Scott Satterlee tries the Oryx Chassis

A few years ago I was able to go up to Canada and visit the Modular Driven Technologies (MDT) plant and see what they had in the works. The plant was a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be and rifle chassis are just a part of what they do. MDT has been making some of the most innovative rifle chassis since 2009 and continues to innovate. Price points and features that hit every segment of the market and include numerous OEM lines for large rifle manufactures. The Oryx chassis really caught my attention because of its one solid piece of aluminum that runs the entire length of the stock. The simple, rigid and ergonomic nature of the Oryx would lend itself to any precision rifle setup. But I had one rifle in mind that would be a perfect match for the Oryx.

In February 2020 My wife and I took a trip to South Africa. It was planned as a working vacation. I would host 3 trainings across the Country, sightsee and do a little hunting. We visited Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Limpopo. The trip started off rough. The paperwork for my rifles through Dubai didn’t make it in time so I had to leave my rifles behind, which in the long run was a good thing. The Trainings went without a hitch and it was time to hunt. Neil Bekker who is an avid competitor and PH was going to be my guide. I had a choice of Howa in 375 Ruger or a Tikka in 300 WM. The 375 was quite a bit more recoil but shot much better than the 300 so I opted for the bigger bore. With just a few shots I was able to get my holdovers out to 400 yards and we were ready to go. It was the end of the rainy season so the brush was pretty thick and we ended up walking over 30 miles in total. All of my shots were taken off a bag and tripod. I was really impressed with the terminal performance of the 300 gr Accubonds to the point that my next rifle was going to be a 375 Ruger set up for shots out to 700 yards.

The rifle would have to have some weight be simple, robust and can hook into my tripod, but still be comfortable to carry. The Oryx was the perfect choice for the new long rang thumper build. Weighing in at just over 4 pounds and great geometry to manage recoil. The synthetic panels make it comfortable to carry and cut down on stags in the brush. Matt Yore at Sawtooth Rifles had a 1-12 twist 375 barrel on hand and I sent him an action for the build. The rifle for Matt and I was a proof of concept as well as a functional hunting rifle. The 375 300 Gr Accubonds BC is the exact same as a 308 175 gr SMK. So matching velocity with Federal Gold Medal Match would simplify my data in a huge way.The rifle is turning out to be one of my favourites. Equipped with a Nightforce 4-16 ATACR, Red dot mounted at 12:00, Full-length ARCA rail and a double pull Ckye Pod the rifle weighs just over 14 pounds. The rifle shoots the 300 gr AB in ½ MOA groups at 2670 FPS and the 260 AB in ½ MOA groups at 2830 FPS. I’ve got about 600 rounds out of the rifle now and 700 yard shots are easy in good conditions. The rifle turned out to be versatile enough I took it to the Idaho NRL Hunter series match. The match was awesome lots of rocks and hasty supported positions and the geometry of the Oryx shined. Recoil impulse came straight back and I was still able to see impacts and make corrections. The build will be my one rifle solution for Africa, big Bears and Elk in the timber.

ABOUT SCOTT

Scott Satterlee is a nationally ranked precision rifle competitor in both the PRS and NRL. Scott is also a Green Beret Veteran who served 26 years in Special Operations Command with multiple combat tours. He also trained special forces, soldiers, in both marksmanship and Close Quarter Battle (CQB). Scott retired from 1st Special Forces Group in 2016 as the lead instructor and chief operations officer.