AllOutdoor Review – The Best Rifle Chassis for the Money $$$ in 2023
Travis Olander 12.19.23
We covered why a rifle chassis should be on your shortlist for improving your factory rifle’s accuracy, but with so many options on the market, picking the perfect chassis can be downright confusing. Let’s make it a bit simpler. Here are our top picks for the best rifle chassis for the money in 2023. If you feel we left out any notable chassis from our lists, remember to drop a line the Comments at the end of the article to let us know what your favorite is.
Rifle Chassis Coverage on AllOutdoor
- What is a Rifle Chassis? Why Bother Installing One?
- Grey Birch Manufacturing Introduces the La Chassis 700
- New Remington 700 Medium Action HNT26 Chassis from MDT
- [SHOT 2023] DD Pro Chassis Folding Stock Adapter for Delta 5 Pro
- MDT ACC Elite Chassis System – Unbeatable Adjustability
Cadex Defense Strike Nuke Evo (Best Polymer Rifle Chassis)
- Empty weight: 5.1 Lb (81.6 oz)
- Material: Glass nylon composite
- Action: Remington 700 SA/LA
- Magazine: AICS
- Attachments: M-LOK
- Retail: $640
Own a Remington 700? Probably. It’s arguably the most popular chassis action in circulation. If you do, then consider the Strike Nuke Evo, which excels in the comfort category. Its steep integrated grip is slightly overmolded to neatly fit the palm, while the integrated buttstock is heavily padded. You’re also getting a finely adjustable cheek riser with plenty more cushion. All the hard lines along the length of the forend sport nice, rounded edges, so there’s nothing to pinch your supporting hand. Even the trigger guard is rounded, with a long slope behind the magazine release.
The Evo’s made from high-density fiberglass, reinforced with nylon and, at just over 5 pounds, it provides plenty of mass to soak up free recoil energy before it makes it to the buttstock. The Evo’s also one of the more customizable chassis in the mix, with over a dozen Cerakote finishes available, to include some bright hues like Hunter Orange, Robin’s Egg Blue, USMC Red, and Stormtrooper White.
Inside the composite shell rests a small “micro chassis,” made from billet aluminum. The internal chassis runs up to the middle rider in the forend, with a spine that drops down the length of the pistol grip. The buttpad’s adjustable up or down, with optional spacers available for adjusting length of pull. Pair its adjustability with generous attachments and accessories – including a bipod rail, chassis weights, optic mounts, bag riders, and more – and you get one of the more customizable chassis on the market, too.
TL;DR: The Evo provides high comfort, customization, and adjustability with a low price. The integrated grip, stock and cheek riser’s a bonus, too. But at publication, it’s sadly only available for the Remington 700’s actions.
XLR Industries ATOM Chassis (Best Affordable Chassis)
- Empty weight: 1.18 – 1.31 Lb (19 to 21 oz)
- Material: 6061-T6 billet aluminum
- Action: Remington 700 SA/LA
- Magazine: AICS or XLR flush-mounted
- Attachments: M-LOK
- Retail: $370
Cheap, simple, and effective all describe the ATOM Chassis from XLR Industries, and it’s incredibly light to boot. Measuring just over 14.5″ for both Short and Long Action configurations, the ATOM is a great candidate for building an affordable, accurized backpack-stowed bolt gun or hunting rifle that just graces the scales. Six M-LOK slots – two on either side of the forend, and two on the bottom for a bipod – provide just enough space for attachments, while the optional RSS Lock provides a compact but sturdy swing arm for attaching any AR-tube buttstock. It’s also made to fit any standard AR-type pistol grip.
You can keep the theme of ultra lightweight, compactness by sticking with any of XLR’s skeletonized, carbon fiber stocks — though some retail for even more than the chassis itself. The ATOM works with AICS magazines, but you can opt for XLR’s flush magazine options. The ATOM comes standard with black anodizing, but custom Cerakote options provide 16 color options that range between $100 and $160. Throw in a bipod adapter for $25 and you’ll have the makings of a minimalistic chassis for any Rem 700.
TL;DR The ATOM is the perfect entry-level aluminum chassis for the Remington 700 platform, providing excellent machining in an aluminum frame at a great price. But features are lacking beyond standard M-LOK slots, and you’ll need to spend extra for a pistol grip and stock.
