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Introducing the AI Obsession Chassis
- Thread starter samb300
- Start date
Every time you post a pic. You just make me a little bit more jealous. Lol
How much change could a gamer gun change if a gamechanger could change gamer guns change?
But Sam still waiting on those AT weights. Patiently of course.
But Sam still waiting on those AT weights. Patiently of course.
Now your just toying with my emotions. Lol
Not to mention the custom “accuracy obsession” bag you got there.
Armageddon Gear will do just about anything for $5 haha
Optimized gamer gun vs long range beast? The AXSR looks sweet, I’m looking forward to checking it out next week at SHOT Show.
I'd be down for a pre-order/group buy... Just be legit with your fulfillment estimates, that's where I've seen most of these types of offers go off the rails.
That's what I'm kinda struggling with... Do I go that exact route or do an AX with the HR1 Hammer rail... Ugh, I hate decisions!
I wish I was as decisive as that @BenelliHunter over in the AI thread!
Understood. Unfortunately a large percentage of the past year has been tied up in getting quotes and machining. I don’t want to promise anything I can’t deliver. Especially when money starts to exchange hands. No money has exchanged hands so far, other than from mine to the machine shop for the prototypes. Which have been out for testing for the past few months, no strings attached, as to hopefully get the most impartial feedback possible.
I wish I had a CNC in my possession, or owned my own machine shop. I don’t, so in many ways I’m at the mercy of how busy good machine shops are.
A big reason for the pre-order is to get a real number of interested parties so I can get the correct order in, and also to help fund a large order. Unless someone swoops in at the last minute, I’ve done the whole project on my own, funding and all.
I won’t dissuade you from an AX and Hammer rail. It’s certainly an amazing setup and would serve you well for any hunting or competition scenario.
All I will say is when I got my AX three years ago, I had some truly crazy ideas in mind to make it what eventually evolved into the Obsession chassis. I’m talking taking a brand new $6500 AX under the knife and machining it WAY past the point of no return. I didn’t end up doing it, but all those late nights proved somewhat worth it to stop that madness and move on to a different kind haha.
Time after time, match after match, I came back to the fact that I just couldn’t get the “hump” of the dang AT or AX out of the way to really dominate shooting off of props. Even when I shot well, trying a buddy’s MPA or even AR showcased how a flat forend and low bore axis made such a big difference.
...or you could be like me and de-bond your AX...can’t get that sweet Sage Green fix anywhere else...?
I shoot matches with my AT but I’m happy with it configured as an AT LE. I’m not driven to be a top match shooter. If I ever pick up another AT then I may pick up one of Sam’s chassis for it and shoot that at matches.
Looking strictly at dollars and sense (pun intended) I would pick up a fixed AT and AX stock now and enjoy it. When the AO chassis is ready I would drop it in one and you’re all set.
I think the shorter height of the AO chassis and how the rifle sits lower on a bag with the AO chassis it will be better over all for match use than an AX or AT.
ETA: Sam’s pictures above illustrate what I’m talking about.
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Yes. I haven’t de-bonded an AW to 100% confirm, but all the numbers and measurements I’ve gotten up to this point suggest the AW and AT/AX actions are identical in footprint.
Wish I was a little bit bigger of an operation (or an FFL), I’d buy a used AW to test. Still kicking myself for not buying that used LH AW that was on the PX for months a year or so ago!
Edited to add: I have seen reports from the UK where customers sent their AW’s to the UK AI service center and paid for it to be put in and re-bonded to a new AX chassis. So unless there are some minor dimensions that are different, I think that further suggests a swap would be possible.
It’s always good to troll the PX here as well, I’ve been seeing used SFP AT’s for $3200 without a barrel. It might be difficult to get ahold of people this week due to SHOT Show, but I’m guessing there are still people manning the phones at Mile High and EuroOptic.
It's pretty easy. Very daunting to begin with until you realize, u just heat and pull. Done. Heat the whole action very well after u vice up the action then pull the chassis off. It's not that difficult. Took me a good part of an evening to debond, clean up, and rebond the action.
I didnt even use that. I used a fuckin heat gun. Torch would be quicker, just be careful not to over heat it.
It’s pretty easy. There are quite a few people on SH that have de-bonded their ATs to put into an MPA chassis. Basically you heat up the epoxy with a small torch or heat gun (the epoxy’s working limit is 250F). Peel apart, clean, and prep surfaces.
The process to bond back together is straight forward as well, with some tips/tricks I’ve learned over doing it a few times on my own. Initially I used Devcon 2-part epoxy, but have switched to the “real deal” aluminum putty ($$$), which is what AI uses. That will all be included in the kit, along with video instructions for everything. I will show you how and where to properly apply the epoxy, how to align everything, and give you the tools/brushes/epoxy to do it.
Like @BLKWLFK9 said, an afternoon or evening will be all that’s needed.
