Estimated reading time: 12 minutes
The Christensen Arms Modern Precision Rifle (MPR) Rimfire sets a new benchmark in rimfire rifles, blending the modularity of a chassis system with the precision of a carbon fiber tension barrel. This innovative rifle features a foldable stock, a lightweight billet aluminum chassis, and a fully adjustable FFT carbon fiber cheekpiece. Equipped with a TriggerTech® Remington 700-style trigger and an M-LOK™ compatible carbon fiber handguard, the MPR Rimfire caters to a range of activities, from target shooting and small game hunting to competitive shooting. Available in three popular calibers—.17 HMR, .22 LR, and .22 WMR—the MPR Rimfire comes in various barrel lengths and color options, making it a tailored fit for every shooter’s needs.
Table of contents
Christensen Arms MPR Rimfire Specifications:
- Barrel: Christensen Arms Carbon Fiber Tension Rimfire Barrel
- Thread Pitch: 1/2 x 28 (Standard)
- Receiver: Christensen Arms Precision Machined Aluminum Receiver
- Trigger: TriggerTech® (Rem 700 Compatible)
- Optic Compatibility: 0-MOA Rail
- Magazine: Ruger® 10/22 Compatible
- More Features: Dual Extractors
- Stock Materials: Christensen Arms 7075 Aluminum Billet Chassis
- Stock: Fully Adjustable Folding Stock with MagneLock™ Technology
- Handguard Material: 10.5″ or 14″ FFT™ Carbon Fiber with M-LOK®
Christensen Arms MPR Rimfire Overview
The Christensen Arms Modern Precision Rifle (MPR) Rimfire brings the cutting-edge features of the original MPR into a rimfire platform, maintaining its reputation while introducing some key distinctions. Both models share a robust 7075 billet aluminum chassis, lightweight design, and folding stock, enhancing portability and functionality. The MPR Rimfire is offered in black, desert brown, or tungsten Cerakote, and integrates the TriggerTech® trigger system, consistent with its centerfire counterpart. However, unlike the original MPR, the MPR Rimfire utilizes Ruger® 10/22 magazines and is chambered in rimfire calibers such as .22 LR, .22 WMR, and .17 HMR. Additionally, the MPR Rimfire promises a sub-MOA guarantee at 50 yards, leveraging the same carbon fiber technology for enhanced accuracy and performance in a more lightweight and transportable design.
MPR Rimfire Out of the Box
From the factory, the MPR Rimfire comes with one 10-round Ruger rotary magazine, an Allen wrench, gun oil, ear plugs, a sticker, target-proving sub-MOA groups from 50 yards, and an owner’s manual.
Folding Stock
One standout feature of the MPR Rimfire is its folding stock, which employs MagneLock™ technology to secure the bolt when folded, ensuring it remains immobile during transport. This folding mechanism makes it easy to fit the rifle into a bag for hiking or reduces its footprint for more convenient transport.
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Built on a durable 7075 aluminum billet chassis, the stock includes an FFT™ carbon fiber cheek riser, offering a robust yet lightweight foundation. The carbon fiber cheek riser is comfortable and helps shield against ambient temperatures. With a 1″ adjustable riser range and a length of pull adjustable from 12.5″ to 14.5″, it can be precisely tailored to fit your size and shooting style. Although these adjustments require an Allen wrench rather than being toolless, they hold firmly once set. The stock is also compatible with standard AR grips and includes six QD mounts, making it a versatile and highly functional part of the MPR Rimfire.
Chassis
Built from 7075 aluminum, the chassis serves as the backbone of this rifle, providing a lightweight yet durable foundation. Using a billet aluminum chassis ensures a robust and consistent platform, a key component for maintaining the rifle’s accuracy and stability. Additionally, the chassis incorporates V-block bedding, providing a solid and repeatable interface between the action and the chassis. This bedding method enhances accuracy by reducing movement between the components and maintaining consistent contact surfaces.
The MPR Rimfire includes a magwell tailored for Ruger 10/22 magazines, ensuring compatibility with a wide range of existing options. The lever mag release sticks down far enough to be easily released. This design facilitates seamless and effective magazine changes. Additionally, the front of the magwell features a machined barricade stop with a “flat” surface, offering a stable point of contact for shooting from barricades or other surfaces. The rifle also supports AR-style grips, providing versatility in grip options, with the included Magpul MOE-K grip offering a minimalist yet functional choice.
Action
The MPR Rimfire features a small yet adequate bolt handle. Equipped with dual extractors, the rifle is designed for reliably extracting spent cartridges. The bolt is also sort of a rectangular shape which I thought was interesting, but it works and helps decrease weight while still getting the job done.
The action includes a 0-MOA top Picatinny rail fastened down, allowing for easy mounting of optics and accessories suitable for rimfire applications. While I would prefer to see a 20-MOA rail machined into the action, I never had the top rail work loose during testing. This has happened to me with other rifles in the past, so a single-piece system seems to be the best option to me even though the MPR Rimfire ran great as it is. While the bolt action itself can be described as pretty gritty, it seems reasonable for a rimfire rifle.
Handguard
The MPR Rimfire also features a 10.5″ or 14″ Flash Forged Technology (FFT) carbon fiber handguard. It has M-LOK® compatibility, which adds to its lightweight design. This handguard not only supports various accessories but also helps to dissipate heat. The FFT carbon fiber also looks amazing in my opinion while feeling great in my hands. While there is no top Picatinny rail, the slimmed-down profile is a great option for this lightweight bolt gun.
