rifle with chassis in backcountry?

[Blaw]

hey all, I am really debating on throwing my tikka lite .308 in a chassis or leaving it in the factory stock.

I have everything on it light weight...right now it is 6.5lbs scoped throwing a chassis on it I figure will put it a hair above 7lbs, I hike a lot and am wondering if its worth it. I see chassis as being tough and super reliable as far as consistent accuracy (correct me if I am wrong)

I would be looking at the MDT LSS chassis. that being said if any of you are familiar with AR15 butt stocks and pistol grips that are super lightweight please chime in as I know nothing about them.

anyone else rocking a chassis in the backcountry?? dont be shy to share a pic..unless its a 10lb behemoth! way too heavy!

 

[luke moffat]

You will gain roughly 2-2.5 pounds going to a MDT LSS. You can be sub 10 pounds if you pick a 12-14 oz scope and don’t go with a folder.

That said I am not too worried about weight for my chassis rifles because if I am taking them hunting then the extra 5 pounds over my ultralight rifles isn’t that big of a deal. If weight is truly a factor I have a few sub 6.5 all up rifles for that. I will say my 27” barrel tikka t3 7 wsm is 8.75 pounds in a XLR carbon chassis as well as a MDT LSS-xl. Staying under 10 pounds is doable certainly but by the time you add a LR scope that is 24 oz or more (I don’t see the advantage of using a chassis and then putting a limiting scope on it), a magazine full of ammo, and a bipod you WILL but well north of 10 pounds regardless of what you do.

But that’s fine for certain hunts, here is my Tikka CTR looking over some Dall sheep at 600 yards....8 rams and none were legal though even though they were well in range.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

Now there's a couple way to skin the cat but at 6.5lbs all in ur scope has to be crazy light right now.. factory t3's weigh about 6lbs 3oz in 308 form.. rings are 1.3oz or so.

Ur factory stock weights 28oz

Mdt lss chassis weighs 27oz or so.. buffer tube run 3.5 oz and decent stock aka battlelink minimaliat will run about 6oz magpul k grip 2.4oz if memory serves (includes screw) 40oz or so all in.

Most lightweight ar stocks offer no recoil pad so add 2.5oz for a upgraded magpul one or 1.3oz or so for a glued on flip flop pad..

Smoke composites offers a lightweight option but at 600$ all in on that setup a stockys long rang eh1 style stock would still be lighter and offer a higher comb and just be better overall for shooting.

Also you gotta add the fact that factory mags are gonna be much lighter then aics type of mag..

Rough guess, ur gonna be all in 7pounds bare rifle in a tikka chassis

 

[mt100gr.]

I have been looking at all the options for this as well. But my angle would be to build a folder that is handy for packing - maybe a few inches longer than a pack frame!

Even without the hinge getting a lightweight chassis rig set up under 9 lbs is very expensive....almost to the point of trade-off with a CA MPR.

That said, if/when I set one up it wouldn't replace my lightweight rifles. It would be to pack when appropriate and a few extra pounds aren't a hindrance but I want the portability. Much like the other end of the spectrum - a 12.5 pound 300 win mag with a 30" barrel is a pain to drag around but under certain circumstances it's not a big deal and the extra kit to put it to work are just part of the deal.

 

[Blaw]

this is what I have, except I changed my scope out to a vx1 2-7x33 which took my rifle to 6lbs 8.5 oz's

ok here ya go!
I cut my barrel to 18"
fluted bolt
titanium bolt handle
leupold 2.5-8x36mm

6lbs 10oz

 

[Blaw]

Now there's a couple way to skin the cat but at 6.5lbs all in ur scope has to be crazy light right now.. factory t3's weigh about 6lbs 3oz in 308 form.. rings are 1.3oz or so.

Ur factory stock weights 28oz

Mdt lss chassis weighs 27oz or so.. buffer tube run 3.5 oz and decent stock aka battlelink minimaliat will run about 6oz magpul k grip 2.4oz if memory serves (includes screw) 40oz or so all in.

Most lightweight ar stocks offer no recoil pad so add 2.5oz for a upgraded magpul one or 1.3oz or so for a glued on flip flop pad..

Smoke composites offers a lightweight option but at 600$ all in on that setup a stockys long rang eh1 style stock would still be lighter and offer a higher comb and just be better overall for shooting.

Also you gotta add the fact that factory mags are gonna be much lighter then aics type of mag..

Rough guess, ur gonna be all in 7pounds bare rifle in a tikka chassis

ok so going with your estimates factory stock and chassis alone weigh the same so additional weight added would be
buffer tube 3.5oz
battle link stock 6oz
grip 2.4oz
recoil pad 2.5oz

14.4oz+6lbs 8.5oz = 7lbs 6.9oz

 

[Matt Cashell]

6.3 lbs .308:

The Fix™ by Q | Q

Tried to get one for review, but they can't keep up on the backorders anyway.

I know it is not exactly what the OP is asking for, but a really cool backcountry chassis option.

 

[luke moffat]

What are you hoping to gain from the chassis that the factory stock isn’t giving you?

 

[davsco]

6lbs 10oz

could be a "hair" under 6-10 if you changed one thing...

 

[Blaw]

do tell!

