AICS Standard vs. Elite Series

[Saber329]

I've never used the AICS bottom metal/magazines before, but will on my new rifle.

For those familiar with it, what are the differences between the standard and Elite Series? From what I read, the Elite Series magazine goes in and out vertically. How does the standard magazine work? Does it "roll-in" like an M1-A or AK-47?

Is the Elite Series worth the extra coin?

What is your thoughts on the long lever versus the hidden lever? On the surface, it would seem the hidden/short lever would be less likely to snag on something, but other than that, what are the pros and cons of each system?

Is Atlasworx the place to buy what I need or are there others that produce the AICS system?

 

[MarinePMI]

Not familiar with the bottom metal you're discussing, but I'd wager the Elite series prevents the mag from being tilted when the rifle is being pushing into a barricade or bag. That tilt can cause many actions to fail to feed from the magazine.

Just a guess...perhaps someone with knowledge of your proposed bottom metal can comment to confirm or deny.

ETA: Just went and looked at it. The Elite has the skirt around the mag well. As mentioned, this is likely used to prevent the mag from being rocked back and tilted when pushing the rifle into a bag or barricade.

 

[rijndael]

Not familiar with the bottom metal you're discussing,

Atlasworxs Bottom Metal / DBM (AICS) Elite Series – Remington 700 Short Action – Atlasworxs

atlasworxs.com

It looks like it's just a bit of a magwell vs. flat opening for the mag. Sort of like a Badger M5 vs Surgeon bottom metal.

I strongly prefer the Surgen/Elite profile magwell, but I don't like the long lever of the Elite.

 

[S12A]

Atlasworxs have a different inlet between the standard and elite. The elite is meant to be closer fit to a BDL inlet, meaning a home install VS gunsmith. The elite obviously has the protected magwell as mentioned above.

OP, the mags and how they insert is the same, the amount of work to install is different.

RE hidden VS standard levers, it depends how stiff it is, the straight levers can be easier to use. Any benefit to having less of a snag point would be made redundant by the use of any magazines that hang past that point anyway.