feels quite rigid and was a great host for mounting a Magpul bipod.
Barrel
The MPR incorporates a target profile barrel made of 416R Stainless Steel or Aerograde carbon fiber. The steel ensures excellent corrosion resistance while the carbon fiber maintains rigidity and reduces overall weight.
The hand-lapped barrel is free-floating and button-rifled to ensure optimal bullet stabilization and improved shot consistency. The threaded muzzle, available in either 5/8″ x 24 or 1/2″ x 28 depending on the caliber, allows for easy customization with various muzzle devices or suppressors. The MPR comes with an adjustable stainless muzzle brake. However, the majority of the shooting was performed with a Silencerco Omega suppressor attached, resulting in a more enjoyable shooting experience with a reduced muzzle signature. This advantage proves particularly valuable during activities like hunting wild pigs, where multiple quick well-placed shots were necessary.
Accuracy
Christensen Arms offers a “Sub-MOA Guarantee” with the MPR. While they don’t specify “when using premium ammunition” like most companies, they just say that the rifle is capable of firing a 3-round group within a 1 MOA group at 100 yards.
Looking to see if the MPR could live up to Christensens’ accuracy guarantee, I put it to the test with 6 different types of ammunition. While most shooters settle for 3-round groups, I believe that 5-round groups provide a more accurate representation of a rifle’s actual performance. It’s worth noting that 5-round groups normally exhibit larger deviations due to statistical odds and factors such as barrel heating. Due to these reasons, take from my results what you will. Hornady sent out some ammunition to use in this review, and it performed the best. It was followed by Sellier & Bellot and then Magtech in terms of group size. While I think this rifle is capable of shooting sub-MOA 3-round groups, my 5-round groups averaged a bit larger as seen in the table and image below:
| Ammo Type | 5-Round Group Size in MOA |
| Hornady Whitetail 150gr InterLock | 1.099 |
| Hornady Precision Hunter 178gr ELD-X | 1.328 |
| Hornady Black 155gr A-MAX | 1.428 |
| Hornady Superformance 168gr ELD Match | 1.754 |
| Sellior & Belliot 147gr FMJ | 2.512 |
| Magtech 147gr FMJ | 3.088 |
Performance
While this rifle is not quite as precise as I would have liked to have seen across the board for a variety of different types of ammunition, it still shoots well. The folding stock makes transportation much easier. Being a lightweight rifle, the recoil is not bad when using a suppressor either. The trigger was great and makes for putting rounds on target easy. The magazines feed without issue, and the action runs quickly allowing for quick follow-up shots. This proved invaluable when pig hunting with this rifle. We shot out to 500 yards on C-zone-sized steel silhouettes and even got hits on a miniature steel popper at that same distance.
My brother was able to take a nice buck from 230 yards with this rifle last fall as well as a bunch of wild pigs, and coyotes. When you know what you are doing, this rifle makes putting rounds on target pretty easy.
SEE MORE: Killer Thermal Scope: Full Review of the Pulsar Thermion 2 XP50
387lb boar shot with the Christensen Arms MPR topped with a Pulsar Thermion 2 LRF XP50 Pro
Summary
Since this MPR was purchased randomly off the shelf, it has had hundreds of rounds put through it while being put to great use against steel targets and wild pigs that were trashing our farmland. The lightweight construction makes it easy for stalking up on pigs, and the folding stock helps with transportation. Although the rifle didn’t group as well as I would have liked with the ammunition I tried out, it has still proven effective and remains my brother’s preferred choice for hunting trips. The Christensen Arms MPR lineup has a starting MSRP of $2499, and it is commonly available at a street price a little under that.
