Thought I would post with my experience using the XLR Element 3.0 Magnesium Chassis in a hunting scenario…some of this is probably duplicated on the Hide by others. This is just my experience…spoiler alert, it worked great.
I’ll start by saying that I’m no expert or claim to be a crack shot, keyboard ninja with all the answers. And, I’m biased towards a chassis over a stock. Just preference, I like the ergs and feel of a chassis and believe I have more control and shoot better than with a stock. Could very well be just confidence behind a chassis, but that’s my preference.
The build…
I built my 6.5 PRC using brands you’re all familiar with…Bighorn TL3 action, Proof 22” CF barrel, TriggerTech Special, Seekins rings and topped it with a Sig Tango4 4-16x44 FFP scope with the MRAD DEV-L reticle. Sighted in using Hornady ELD-X Precision Hunter ammo and was able to get a 0.19” group so I called that good.
Side note – I wanted to test the Sig Tango4 as a lower cost option for hunting since some of my customers don’t want to or can’t spend $2k+ on a scope (I’ve never tried a Sig scope before). And practically speaking, for a hunting application many hunters don’t NEED to buy an ATACR, MK5, X5i, etc. (but we all want to!) The Tango4 performed solidly. Well enough in fact I would have no issue taking a distance shot (within reason) on a critter using this scope. Is it the same as a NF, Leupy or Swaro? Nope. But it will definitely do the job at a price point that’s easier on the budget.
Back to the chassis…
Matt at XLR was awesome to work with and walked me through everything and all my options. Top notch service and he also hunts, so his experience and input is spot on. I opted for the Element 3.0 Magnesium chassis in FDE with the TR-2 folding stock, short buffer tube, thumb rest and Ergo vertical grip. I chose not to go with the carbon fiber stock or grip because I personally feel that it’s very important to build a rifle that’s “balanced” based on cartridge recoil vs. simply going as lightweight as possible. Admittedly, while I’m a lightweight/compact fanboy…I also try to be a realist with my own capability and know that misses can and do happen. And, when hunting I want to set myself up to make the best, most ethical shot. In the event I do miss or don’t get a good hit, I want to follow-up as quickly as possible. Personally speaking, I feel a 6.5PRC has just enough recoil that sacrificing and carrying a little more weight on my pack with a slightly (and realistically only slightly) heavier back end on my chassis helps balance the rifle more and make for more manageable follow-ups. My personal opinion, YMMV. M-LOK attachments made it simple and easy to add whatever accessory I wanted, in this case a QD sling stud up front and a Harris bipod rounded my accessory choices.
Observations…
As you would expect from XLR, fit and finish were perfect. Cerakote was smooth, even and looks great in FDE. The Bighorn TL3 action dropped in with no slop and the holes for the action screws are large enough to get a normal bit into them for torqueing with no problem…on some chassis, that’s not always the case. Setting up the stock and thumb rest was simple having ample room for adjustments, and the folding option works great and makes for a very compact carry strapped to my pack. I only had 2 complaints. First, the stock doesn’t lock into the folded position (nothing new). Not a big issue, it “flopped” on me a couple times while strapping it to my pack and taking it off, but it was more of the occasional annoyance than a hindrance, not a deal breaker. But, it would be nice if it locked when folded. Second, there’s a set screw in the center of the folding adapter that holds the slide release for the locking mechanism in place and faces the flat plate on the stock when locked in the shooting position. After a few days of packing it around, this screw backed out far enough that the stock would no longer lock up into position. Again, not a deal breaker…a little Loctite and screwed it back into place…problem solved. Strongly recommend you do this BEFORE you get into the field! Feel of the chassis is great, cheek riser was easy to set and brought my purchase on the rifle to the same place every time in the field, whether uneven terrain, off-hand or flat ground. There’s enough adjustment on the TR-2 that LOP for another shooter would be very doable, albeit requiring an allen key to do so. But that’s also an advantage because once it’s locked in place for you, it’s not going to move. It’s just like any other Element chassis from XLR…but lighter. And I felt it is noticeably lighter, both in the hand and on the pack. Like any chassis, it’s cold to the touch when the temps dip. But for hunters, we know we are going into the cold and prepare for it so it’s not that big of a deal to me.
