Xlr industries chassis system
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By now most of you have heard about the new chassis system from xlr Industries. For those who haven’t and for those who have but never had the opportunity to handle one this will give you some insight into a chassis system that can be made compatible to fit just about every type of shooting style.
In trying to find a stock to fit my new savage custom I wanted something different that the average tactical stock so I started looking around and ran across the XLR Industries web site. Immediately I found out that this wasn’t your average cookie cutter stock. It was an all-aluminum chassis that boasted sleek lines with an infinite amount of adjustments. Its pistol grip design and detachable magazine was just up my alley. I was amazed at the options that were available and the amount of actions that they inlet for from your average Remington 700 all the way up to the biggest Lawton action and even the 50 caliber and everything in between and if you don’t see your specific action on the web site give them a call and they can inlet for your specific action.
There are three chassis available from XLR. The evolution is the standard chassis that works well with just about any of your standard actions like the savage, Winchester and Remington based actions. The second chassis is the evolution h-d chassis. This is for the larger actions like the stiller tac .408, surgeon xl, etc. the last option is the B.M.G chassis. This is designed for the largest .50 bmg actions. With all chassis there is the option for a single shot or repeater if you action is designed for it. All chassis also have the option between a 12 or 14 inch hand guard that can be upgraded with a 4 way picatinny rail kit or a single rail for bipod mounting as well as a 3 inch benchrest plate. Also, all stocks have the option of a folding butt stock kit.
above:the folding kit
The butt stock has several options. The standard stock is the stock that comes with the evolution and H-D. It has one supporting arm and a 5/8 inch sand bag rail and is adjustable for length of pull, cant and the recoil pad is adjustable for height. The cheek piece is available for either right or left handed shooters but there is an option for an ambidextrous cheek piece. The second option is the extreme butt stock. This is a heavier stock that features 2 supporting arms as well as a 1 inch sand bag rail. It also comes standard with an ambidextrous cheek piece. This stock has an adjustable length of pull but isn’t adjustable for cant. This is the standard stock for the 50 b.m.g. chassis but is an option for the evolution chassis. The third option is the tactical stock. It has an ambidextrous cheek piece, swivel cups on both sides and provisions for a monopod. This stock is also available for all three chassis.
extreme butt stock
The standard stock
The greatest thing I like about this system is it uses Accuracy International magazines which are some of the best magazines you can find. The only variation to this is the chey-tac actions use m310 mags. And for the final finish the chassis comes anodized in your choice of Redstone, black or green.
As a side note some shooters have been modifying the magpul prs stock but permanent alterations will have to be made to the stock and will deem the stock unusable for use on the AR type rifles.
Now it was time for me to make a decision on what to go with. I knew I was going to build a 338 edge in a tactical style rifle but most of the ones I see are single shot due to the o.a.l. of the cartridge, but I wanted a repeater. So I looked around and found a savage 7mm ultra mag and a week or so later it was headed to the gun smith for a new barrel and brake. Then I called Kyle at XLR and started brain storming on a chassis. With the chassis using Accuracy International magazines my only option was the cip mag as it has an o.a.l of 3.725”. After a little help with the guys at savage shooters we took some measurements and called XLR and decided that the mag well was large enough to feed the larger cartridge without any modifications to the action so I ordered the evolution stock with the tactical butt stock.
After a modest 8 week wait my chassis was sitting on my door step. When I opened the well wrapped package I was taken away by its quality and rigidity. There were no machining marks, scratches or poorly fitted parts, just a high quality piece of art. I couldn’t wait any longer so I headed to the basement and started bolting up parts. I used the supplied action screws and the action bolted right up with no off center screw holes. I torqued the action screws to specs and tried to install the hand guard. In my haste I didn’t read the directions so the hand guard wouldn’t slide in place because the hand gaurd clamp was to tight to allow the alighnment nut to slide over the dowwel.. So I unscrewed the clamp and started over following the instructions. Once I had everything bolted up I started to adjust the stock to fit. I was very impressed with the amount of adjustment this system has. The cheek piece has more than enough adjustment for my extra high rings and is very comfortable to use. The length of pull also has plenty of adjustment. This particular butt stock doesn’t come with a cant feature but the recoil pad does adjust up and down. One downside to this stock is having to remove the adjustable cheek rest during cleaning if you have a long action. I believe that a short action bolt will come out without removing it but I don’t have one in front of me to say for certain.
Once everything was in place I decided to do a function test to check for proper feeding so I loaded up 5 dummy rounds with empty cases, 250 grain sierra match kings and no primers. My o.a.l. was 3.685 which left plenty of room in the magazine. I loaded the first round in the magazine but the problem was in trying to load the second. I learned that the Accuracy International 338 Lapua cip mags weren’t designed for the ultra mag cases due to the placement of the shoulder on the case. It sits farther forward than the Lapua causing the case to catch on the front rib on the mag. So with a little cutting with my cut off wheel and a file I removed the rib on both sides to allow the cases to go properly in the magazine. A milling machine would have given a little neater results but I didn’t have one so I worked with what I had. With this little hiccup out of the way I loaded the magazine and cycled the bolt. All of the rounds cycled like they were supposed to with no jams. I repeated this several times and had the same results each time. Now don’t forget that this was my 250 grain match king load that I was using which fell under the 3.725” o.a.l. limit.
Now that everything was ready to go I decided to take the rifle to the range for some real life testing. Shooting from a bipod i felt comfortable from the word go because the stock was already adjusted to fit my shooting style. I wasn’t trying to strain to get proper cheek weld and my length of pull was right where I needed it to be. I was in a very relaxed form and was able to concentrate more on my breathing and trigger control. The first shot was nicer than I could have imagined with the stock recoiling in a nice, even push against my shoulder. With the balance of the stock each shot was consistent and returned to battery like it was supposed to. The pistol grip made it even better by allowing me to have a firm grip. I shot several nice groups off of the bipod and decided to try some offhand shooting. Again, the rifle recoiled nicely allowing some consistent shooting. This chassis is what I would call a fairly light weight system that allowed shooting from different positions with less fatigue that is typically found with other modular systems. Even with my 30 inch medium target contour barrel the rifle was balanced enough for those off hand, sitting and kneeling shot. It will also be light enough for some flat land hunting though I don’t think I would want to carry this into elk country or carry it in Africa. It would also be ideal for a nice long range hunting setup.
Now with this stock there are some cons with it. The main problem is scope mounting. If you have a scope base that extends .200 of an inch past the action face it will have to be milled off to allow the installation of the hand guard. Also, you will have to carefully select your scope ring height to match the objective. Often you will have to go with a high or extra high ring to allow clearance of the hand guard. XLR has a formula available at their web site to help with scope ring height selection. I have extra high rings on my rifle but with the cheek rest having so much adjustment it isn’t a problem.
On to my final thoughts of this stock. I believe it’s one of the best options out there if you want a modular design. The ergonomics and finish are some of the best I have seen and the chassis, including the options are very reasonably priced. This system will allow years of shooting and hunting and XLR stands behind all of their work with a lifetime warranty on everything they sell. Not only does XLR produce high quality products but their customer service is impeccable. When you call you will usually get the owner, Kyle, and he will work with you through every question you may have. I give this chassis and company a very high rating. Am I happy with the decision I made. 100%
