The side folding chassis are very quickly becoming the new hottest craze in the precision rifle scene. So, picking out the right chassis with all the options that will suit all your individual needs has became rather hit or miss type situation. Let me be up front and honest MDT has you covered in a very solid way with their new features. The LSS-XL Gen 2 chassis itself is an absolute masterpiece it has a very nice thick cerakote coating to prevent any corrosion. That paired along with 27 M-LOK slots so you can find your perfect balance for your bipod or tripod depending on your individual needs. Let’s get to the build specs before I continue further,
Rifle: Remington 700 .300 WM 26” heavy barrel
Chassis: MDT LSS-XL Gen 2
Glass: Vortex Viper HS-T 6-24×50
Bipod/Tripod: Spartan Precision Javelin
Trigger: Timney Calvin Elite # 520 CE-A
Rifle Stock: MDT Skeleton V5
Grip: Venom Defense Rebel
Side Folder: MDT Folding Stock Adapter 1 way
This is among the best shooting rifles that I have in my gunroom this combination is absolutely perfect as well as moderately affordable. Getting to the assembly, easy peasy from boxes to a solid bolt gun only took my about 30 minutes. First, I unpackaged everything and inspected for any flaws and after finding none I took the factory stock off the rifle itself and installed the Timney Calvin Elite. Then I started to thread the folding adapter to the chassis it self and installed the MDT V5 rifle stock. Finally, installed the rifle into the chassis after applying lubricate to prevent corrosion to the under parts of the rifle and installed the scope and leveled it.
Once the chassis and rifle has been mated together I don’t like to separate them very often. So, I made my checks of whether I can remove my bolt and I could with ease in either configuration (folded and fixed). Since this wasn’t my first rodeo with the MDT chassis I had some prior knowledge on how to set up the adjustable length and cheek height so simply a few twists to fine tune and lock them down. I am in absolute love with the MDT V5 stock they seriously give you the most choices to fine tune the rifle to you that I have ever experienced. Once your ideal sight picture has been established I recommend you begin dry firing and getting used to the chassis and options you chose.
That is one of the best things any long range shooter could ask for is options to make the shooter more comfortable. Because at the end of the day being comfortable and consistent is what it going to keep you shooting and enjoying the sport. MDT nailed that with the LSS-XL chassis it obviously is going to weigh a little more then a hollow fixed stock but that weight helps to mitigate some of the recoil. So, taking it out to zero the rifle itself I did notice it was a tad bit heavier then my other chassis but with this build being a long action with a longer heavier barrel it was to be expected. I did a quick zero at 100 yards and then moved over to a shorter farmers field path and stretched it out to 400 yards but I knew I needed to go further for a solid assessment.
So, like any good writer would do I made some calls and found somewhere longer to shoot. It ended up being one of my cousins in West Virginia he said he had a wide open field so I loaded up my rifle and some steel targets and plenty of ammo of course. After the 5 hour drive I was there and started to unload my gear and he pulls up and just stares at my rifle in awe he looks up and says “Rogar Ray that has to be about the nicest rifle I have ever seen in person”. Which was pretty flattering to be honest so I looked back and said “you want to shoot it?” of course that answer was a “of course I do”. So, he unloaded his ATV and we took out the range finder and set out some plates at 500 yards, 800 yards, and 1000 yards.
As a courtesy and thank you for him letting me use his place while mine was full of corn to tall to shoot over I gave him the honor of sending the first shot of the day. He racked the first round in the chamber with a massive smile switched off the safety and shot the sweet sound of the *ping* at 500 rang. He asked me about the trigger he said it was like he just thought about shooting and it pulled itself I forgot to tell him the Timney Calvin Elite was set at just over a one pound trigger pull. So we shared a few laughs about that and I started shooting *ping* on the 800 yard steel and for the 1000 I set out a challenge for us a 10” single plate. I wanted to test the limits and choose a 10” to maintain 1MOA my first shot was a very near miss as I hit the first link on the chain so I made a quick adjustment and sent the additional 4 rounds straight into the 10” plate.
My cousin and I sent a full case (200 rounds) of 190 grain SMK federal match rounds we were both stunned how fast it went (time flies when you are having fun). This MDT LSS-XL gen two chassis is in my opinion one of the most solid options that I have ever had the privilege to shoot. The best part is that its not to expensive the LSS-Xl Gen2 chassis is only $549 the V5 rifle stock is $290 and the side folding adapter is only $150 that totals $989. That is just crazy for the amount of options you get out of this complete chassis. Also, for anyone that has a worry about maybe the side folding adapter will wear down in time I have folded this upwards of 500 times and it still retains 100% integrity with zero play in the pivot point.
Wrapping things up, all in all I have to admit they did an excellent job the quality and innovation is definitely there and the price is most certainly right on target. While I was leaving my cousin was getting all of the information to start saving for this MDT LSS-XL Gen 2 chassis for himself and he had already ordered a Timney Calvin Elite for his rifle as well. Any doubts that I had or my followers had about a folding precision rifle chassis is a very distant memory. I am going to give this a definite “GO-BUY” because I know that you will be happy with the product.