In the field…
After 3 days of hiking and glassing in the Wildcat Hills of Western Nebraska, we spotted a bachelor buck walking towards us and made our way down the side of the plateau to see if we could get a shot. The rifle carried very easily with the stock folded. With my pack setup, even though a suppressor added another 6” to the barrel, the rifle was just a bit above head high on my back. Because of the weight and folding stock, there were no issues with carry across terrain, up and down washouts or ducking under tree limbs (yes, there are trees in Nebraska). Once in position, the rifle came off my pack and handled easily, unfolded and locked up quietly with no issues, despite being coated with snow and dust by now. It was at this point that I realized I had forgotten to attach my bipod and it sat nice and warm back at the truck. So, I had to rest my rifle across my pack…which was actually a good thing because now I can talk about first hand, in the field experience of the chassis forend design. The forend has a flat bottom and is angled coming up the sides that makes it easy to hold and still rest flatly on objects. Because it’s M-LOK there’s no protruding features to get caught on anything (unless you add something to it…like a bipod adapter with no bipod). It is wide enough that it didn’t dig into my pack too deeply and with a little pushing around of the puffy jacket inside my pack allowed me to easily form a solid shooting position. Aside from my bipod debacle, there were zero issues with the feel and setup on the upward facing slope of a hill while getting into position and waiting for the buck to come into range.
The buck finally came into my shooting lane and we ranged him at 429 yards across the valley. Getting down on the rifle was a cinch. The chassis felt like an old friend and mated up to my shoulder and cheek without issue. I dialed for the range, held over for wind and fired. The Hornady ELD-X 6.5 PRC Precision Hunter ammo made a very impressive wound channel and massive internal damage, dropping the buck about 20 feet from the point of impact. Quick ethical kill…
Final Thoughts…
The XLR Element 3.0 Magnesium chassis is a great option for a lightweight hunting chassis and I was very pleased with how it handled and performed in the field. If you’re going on a goat hunt and think you need the absolute lightest weight possible, there are other options that will fit that bill...this isn’t necessarily it. But what it does do is provide a stable platform with familiar ergonomics in a lightweight package that works great in the field or the range.
In 2020 I think I’m going re-barrel this setup to take a stab at my first local PRS match…and hopefully not finish last. With the XLR weight kits that can be added, I plan to beef the Element chassis up to fighting weight, it should be interesting. I’d love to have “the one rifle to rule them all” that I could strip down to the svelt ~9lbs with optic as in this setup for hunting and then throw on a 6 Creed barrel and weight kit to add 7-9lbs back to it with a dovetail running along the bottom for matches.
Sorry for the long post, please let me know if you have any questions and I’ll do my best to answer based on my experience with chassis this season.
I’ll start by saying that I’m no expert or claim to be a crack shot, keyboard ninja with all the answers. And, I’m biased towards a chassis over a stock. Just preference, I like the ergs and feel of a chassis and believe I have more control and shoot better than with a stock. Could very well be just confidence behind a chassis, but that’s my preference.
The build…
I built my 6.5 PRC using brands you’re all familiar with…Bighorn TL3 action, Proof 22” CF barrel, TriggerTech Special, Seekins rings and topped it with a Sig Tango4 4-16x44 FFP scope with the MRAD DEV-L reticle. Sighted in using Hornady ELD-X Precision Hunter ammo and was able to get a 0.19” group so I called that good.
Side note – I wanted to test the Sig Tango4 as a lower cost option for hunting since some of my customers don’t want to or can’t spend $2k+ on a scope (I’ve never tried a Sig scope before). And practically speaking, for a hunting application many hunters don’t NEED to buy an ATACR, MK5, X5i, etc. (but we all want to!) The Tango4 performed solidly. Well enough in fact I would have no issue taking a distance shot (within reason) on a critter using this scope. Is it the same as a NF, Leupy or Swaro? Nope. But it will definitely do the job at a price point that’s easier on the budget.
Back to the chassis…
Matt at XLR was awesome to work with and walked me through everything and all my options. Top notch service and he also hunts, so his experience and input is spot on. I opted for the Element 3.0 Magnesium chassis in FDE with the TR-2 folding stock, short buffer tube, thumb rest and Ergo vertical grip. I chose not to go with the carbon fiber stock or grip because I personally feel that it’s very important to build a rifle that’s “balanced” based on cartridge recoil vs. simply going as lightweight as possible. Admittedly, while I’m a lightweight/compact fanboy…I also try to be a realist with my own capability and know that misses can and do happen. And, when hunting I want to set myself up to make the best, most ethical shot. In the event I do miss or don’t get a good hit, I want to follow-up as quickly as possible. Personally speaking, I feel a 6.5PRC has just enough recoil that sacrificing and carrying a little more weight on my pack with a slightly (and realistically only slightly) heavier back end on my chassis helps balance the rifle more and make for more manageable follow-ups. My personal opinion, YMMV. M-LOK attachments made it simple and easy to add whatever accessory I wanted, in this case a QD sling stud up front and a Harris bipod rounded my accessory choices.