Trigger on the MPR Rimfire
The MPR Rimfire utilizes a flat-faced Remington 700 compatible TriggerTech trigger factory set to 3.4 lbs. I found this to be slightly heavier than I wanted for such a lightweight rifle. Luckily, this trigger can be adjusted from 2.5 – 5.0 lbs in ~1oz increments from an externally accessible set screw. I set it to 2.5 lbs which felt much better and worked great for an NRL22 match I competed in. TriggerTech makes exceptional triggers, and the single-stage variant used in this rifle has no takeup and a crisp break.
Barrel
The Christensen Arms Carbon Tension Barrel utilizes tension barrel technology, crafted from a 416R button-rifled, lapped barrel blank. It features a lightweight contour and shot great as I will elaborate on later. The carbon fiber sleeve is precisely tensioned to mitigate common issues associated with lightweight barrel designs. It incorporates a standard thread pitch of 1/2 x 28. Also, it includes features such as a match chamber and precision lapping for enhanced performance. Between the carbon fiber barrel and handguard, there is hardly any foreword weight making this rifle very maneuverable. It also proved to be a great host for mounting a suppressor. Let me tell you, there is hardly a gun more fun to shoot than a suppressed 22. This was a blast, and ridiculously quiet.
Precision
So we have been talking about all the cool things packed into the MPR Rimfire, but how does it actually shoot? Throughout this review, I have hundreds of rounds through this rifle. It is still shooting sub-MOA groups with premium Norma ammunition among others. I even used this rifle at an NRL22 match where I used 40gr Norma MATCH-22 with great success.
Christensen Arms backs this rifle with an impressive guarantee of sub-MOA accuracy at 50 yards. To verify this claim firsthand, I conducted multiple shooting sessions at 50 yards with various types of ammunition. While 5-round groups naturally exhibit slightly larger variations compared to cherry-picked 3-round groups, they provide a more comprehensive assessment of the rifle’s performance with different types of ammo. The table and accompanying image below detail the tightness of my 5-round groups:
| Ammo Type | Avg Velocity (FPS) | 5-Round Group Size (MOA) |
| CCI Pistol Match 40gr | 1059 | .692 |
| Aguila Super Extra 40gr | 1225 | .843 |
| Norma MATCH-22 40gr | 1062 | .849 |
| Eley Semi-Auto Benchrest 42gr | 1097 | 1.467 |
| Winchester Super Speed 40gr | 1325 | 2.189 |
Throughout this review, I was able to put hundreds of rounds through the Christensen Arms MPR Rimfire. Most of the ammunition used was provided by Ammuntiontogo.com. They are the official ammo sponsor for this rifle review and offer a wide selection of competitively priced ammunition. They have quick shipping, an easy-to-use online website, and competitive prices. Go check them out!
MPR Rimfire Performance
I have taken the MPR Rimfire many places now and have loved every outing. It shoots incredibly softly, stupidly quiet when suppressed, and groups very well. It is a versatile system and has allowed me to run it in all sorts of different configurations. I shot an NRL22 match where I was able to successfully engage targets out to 320 yards. For my first match ever, I ended up placing 8/23 in the open division. I was stacked against competitors with rifles mostly 3-5 times more expensive than this rifle. While the heavier rifles they were using would be ideal for long-range competition shooting, this lightweight MPR Rimfire can do it all.
Just for fun, I was even able to hit a target at 502 yards. This ended up being roughly a 31.9 mil hold. In a case like this, a 20 MOA rail would have been ideal. My only issue with this rifle was that after shooting suppressed the gun got rather gummed up. I had just a couple of instances at my NRL22 match where the rifle jammed, and the magazine didn’t freely eject. When it jammed, I had to push up on the mag while working the action. Then when the mag didn’t drop freely, I found it much easier to push it out from the top when the bolt was to the rear rather then trying to pull it out from the bottom. However, suppressed rimfire rifles are very dirty, and this issue is not unique to this rifle.
Hunting
I also ran it with a Pulsar Thermion 2 LRF XP50 Pro thermal and took it out hunting. This was ideal for varmints but despite what your momma told you, even 22lr can still take down medium-sized game. Utilizing the onboard ballistics calculator and rangefinder on the Pulsar thermal, I was able to kill a wild pig from 254 yards shooting subsonic 22LR CCI Suppressor 45gr LHP rounds when rested on a Kopfjager K800 tripod with a Mag Series head. It was one of the craziest shots I’ve ever made, and for those who don’t believe me you can watch it for yourself in the YouTube video below:
Summary of the MPR Rimfire
The Christensen Arms MPR Rimfire proved to be quite the contender throughout my testing. This rifle is priced at $1249 but available for less on GunsAmerica. It boasts advanced features such as a Christensen Arms Carbon Tension Barrel, a 0-MOA top Picatinny rail, a small yet adequate bolt handle, dual extractors, and compatibility with Ruger 10/22 magazines. The stock is made from 7075 aluminum with a FFT™ carbon fiber handguard, featuring a folding mechanism with MagneLock™ technology, and offers an adjustable cheek riser and length of pull.
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Over lots of shooting, the MPR Rimfire consistently shot sub-MOA groups with premium ammunition and excelled in an NRL22 match, helping me place 8th out of 23 in my first ever rimfire competition. Despite occasional issues with gumming up and magazine ejection when shooting suppressed, the rifle’s versatility was highlighted during a hunting trip, where it successfully took down a wild pig from 254 yards using a Pulsar thermal scope.
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