MDT LSS Gen 2 Chassis (Most Compatible)
- Empty weight: 1.4 – 1.6 Lb (22.4 to 25.6 oz)
- Material: 6061-T6 billet aluminum
- Action: Remington, Savage, Tikka, Mossberg, Howa, Ruger, CZ, Anchutz
- Magazine: AICS
- Attachments: M-LOK, AR buffer tube
- Retail: $370
This writer built his Savage 10 action with an LSS chassis, and it wound up being the most accurate rifle I owned. The machining on this chassis is superb, and its comfortable with lots of rail estate for accessories. I was quite happy about this, given the LSS is, in fact, one of the only chassis on the market that’s built for dozens of different rifles – well over 40 actions at publication. It comes with all the features that make any aluminum chassis great: Complete AR parts compatibility, AICS magazine compatibility, ambidextrous controls and left-handed actions, all in a light but quite rugged setup.
I put this rifle through the ringer, sending a solid 2,500 rounds through it over a span of 6 years ago, and never once did I experience drift, wobbles, or any other issues. It took plenty of solid bangs and hits, though the aluminum held up just fine. MDT makes some cool skeletonized buttstocks of their own, providing a convenient way to finish off your build. Throw a molded grip and pod on the bottom, and you’re ready to ring steel at distance.
TL;DR If you don’t own a Remington 700 action, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a compatible chassis – which is why the LSS from MDT is a great choice, working with over 40 different platforms. Although it lacks components at retail, it’s priced right and incredibly well built.
MasterPiece Arms MPA BA Competition Chassis (Voted #1 by Pros)
- Empty weight: 5.2 Lb (83.2 oz)
- Material: 6061-T6 billet aluminum
- Action: Remington, Savage, Tikka, Howa
- Magazine: AICS or XLR flush-mounted
- Attachments: Picatinny (sold separately)
- Retail: $1075 to $1225
The skeletonized MPA BA Competition Chassis draws some of the best professional shooters around the world to its aluminum form. Machined to be as light and stiff as possible, the V-bedded MPA Comp Chassis has won more AG Cup Matches than any other setup. It’s currently the #1 most used chassis in the PRS, too. Tipping the scales at over 5 pounds, this rig is made purely for bench shooting and competition. It’s been made and remade over its 8-year lifespan to provide all the features you could ask for in competition: Enhanced vertical grip, front night vision bridge, QD sling studs galore, generous LOP adjustments, built-in leveling system, integrated folding stock with bad rider, a V4 Spigot mount, external 2-round holder, and AICS compatibility.
TL;DR The MPA BA Comp Chassis is the #1 choice for professional shooters, and it sports all the features you’ll want (and need) to win matches. It’s massive, incredibly stable, and machined to perfection – with a price tag that reflects it.
Christensen Arms Modern Precision Rifle Chassis (Best Carbon Chassis)
- Empty weight: 3.3 – 3.5 Lb (52.8 to 56 oz)
- Material: 7075-T6 forged aluminum and carbon fiber
- Action: Remington 700 SA/LA
- Magazine: AICS
- Attachments: M-LOK
- Retail: $1075 to $1225
Billet aluminum is great, but forged aluminum and carbon fiber’s even better. That’s what Christensen Arms built their Modern Precision Rifle Chassis with, providing even more strength and rigidity for stabilizing any hot load you can fit inside the Remington 700’s short and long actions. Although as expensive as the MPA BA chassis, The Christensen comes with a slick carbon-and-forged-aluminum stock with adjustable LOP (12.5″ to 14.5″) and a nice cheek riser (+/- 1″), attached to a locking hinge with what Christensen calls “Magnelock technology.” A typical AR grip sits behind the trigger well, while the entire forend is made from forged carbon with loads of M-LOK slots and an integrated bipod mount underneath.
Nosler M21 Carbon Chassis Hunter (If Money is No Object)
- weight: 6.9 – 7.1 Lb (110 to 114 oz)
- Material: Forged carbon, magnesium
- Action: Nosler Model 21
- Magazine: AICS
- Attachments: M-LOK
- Retail: $5,395
Technically, this chassis can’t be bought without visiting your local FFL. That’s because it is, in fact, a complete rifle: The M21 CCH, or Carbon Chassis Hunter, built by Nosler. It sports more carbon fiber than a GTR spec’d Porsche, with a forged carbon wrapped barrel and loads more carbon building out the forend, stock, and part of the chassis itself. The internal chassis’s built from a magnesium alloy. The Nosler Model 21 Action makes up the rifle inside, with a competition “Tech Primary” trigger and heavy-profile barrel that looks strikingly similar to some of PROOF Research’s finest — I wouldn’t be surprised if PROOF were providing barrels on contract for this build, given the price. Available in 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 PRC, 28 Nosler, and 300 Win Mag, the M21 is perhaps one of the only off-the-shelf chassis rifles you can buy, slap a on some glass, and get rounds on target past a kilometer, out of the box.
