I've been hesitant on Chassis's for a long time. I have long preferred traditional synthetic stocks for many years (Manners, McMillan, HS, Bell &Carlson). I certainly like their looks and the idea behind them, I just couldn't get over the chassis trying to look like a traditional precision stock, i.e. the Field stock or XRS chassis. I do really like the look of the more modern chassis's on the market like the Oryx, LSS, ACC, even the KRGs (oh no, I dropped a competitor name 😬 ). As mentioned in another review I read, the Oryx really is the perfect "entry level" chassis for someone who may not be fully committed to the change over. The whole reason I purchased mine is for a rifle I built years ago in a Rem 700 SA when I first started building. It started as an experiment and when that failed I chambered it for 22-250 Remington. It has a 1-7" twist, heavy varmint barrel, sat in a Bell and Carlson varmint stock. Loaded with 77gr SMKs it shoots fantastic!! One problem, I didn't start with the right action to accommodate the 22-250. It was originally a 221 Fireball. The rifle never fed right from a standard BDL mag setup. The first round would feed, the remaining the bolt would fail to catch due to the feed rails in the action not allowing the round to raise high enough for the bolt to engage (some if you are laughing right now). I had other rifles to build, have two other 22-250s that I shot all the time, it wasn't the end of the world to me to put it aside and tinker later. 15 plus years later I decided it was time to start shooting it again and I gave myself two options, have the stock inletted for an M5 bottom metal and run a DBM OR try a chassis. Price difference between the two was minimal, chassis was a faster option, either way I'm running a magazine. This is where the Oryx came in. First chassis, good price, let's try it. It's great! Absolutely fantastic for a first chassis. Has enough adjustability and modular upgrades to give you a great idea of what you like and don't like, it's solid, it's comfortable, and not half bad looking. 😉
I had two very minor hiccups during install at no fault to MDT or the Oryx itself. First, I have a Badger Ordnance oversize recoil lug on this rifle. I had machined it to length (depth) for the original B&C stock, which is factory depth for R700 actions, so I was good there for fit to the Oryx, however, the BO lug is wider in profile than a factory lug. I did call MDT to verify fit before ordering, but I don't believe I explained it quite well enough for the answer I was looking for. The Oryx has a tapered internal dimension in the recoil lug area and my BO lug was too wide to fit all the way down in the chassis. Easy fix, I machined the lug to fit the Oryx and it dropped right in with minimal play. Second, I didn't have a long enough 3/16" Allen key for my torque wrench to fit down through the trigger guard to get to the rear action screw, no big deal, I removed the polymer unit, installed the barreled action, torqued screws, called MDT for torque specs on the screws that attach the polymer to the chassis body (none listed, advised to go up snug plus 1/8 to 1/4 turn).
Loaded up new ammo the same day, new powder type from my original loads, never tested this load before and I was dually impressed. A slight amount of tuning and she'll be spot on and ugly until I give the barreled action a fresh paint job.
Fit and finish is great, install was easy, all the things that made chassis's a great advancement in the firearms world to begin with. Personally, I'm still not 100% sold enough to move entirely to chassis builds, but they definitely have their place and I certainly will start using them more.