 

[davsco]

really bad joke, but isn't that a hair laying on the receiver?

 

[Blaw]

really bad joke, but isn't that a hair laying on the receiver?

damn dog hair lol

 

[Blaw]

What are you hoping to gain from the chassis that the factory stock isn’t giving you?

a few coolness points...id like a chassis but dont think I need a whole other rig for it, so if I could do one that was light weight (7lbsish) I might consider it. plus i dont have to glass bed it ect.

 

[luke moffat]

I still think you’ll be hard pressed to be sub 10 pounds all up with full mag and bipod of course the scope you have will help with that but I would personally rather run a OEM stock and put the extra weight in a scope than extra weight in a chassis and vx-1 2-7.

 

[Burnt Reynolds]

Chassis guns are sweet and I love them. To concern yourself with assembling a light(ish) weight setup would be to eliminate too many benefits in my opinion.

Pistol grip for example: plastic (standard A2, Magpul, etc) suck. But they are light weight. But they suck for grip and control. Ergo (my preferred brand) and other rubberized grips are excellent but slightly heavier.

Stock/buffer tube: Rogers Superstock has a decent butt pad, Magpul makes some stocks that are pretty good too. In my opinion however, the point of a chassis gun is gain total adjustability which generally means heavier components unless you've got a larger budget for parts that start with carbon and end with fiber - and then throw in some titanium.

I have an MDT LSS, it's great for the pricepoint but I also have a Ruger Precision Rifle in 5.56 that weighs about 13 lbs all up with my suppressor and it's a freaking laser beam. I carry it on training hikes and plink at rocks in the mountains and save for the caliber would have no problem taking it into the high country hunting big game. The adjustability of the stock, modularity of other components and the ability to fold are huge benefits combined with the increased accuracy - the point of a chassis gun is to get all of that in one package. If you want all those things and light weight; $$$. Which is cool too

 

[luke moffat]

Here is a Tikka T3 Lite in 22" 22-250 in a MDT LSS-XL with a MDT Skeleton Lite buttstock on it with no folder, no magazine or rounds, and no bipod, it also has the heavier but like Burnt Reynolds mentioned much preferred ergo grip.

No your scope is roughly 1 full pound lighter so you can take it down to roughly 8.75 pounds scoped, but again add in a magazine, rounds, and a folder and you'll be north of 10 pounds.

Here is a Tikka T3 Lite in 300 WSM with a 24" barrel in a MDT LSS (non XL model which I greatly prefer the LSS-XL (especially gen 2) over the standard LSS.

This is with a MDT LSS chassis, XLR folder, XLR tac lite buttstock, ergo grip, 3 round (since its a WSM its the same size as a 308 cased 5 round) magazine and a harris bipod, and a 32 oz (counting rings, scope caps, and bubble level) scope.

Here is a 13+ pound Tikka CTR in a XLR element chassis (another great affordable option especially on optics planet right now with their 10% off sale its just over $500 with the buffer tube and tac lite buttstock) out dall sheep hunting.

XLR Element Chassis w/ Tactical Lite Buttstock | Up to $29.75 Off 4.5 Star Rating w/ Free Shipping

Like mentioned above the chassis is get you modularity and be able to adjust the fit of the gun to fit you specifically. Also one of the strong advantages of a chassis is the folding option which makes the rifle much shorter overall when put in the pack for hunting.

Its not so much the cool factor for me atleast is being able easily and quickly adjust the LOP and cheek riser height for a specific shooter from as short at 9" or less LOP for a small child to as long as you want to go when Shaq spots up behind your rifle. That coupled with the ability to run a folder is why some of my rifles are in chassis. But we all do things for different reasons. I will say that the rifle you see above was used by no less than 10 different shooters last fall to take big game animals and even more than that shooting at 1000+ yards with it and being able to dial in the rifle to fit kiddos as young as 7 years old to guys 6'4" tall in less than a minute is nice for sure.

But if you are wanting to go super lightweight and a chassis than the Q fix or the Christensen MPR in 16" 308 win is likely the easiest route to a semi lightweight rifle in a chassis.

I would bet your barreled action with bolt and trigger assembly is right around the 4 pound even mark. So add 3/4 of a point at a minimum for scope and rings to that and you are going to be working with around 4.75 pounds before you add any stock. Use that as your baseline add can ballpark components from there.

 

[BrushyHillGuide]

Not sure about the total weight, and I’m at work right now, but what about using the new Manners mini Chassis (Tikka Stock and Chassis) in a carbon shell stock? Might get you the best of all worlds....except for the tactical part. Lol


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[HuntHarder]

Damn Luke, those chassis rifles are awesome!!

 

[Blaw]

Not sure about the total weight, and I’m at work right now, but what about using the new Manners mini Chassis (Tikka Stock and Chassis) in a carbon shell stock? Might get you the best of all worlds....except for the tactical part. Lol


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that is a sweet looking product! Ill look into it!

 

[Blaw]

Luke you sir are a wealth of knowledge!
so it sounds like you would agree with the mindset of. If I want a chassis setup then get one that will be fully functional....something like a 300 winmag in a mdt lss xl?

btw which one of those rifles was recently posted on Instagram via rokslide of your wife and kid with a caribou?