I hear that. It looks like it's been a real labor of love. Again, I would have no problem fronting a deposit to help you fund an accurate order. I'm not questioning your intent to be forthcoming, rather I am calling on past experience with machine shops being rather sloppy with their lead time estimates.
Yup. Good shops are busy, and for whatever reason lead times are rarely accurate.
Rough numbers, it will be about the same weight, or maybe a little less than an AT or AX. I didn't really design this with weight savings in mind.
The Obsession chassis front section (not including the pistol grip skins or buttstock) is ~35oz without the NV bridge. The stripped AT front section is almost the same weight. The AX front end is ~41oz.
I got a notification & was all excited... Turned out it was just @RS14 complaining about notifications.
Hey everyone! I'm back from Shot Show and am still trying to get over the plague that was apparently hand sanitizer resistant
Stay tuned, I'm going to put together a Group Buy here on SH soon, and do a pre-order for everyone that is interested. Once I have all the numbers figured out I'll let you know the prices and availability.
Thanks,
Sam
Stay tuned, I'm going to put together a Group Buy here on SH soon, and do a pre-order for everyone that is interested. Once I have all the numbers figured out I'll let you know the prices and availability.
Thanks,
Sam
Can’t wait man. Get better.Hey everyone! I'm back from Shot Show and am still trying to get over the plague that was apparently hand sanitizer resistant
Stay tuned, I'm going to put together a Group Buy here on SH soon, and do a pre-order for everyone that is interested. Once I have all the numbers figured out I'll let you know the prices and availability.
Thanks,
Sam
Here is the Group Buy everyone! Aftermarket AI "Obsession" Chassis - Group Buy
Feel free to PM or email me with any questions regarding the pre-order.
Thanks,
Sam
Feel free to PM or email me with any questions regarding the pre-order.
Thanks,
Sam
Sam, by chance have you been in contact with AI and have a decent connection? Thought being, do you think they would consider just selling/importing the action or barreled action as to be mated with your chassis?! The thought of discarding the AI chassis and adding about another $2k for the chassis and potentially the stock is hard to comprehend. Ive been searching for beat up ATs to hopefully upgrade but they are still $3500+. I know the price of the game isn't cheap, but just thinking out loud. Looks slick!
I’d pay 1.5-1.7k for an action. No barrel. Call it 2k for action + factory trigger. I highly doubt AI would ever do this as we are not their primary market.
Honestly though, a TL3/Mausingfield/M2013 will do what an AI does when built properly.
AI ain’t known for being too accepting of non AI ideas.
They have a business model that works for them and they don’t go off script often.
I don't ever see AI selling just an action. Goes against their ethos and would potentially water down their reputation for a reliable system. Key word being system - they have full control over all the parts going in the rifle, so full control over the final build quality.
If they just started selling actions, then you are going to get people putting together a rifle with parts made from different manufacturers. In some cases it's going to be the cause of reliability issues, and thus, watering down the AI's sterling reputation for robustness and reliability. AI has nothing to gain from the move.
Any of those actions you listed would be a great one to make a build off of. The Mausingfield is a very excellent action that has a lot of smart design features incorporated to make it a robust and reliable action. Properly pair it with the right parts, and it's going to be a very reliable and capable rifle.
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I can say with 100% certainty that AI has no interest in selling actions on their own. Unfortunately.
That is what i figured. Then they need to adopt a competition model, using yours and paying you millions for it of course, then bing bang boom and Bobs your uncle...everyone is happy!
Sam,
Maybe this has been answered already in this thread and I missed it, but have you tested your chassis with the action not bonded to it (just bolted in)? If so what were the results? *There is no need to get into the reasons for bonding as far as long term and hard use durability and minimization of POI shifts, as I fully understand that. I am just curious if there is a compelling reason to bond it as I have good results with my MPA simply bolted in.
Thanks for an awesome looking product man!
Maybe this has been answered already in this thread and I missed it, but have you tested your chassis with the action not bonded to it (just bolted in)? If so what were the results? *There is no need to get into the reasons for bonding as far as long term and hard use durability and minimization of POI shifts, as I fully understand that. I am just curious if there is a compelling reason to bond it as I have good results with my MPA simply bolted in.
Thanks for an awesome looking product man!
I haven’t tested it, but it certainly could be done. The opinion of some knowledgeable AI shooters is that the bonding isn’t needed. However, I designed the action to chassis interface exactly as the AT and AX are from the factory, meaning the same clearances for use with the 4 brass washers and epoxy. I think if I wanted to have designed it without epoxy I would’ve changed some of the dimensions to optimize recoil lug contact, and remove the brass washers. I believe that’s what MPA did but I can’t confirm as I haven’t had one in hand (but I’ve seen some pictures).
I know their new ASR is not bonded anywhere, but was designed from the ground up to do so. It’s also why they are now doing an AR grip interface, which is extremely difficult to do on the AT/AX if it’s bonded. The ASR actually has 4 action screws in front, and one in the rear, for 5 total. Which is cool and crazy considering 99% of the other actions out there only use 2.