Observations…
As you would expect from XLR, fit and finish were perfect. Cerakote was smooth, even and looks great in FDE. The Bighorn TL3 action dropped in with no slop and the holes for the action screws are large enough to get a normal bit into them for torqueing with no problem…on some chassis, that’s not always the case. Setting up the stock and thumb rest was simple having ample room for adjustments, and the folding option works great and makes for a very compact carry strapped to my pack. I only had 2 complaints. First, the stock doesn’t lock into the folded position (nothing new). Not a big issue, it “flopped” on me a couple times while strapping it to my pack and taking it off, but it was more of the occasional annoyance than a hindrance, not a deal breaker. But, it would be nice if it locked when folded. Second, there’s a set screw in the center of the folding adapter that holds the slide release for the locking mechanism in place and faces the flat plate on the stock when locked in the shooting position. After a few days of packing it around, this screw backed out far enough that the stock would no longer lock up into position. Again, not a deal breaker…a little Loctite and screwed it back into place…problem solved. Strongly recommend you do this BEFORE you get into the field! Feel of the chassis is great, cheek riser was easy to set and brought my purchase on the rifle to the same place every time in the field, whether uneven terrain, off-hand or flat ground. There’s enough adjustment on the TR-2 that LOP for another shooter would be very doable, albeit requiring an allen key to do so. But that’s also an advantage because once it’s locked in place for you, it’s not going to move. It’s just like any other Element chassis from XLR…but lighter. And I felt it is noticeably lighter, both in the hand and on the pack. Like any chassis, it’s cold to the touch when the temps dip. But for hunters, we know we are going into the cold and prepare for it so it’s not that big of a deal to me.
In the field…
After 3 days of hiking and glassing in the Wildcat Hills of Western Nebraska, we spotted a bachelor buck walking towards us and made our way down the side of the plateau to see if we could get a shot. The rifle carried very easily with the stock folded. With my pack setup, even though a suppressor added another 6” to the barrel, the rifle was just a bit above head high on my back. Because of the weight and folding stock, there were no issues with carry across terrain, up and down washouts or ducking under tree limbs (yes, there are trees in Nebraska). Once in position, the rifle came off my pack and handled easily, unfolded and locked up quietly with no issues, despite being coated with snow and dust by now. It was at this point that I realized I had forgotten to attach my bipod and it sat nice and warm back at the truck. So, I had to rest my rifle across my pack…which was actually a good thing because now I can talk about first hand, in the field experience of the chassis forend design. The forend has a flat bottom and is angled coming up the sides that makes it easy to hold and still rest flatly on objects. Because it’s M-LOK there’s no protruding features to get caught on anything (unless you add something to it…like a bipod adapter with no bipod). It is wide enough that it didn’t dig into my pack too deeply and with a little pushing around of the puffy jacket inside my pack allowed me to easily form a solid shooting position. Aside from my bipod debacle, there were zero issues with the feel and setup on the upward facing slope of a hill while getting into position and waiting for the buck to come into range.
The buck finally came into my shooting lane and we ranged him at 429 yards across the valley. Getting down on the rifle was a cinch. The chassis felt like an old friend and mated up to my shoulder and cheek without issue. I dialed for the range, held over for wind and fired. The Hornady ELD-X 6.5 PRC Precision Hunter ammo made a very impressive wound channel and massive internal damage, dropping the buck about 20 feet from the point of impact. Quick ethical kill…
Final Thoughts…
The XLR Element 3.0 Magnesium chassis is a great option for a lightweight hunting chassis and I was very pleased with how it handled and performed in the field. If you’re going on a goat hunt and think you need the absolute lightest weight possible, there are other options that will fit that bill...this isn’t necessarily it. But what it does do is provide a stable platform with familiar ergonomics in a lightweight package that works great in the field or the range.
In 2020 I think I’m going re-barrel this setup to take a stab at my first local PRS match…and hopefully not finish last. With the XLR weight kits that can be added, I plan to beef the Element chassis up to fighting weight, it should be interesting. I’d love to have “the one rifle to rule them all” that I could strip down to the svelt ~9lbs with optic as in this setup for hunting and then throw on a 6 Creed barrel and weight kit to add 7-9lbs back to it with a dovetail running along the bottom for matches.
Sorry for the long post, please let me know if you have any questions and I’ll do my best to answer based on my experience with chassis this season.
