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Chassis rifles — bolt-action rifles that, rather than a one-piece stock, are housed in modular [typically aluminum] chassis — get more popular every year. And why not? The ability to drop that reliable, accurate action into a chassis that accepts handguards, grips, and stocks designed for the AR platform opens up near-infinite possibilities. New from Best Damn Gun is a Remington 700 modular chassis that does just that. BDG’s press release follows:

Just Released! That rumored chassis that accepts AR-15 handguards is now made for the Remington 700 Short Action too.

The BDG Modular Chassis was just released in both smooth and lightened versions for Remington 700 Short Actions. Shortly after the 700 Long Action Chassis was released at 2017 SHOT Show, Best Damn Gun, LLC started receiving numerous requests to make it available for Remington 700 Short Action. The short action modular chassis offers the same versatility for custom rifle builds as its predecessor. Unlike other chassis in the market, it’s modular design allows for the use of popular handguards. Bolt actions have long been the benchmark for long range accuracy with AR-15’s providing shooters versatility. AR-15s provide shooters countless options from accessories to comfort, fit and function. The Best Damn Gun Modular Chassis brings the bolt action precision and the AR-15 Versatility together in a sleek yet fully customizable rifle build in both 700 short and long actions.

According to Sonya Wilt, VP of Marketing, “the possibilities are truly endless. The BDG Chassis Core is the perfect platform for all shooters. My husband has large hands, long arms and prefers the 700 Win Mag for 1000 yard plus shooting. I’m 5’4” tall, on a good day, and prefer a round with less kick like the 7mm-08, but I want character that reflects my personality. For our 11-year-old, the BDG chassis is accurate, lightweight, and adaptable, so it can grow with her. We have 4 kids with different interests and this chassis lets them build a rifle that fits them.”

For more information, visit www.bestdamngun.com

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20 COMMENTS

  1. It’s interesting to see the AR taking over the bolt gun market. It’s hard to compete with cost effective, modular, and still reasonably quality. Hand made blued steel and wood seems so far behind us in the normal consumer market.

  2. I’m sorry, but this is just stupid. The AR 15 ergonomics are a result of the action. Why you would buy a $500 chassis just so you can slap a bunch of AR parts on a bolt gun. This just makes me cringe.
    I have a idea, 1911 grips for a revolver.

    • There are some truly excellent AR stocks and grips, in particular, that would be awesome on a chassis like this. For instance, the MDT carbine skeleton stock. And rather than having a one-size-fits-some-maybe grip built into a one-piece stock you can swap for grips with varying angles, palm swells, materials etc etc etc if the chassis fits AR grips. I like the fatter of the standard Ergo grips for this sort of thing.

      And even though this press release focuses more heavily on handguards I don’t personally think that’s as big of a selling point as grips and stocks for me, though certainly, again, you have a ridiculous number of options with AR fit and there are some that are well-suited to a precision rifle like those with flat bottoms or modular rail systems (e.g. M-LOK) so you can add a bipod mount, add a sling socket, add a rail for a night vision optic, etc as you please and, when you don’t, have a sleek and lightweight handguard instead.

      • Again yes they make more parts for ARs. However every thing made for the AR has to work around the shape of the action, the buffer tube and the gas tube. None of which exist an a bolt gun. Stocks with similar adjustablity exist for the 700 action without having to take into account the buffer tube. And if pistol grips were such a good idea, why don’t we see them on long guns where the action doesn’t require them. (Yes, I know there are exceptions, but they are almost never the rule)
        So you could make a revolver that accepted 1911 grips, but why would you when there is no magazine.
        I guess there is a market, but there is also a market for lots of things that don’t make a lot of sense.

        • There are any number of sniper/long range rifle platforms with pistol grips; indeed, that seems to be the dominant trend with all chassis rifles. With a receiver like this, it also seems as if you could easily avoid any issues with pillar bedding and free floating fore-ends plus, should one be so inclined, easily adjustable stocks, even folding stocks.

