Oryx Chassis: A Long-Term Review

By Thomas Gomez

I have been running Oryx chassis since they hit the market in early 2019. Offered as an "affordable alternative," the Oryx chassis offers end-users a no-frills, robust, easy to use chassis system. "Affordable alternative" does not mean "cheap," Often, one does not need all the bells and whistles, extreme adjustment, and modularity of an expensive chassis system. Sometimes a simple, robust chassis is all that is necessary.

I have used Oryx chassis on my hunting and general precision rifles personally. I even have a class rifle (I manage a fleet of rifles for Quiet Professional Defense) that is mated to an Oryx chassis. Multiple students have come through my precision rifle classes with Oryx-equipped rifles, with zero problems.

MLOK rail at the 6 o’clock position.

What are some of the merits of the Oryx chassis? From my observations:

• The Oryx is a fairly light chassis, ideal for hunting and general precision work.
• Installation is simple.
• Being a chassis, the action is bolted to a rigid piece of aluminum which allows for more consistent harmonics and fewer variables when dialing in nodes when handloading.
• The Oryx chassis has M LOK slots at the 12 o'clock position, allowing end-users to mount 1913/Picatinny rails, sling studs for bipods, or ARCA rails.
• Adjusting the comb is simple.
• Oryx chassis are available for standard long and short action rifles and the Howa Mini action.
• The Oryx is available for most common rifle platforms, including Tikka, Savage, Howa, and Remington.

Analysis

Three of my personal Howa 1500 rifles are mated to an Oryx chassis. One is a thin profile hunting rifle, another a Howa Mini chambered in 7.62x39. The other is a 20-inch heavy barrel .308 Winchester that I use as a ranch rifle and will occasionally lend to hunters who need to borrow a gun when I am guiding pronghorn antelope hunts at the ranch. The rifles all shoot sub-moa and have been used on dozens of hunts during the last several years.

Howa Mini chambered in 7.62x39. Awesome training rifle.

The Oryx chassis offers a lot of capability at a reasonable price point. Because of the low cost, potential customers often wonder if there is a trade-off when it comes to quality. From my experience, the Oryx is a quality piece of kit that performs like chassis systems closer to the $1,000 price points. When you strip it down, the Oryx is a well-machined piece of aluminum that runs from the buttstock to the tip of the handguard augmented with some polymer sidings and an Ar-15 style grip.

Howa 1500, Oryx chassis, 6.5 Creedmoor. Tripod training in the snow.

When I first started playing with the Oryx chassis systems, I took a Howa 1500 barreled action, chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, capable of shooting .25 MOA groups, and shot some groups with different chassis systems. I mated the action to an Oryx chassis, an MDT LSS XL Gen 2 chassis, and a KRG Bravo chassis system. I attained near-identical groups from all three chassis systems, which meant that the Oryx was just as capable as more expensive ones.

Author hunting deer with a Howa 1500 chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor.

Closing

In closing, the Oryx is a capable chassis system, perfect for someone on a budget or a shooter who just needs a simple chassis system. If you need a chassis system with more modularity and adjustability, or something specific to a discipline like competition, look at Oryx's parent company, Modular Driven Technologies. I have three Oryx chassis, and I will be using them indefinitely. You cannot go wrong with these tough little chassis.

Howa 1500, 7.62x39. Shooting steel at 600 yards.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Thomas Gomez is the founder and C.E.O. of High Desert Rifle Works. He has over ten years in the Healthcare, Tech, and Outdoor Industries, working as an analyst, researcher, consultant, writer, and program manager. Thomas has an M.B.A. from Western New Mexico University, numerous armorer certifications, and teaches precision rifle for Q Pro Defense. He spends his free time ranching, farming, fly-fishing, and hunting the high deserts and mountains of his native New Mexico. He can be reached via Instagram @highdesertthomas.