Description
The Christensen Arms Mesa FFT 308 Win is a backcountry hunting rifle built around a single number: five and a half pounds. That is what the whole design chases, and it is what separates a rifle you carry up a mountain from one you leave in the truck. Twenty-inch ultralight stainless barrel, tungsten gray Cerakote, and the Christensen Sub-MOA guarantee behind it.
Where the Weight Went
FFT stands for Flash Forged Technology, Christensen’s carbon composite process, and the spotter-style stock built with it is where most of the savings come from. The barrel contributes the rest: an ultralight contour in stainless steel, cut short at twenty inches. Nothing about the rifle is heavier than it needs to be, and the total comes in at a weight that used to require a custom build.
Christensen Arms Mesa FFT 308 Win Barrel and Brake
The barrel is stainless steel finished in tungsten gray Cerakote, which handles weather and handling far better than blued steel on a rifle that lives outdoors. A seamless removable radial muzzle brake comes fitted, tapping recoil down on a rifle light enough that a .308 would otherwise be brisk. Take the brake off and the threads are there for a suppressor instead.
Trigger and Accuracy
Trigger duty falls to a TriggerTech unit, which uses a free-floating roller between the sear and the trigger to give a break with no creep and a consistent pull weight. That matters most on a light rifle, where a heavy or gritty trigger translates directly into movement. Capacity is four rounds plus one in the chamber, and Christensen backs the rifle with a Sub-MOA three-shot guarantee using premium factory ammunition.
Specifications
- Model: Mesa FFT (801-01082-00)
- Caliber: .308 Winchester
- Action: bolt action
- Capacity: 4+1
- Barrel: 20 in., stainless steel, ultralight contour
- Muzzle: threaded with removable radial brake
- Weight: approx. 5.5 lbs.
- Stock: FFT carbon composite, black with gray webbing
- Trigger: TriggerTech
- Finish: tungsten gray Cerakote
- Accuracy: Sub-MOA guarantee
- UPC: 691328238246
Why 20 Inches in .308
Cutting a .308 barrel from 24 inches to 20 costs a modest amount of velocity, on the order of fifty to eighty feet per second depending on the load. In exchange the rifle gets shorter, lighter and considerably easier to carry through timber or on a pack. For a cartridge that does its work inside four hundred yards anyway, that is an easy trade.
The short barrel also keeps overall length sensible once a suppressor goes on, which is increasingly how hunting rifles get set up. A 24-inch barrel plus a can is unwieldy in a blind or on horseback.
Why Buyers Choose the Christensen Arms Mesa FFT 308 Win
Sub-six-pound hunting rifles with a factory accuracy guarantee used to mean a custom shop and a long wait. This one comes off the shelf with the carbon stock, the ultralight barrel, the brake and a TriggerTech trigger already in place. For a hunter who counts every ounce on a backcountry pack, that combination is the point.
The trade-off with any very light rifle is that it moves more under recoil and is harder to hold steady offhand than a heavier gun. The brake helps considerably with the first, and a shooting stick or a pack rest handles the second.
Who Should Buy It
Backcountry and mountain hunters, anyone who packs a rifle miles before firing it, and suppressor owners who want a short overall length will get the most out of this one. Bench shooters and long-range competitors should choose a heavier barrel that holds a group through a long string.
Learn more from Christensen Arms, or browse the rest of our firearms selection.
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