        • Again, why use AR furniture that is designed to work around a buffer tube, gas tube and a action that is 4 times bigger than a typical bolt file other than there are lots of options. As for a folding stock, the buffer tube mount makes that way more of a kludge than anything else. It would be like putting a buffer tube on a Sig MCX. OH NO, too late
          https://s3.amazonaws.com/mgm-content/sites/armslist/uploads/posts/2016/11/06/6081833_01_sig_mpx_mcx_buffer_tube_style__640.jpg

  3. I’d be interested in hearing Dyspeptic’s (insult and expletive-laden) comments and-or-observations about this ‘trend’…

    • This really isn’t a new idea, or a bad idea. There are several chassis systems you can wrap around a Rem700/clone action, and some of them use AR parts.

      There’s a chassis system used to hold a Rem700 action in a similar configuration that has been used to win competitions for some time among long range, F-class and/or high power shooters. The idea was made popular by Gary Eliseo some years back, and now there are at least a couple of outfits catering to long-range/high-power competitors for a Eliseo-style chassis system into which you put a Rem700 action/bolt/magazine, hang on a competition trigger, add a Krieger/Bartlein barrel and then some buttstock hardware, and you’re in business.

      If you’re going to pony up the money to mount a Rem700 compatible action in such a system, I’d recommend that you either buy a custom action, or pay to have the action blueprinted (which will make a Rem700 action cost about as much as a new custom action) before you mount it into a tube-gun style chassis in order to make it shoot to potential.

      Alternatively, there’s a chassis system available for non-Rem actions, the MDT chassis system, which will fit some very inexpensive off-the-shelf barreled actions just now. Brownells has had a screaming deal on Howa 1500 barreled actions recently – you could slap a MDT chassis on it and you’re probably going to have a reasonably precise rifle for about $1500 before the glass. If you want it to become a more precise rifle, you’re going to have to pay up for a single-point rifled barrel, and start handloading.

      • Bud’s is selling a Howa 1500 in 6.5 Creedmore in a Hogue stock with Diamond First 4×16 scope, 20 moa base, and quick detach rings and a bipod for $700. Talk about a screaming deal!

  4. If liberals call this a trans-assault rifle remind them that firearm type is only a social construct in the eyes of our forefathers and if they have a problem with that then that makes them riflephobic.

    • You bring up an interesting point: how long before Communists Progressives demand bans on these rifles because they have adjustable stocks, pistol grips, heat shield hand guards (fore grips), threaded barrels, muzzle brakes, and look scary, SCARY I TELL YOU!

    • I saw that, too. Sounds like a real shoulder-buster, with big problems shooting elephants without destroying ALL the meat.

  5. I like these chassis rifle designs, but really wish someone would incorporate the one big feature from an AR, a detachable magazine. Sure some use AICS mags, but at $75 each, who’s buying more than one? It would be nice to have a chassis rifle that could accept a regular AR magazine.

    • Most chassis rifle builds aren’t using the 5.56/.223 cartridge or derived cartridges. Accepting an AR-10 (or M1A/M14) magazine would be more suitable for the typical chassis build.

      That said, there’s little need in the long distance/precision/accuracy competition world for a magazine with a capacity of more than 5 or 10 rounds. Since many of these chassis rifles are shot from prone or a bench, an overly long magazine gets in the way of the rifle’s operation.

      • Most bolt rifles are not designed for picking up rounds from a double stack magazine. Designing a “chassis” is one thing. You are just making a new outer housing. designing a new feeding system and bolt requires real development. The companies that are capable of that, typically know better than to try and adapt AR furniture for a bolt gun.

        • The box magazine beneath the bottom of a Mauser 98 action is a double-stack magazine – as are the blind box magazines of most bolt action rifles since the Mauser 98. The feed lips of the these blind magazines are actually the bottom rails of the action.

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