Remington's Model 700 Tactical Chassis

Spring has sprung and kicked off at least two incredibly enjoyable seasonal activities.

The first began with a seven day forecast of rain and hot lapping a tractor pulled aerator over the lawn. This was followed with a brisk jog behind a broadcast spreader, dumping sun and shade grass seed that predominately will be eaten by opportunistic birds and small rodents. Finally, a second lap applied high nitrogen turf builder that will mostly be wash away by the rain.

It didn’t take long to realize the only result of the first activity would be fat, seed fed birds and chipmunks and a green down slope tree line, surrounding a brown and barren lawn. So I jumped to the second activity; hauled out the brush saw and cleared the range so I could go back to spending days on end shooting, avoiding yard work, and pretending I am working.

What to do with a really big rifle…

The Remington Model 700 Tactical Chassis is offered in several variations for military, law enforcement and civilian applications. The product is available in 308 Winchester, 300 Winchester Magnum and 338 Lapua Magnum. The 308 Winchester cartridge based system have a maximum effective range of 1000 meters. The 300 Winchester Magnum version extends maximum range to approximately 1270 meters. The 338 Lapua reach is approximately 1500 meters. All very much barrel length, bullet weight/type and velocity dependant.

The Model 700 Tactical Chassis rifle is built for long range shooting. Subsequently, weight takes a back seat to: a velocity boosting heavy contour 24″ barrel, a stabilizing chassis system, a steadying pistol grip, and a buttstock that is adjustable for changes in shooting positions and circumstances. With a nominal weight under twelve pounds, the subject rifle scaled thirteen pounds, eight ounces, unloaded, but equipped as pictured.

I am not a big fan of the 308 Winchester, even though it is an efficient round generating good velocity per grain of powder charge, even thought it has good range, even though is often found in highly accurate firearms, even though ammunition is relatively inexpensive, even though it is an excellent cartridge to handload. Oh, I guess I do like the 308 Winchester. Perhaps my issue with the 308 Winchester is that it does a workman like job, without a lot of fanfare, which makes it an adjective deficient cartridge.

Colorful colloquialisms such as “beaten stupid by vicious recoil”, or “eardrum inflating muzzle blast” or “half keg powder capacity” or “hole punch a moose at 5,000 yards” can’t be bandied about to grab a reader’s attention. Consequently, a fluff piece that focuses on the rifle’s aesthetics is not enough, so features of the subject firearm must be closely examined, performance must be carefully and objectively measured and manufacturers’ intended applications discovered before writing. It is a lot of work for an old guy.

As solid as it gets without welding….

The MDT TAC21 chassis system serves a number of purposes. It mounts a stainless steel Remington Model 700 action to V blocks and recoil lug support that are internal to the chassis for solid, stable, metal to metal support and it handguards a full floating barrel. The chassis is made from billet 6061-T6 aluminum that is hard anodized to mil spec type III. Mounting barreled action to the stock in this fashion results in the manufacturer’s claimed up to 28% accuracy improvement.

The top MIL-STN-1913 standard rail runs full length above the receiver and down the handguard. The section of rail over the receiver forms a 20MOA base, while the rail over the handguard is parallel to the rifle’s bore centerline. The receiver’s downward cant accommodates shooting out beyond 600 yards by positioning the scope for more useable adjustment.

The chassis converts the Remington to the AICS detachable magazine system and an AR15 standard pistol grip. The chassis utilizes a AR15 buffer tube and MAGPUL MAG307 PRS buttstock which aligns the stock to bore centerline with no drop. Comb height and length of pull are adjustable.

The buttstock is a is solidly mounted to the chassis and cam locked into a position for use. The buttstock is easily removable for shipping, maintenance, stock change or bolt removal by rotating the end cap lever downward and pulling the buttstock assembly from the chassis end cap.

Below, the trigger guard is secured with two fasteners that run through the guard, through the chassis and into the receiver, clamping all three components tightly together. dowel pins just outside of the fasteners lock the guard to the receiver and prevent the assembly from shifting along the rifle’s longitudinal axis. Removal permits cleaning and maintenance of fire control pieces.

No further disassembly is required for cleaning, however, the barreled action can be removed from the chassis by removing the handguard and the Remington’s trigger. However, this level of detail instruction is not covered in the rifles manual and folks without experience may end up with a lot of small piece parts and not a clear perspective of how to reassemble. Detail chassis information is available through MDT support documentation.

The Remington Model 700 Tactical Chassis is shipped with a thread protector capping it 5/8″x24 threaded muzzle and a 51 tooth ratchet mount AAC Blackout Muzzle Brake and indexing shim kit in the box. The brake is directional with ports aligning on a 3 o’clock – 9 o’clock plane. It is a very effective brake that does an excellent job of neutralizing recoil.

The Model 700 Tactical Chassis was shot with just the muzzle brake in place and suppressed with the pictured AAC SR-7 Silencer. The SR-7 is set up for a Fast-Attach 90 tooth ratchet mount, which permitted quick changing between configurations.

Performance before detail…

This is a rifle that can be shot all day at the range. With brake in place, the recoil is minimal, which helps shooting concentration. With the silencer in place, the recoil was so low, and the muzzle blast so minimal, it was easy to watch down range hits through the scope. With the straight line running back from muzzle to shoulder, there was no muzzle jump, cheek bumping or between shot recovery time required.

After shooting a dozen rounds within a relatively narrow time frame, the silencer ran hot and created a slight heat mirage that was visible when the scope’s magnification was cranked up. The quick solution was to wrap a wet wash cloth around the silencer to cool it down. After finishing a prior AR 10 type 308 Win project, it was nice to have brass eject that didn’t require playing hot potato.

Ammunition selected was factory soft point hunting ammunition that is reasonably priced and readily available. The routine groups were shot at 100 yards, but my wife dropped by to see what I was up to and shot a couple of 200 yard groups with the 150 grain Remington and 180 grain Prvi ammo.

Suppressed, accuracy was as good in the lighter weights and better in the heavier and there were some very minor shifts in point of impact. My guess is that shooting a greater number of rounds would have statistically rendered the differences insignificant.

The Remington Model 700 Tactical Chassis in an interesting and well made piece of machinery. It would clearly make for a terrific near and long range rifle, something that would give purpose to a careful handloading effort. In settings where hauling it around would not pose a problem and still hunting would be the norm, it would make for an excellent medium to larger game hunting rifle. The 300 Winchester and 338 Lapua versions would extend range and provide more down range power, but pushing performance always comes with a price; more expense, more recoil, more muzzle blast. The Model 700 Tactical Chassis and 308 Winchester make for a well balanced combination.