PRS Chassis Optimization - JAE700 vs Spuhr SICS vs Foundation Centurion

[QuickOne]

I wanted to get the view from the Hide on an optimization I'm working through. I've been shooting PRS for a few years and am still working on optimizing my setup. I'm down to the stock/chassis and figuring out what works best. I wanted to get the opinion of the Hide on choices. Note all rifles are build the same (impact 737, 6CM, 26" M24 barrel, TT Diamond)

My areas of focus for the chassis have been balance and feel. I've narrowed it down to three, and I own all three, though waiting on the Foundation to arrive.

1. Spuhr SICS - Great chassis, work of art from a machining perspective. The limiting factors for me are the butt pad sucks (too soft), The cheek pad is very wide (pushing your face off to the left) and their barricade stop pushes the pivot point on a bag pretty far forward - requiring a lot of front end weight to get natural balance. Vertical thumb grip was odd, but quickly got used to it. Minimizes tension in my hand relative to MDT chassis' that require the thumb to be more towards the right.

2. JAE-700 G4 - Also a great chassis, but I haven't shot it yet. Ergos feel good, and my hand fits. Mag well adjustment ensures clean feeding. It's very rear heavy, though, and has required 2 sets of MDT weights up front to balance. These aren't really made for this chassis, though, so kinda awkward looking, but they work. Given the limited fore-end, the rifle *just* balances on a game changer shmedium against the magazine. Maybe a little rear-heavy still. I also don't love that it's not really supported any longer, and MDT just replaced it with the G5 which appears to be cheaper/less featured (they dropped the adjustable magazine cage) and reduced the quality of the JAE machining. Makes me concerned about future issues

3. Foundation Centurion - Shot it at the last match for a few rounds. Seemed good, but the ergos around the grip are a little large. I ordered it in "light" version to help with the balance. But I have to wait 12 weeks to get it to really spend time with it so this is not a short-term option.

Ok, given all of that - I'm curious to hear the opinions of the Hide.

 

[nrspence]

Does anyone use the JAE chassis anyone? Haven’t seen one at a match in ages. If you have shot PRS for years not sure why you are asking this question. Buy a foundation, XLR, MDT, MPA, manners you will be good. Look at what the winners in PRS use and go with that.

 

[Matt_3479]

I ran the new jae last year and loved it. I don’t feel it’s 100% optical for prs with the slopped mag wall where as something with a barricade stop mag well is better suited. Never the less it was very comfortable, feels dead on recoil and shoots great.

This year I’ll be running the Vision Pro chassis on the main rig, mdt elite on the back up. Will run mdt acc on the main rimfire and the jae on the back up.

 

[kthomas]

Does anyone use the JAE chassis anyone? Haven’t seen one at a match in ages. If you have shot PRS for years not sure why you are asking this question. Buy a foundation, XLR, MDT, MPA, manners you will be good. Look at what the winners in PRS use and go with that.

I do.

Still love it. No desire to change it out for anything else.

 

[QuickOne]

Since writing this, I have also switched over to the JAE. Comparing both the Spuhr and JAE back to back, I just more naturally fall into the JAE.

My Foundation showed up recently, but I haven't shot it yet. We'll see how it compares in the coming weeks.

 

[Baron23]

Since writing this, I have also switched over to the JAE. Comparing both the Spuhr and JAE back to back, I just more naturally fall into the JAE.

My Foundation showed up recently, but I haven't shot it yet. We'll see how it compares in the coming weeks.

G5 JAE? Didn’t even know that was announced.

Seems the changes are mostly to cut $500 of price out of it.

I do think they kind of F’d up with the short ARCA bit only at the front for a bipod and they seemed to fix this on G5.

But yeah, they got rid of the very flexible mag adjustments in favor of incorporating the latch assembly from the AAC.

But, they still haven’t done anything to the one part I personally wished was changed and that’s the butt pad. There is still no up/down adjustment (much less can’t or lateral offset) and I hate the JAE pad itself and replaced it with kick-eez grind to fit (and cut down the lop while at it).

I’m so not compete so I’m not a good source for you. Getting old, retired fixed income guy, with a fused back. So, it ain’t happening.

But I do love my OG JAEs from J Allen. Particularly once I put MKM’s vertical replacement grip on it.

With that said, however, I do have a full Vision chassis on the shelf here and plan to shoot it and its high degree of adjustability. I think I’ll love it.

I sort of think MDT missed their window with the JAE after taking so very long to release it after they bought out J Allen

 

[QuickOne]

G5 JAE? Didn’t even know that was announced.

Seems the changes are mostly to cut $500 of price out of it.

I do think they kind of F’d up with the short ARCA bit only at the front for a bipod and they seemed to fix this on G5.

But yeah, they got rid of the very flexible mag adjustments in favor of incorporating the latch assembly from the AAC.

But, they still haven’t done anything to the one part I personally wished was changed and that’s the butt pad. There is still no up/down adjustment (much less can’t or lateral offset) and I hate the JAE pad itself and replaced it with kick-eez grind to fit (and cut down the lop while at it).

I’m so not compete so I’m not a good source for you. Getting old, retired fixed income guy, with a fused back. So, it ain’t happening.

But I do love my OG JAEs from J Allen. Particularly once I put MKM’s vertical replacement grip on it.

With that said, however, I do have a full Vision chassis on the shelf here and plan to shoot it and its high degree of adjustability. I think I’ll love it.

I sort of think MDT missed their window with the JAE after taking so very long to release it after they bought out J Allen

G4 JAE. All of my JAEs have the longer arca for end on them, it’s just a more expensive option. Just more $$, ultimately.

Also, my G4 JAE has the ACC Elite adjustable latch assembly. Both are needed to properly align the mag and maintain bolt clearance for my 22LR. All I can see that they did on the G5 was take more profit. Magwell from ACC, for-end less stiff but will allow for weights, plastic LOP spacers, and lightening up the buttstock.

I completely agree with you on the adjustable buttpad. Would be nice to bump it up a little.

I also agree with you on MDT’s handling of the JAE launch. I think the (G4) chassis is stellar. Shooting it back to back with my ACC Elite & Spuhr, you can certainly feel how dead it is during recoil. Spotting shots has becoming much easier. The harmonic “twang” of the other chassis forced my eye to flinch, no matter how hard I tried to stop it. And it was noticeable when I put them through the Pepsi challenge.

I’ll compare the Foundation in the next few weeks. But I think I’m still more naturally comfortable behind the JAE

I’d actually like to get my hands on the new Zermatt Matterhorn chassis.

 

[Baron23]

G4 JAE. All of my JAEs have the longer arca for end on them, it’s just a more expensive option. Just more $$, ultimately.

Also, my G4 JAE has the ACC Elite adjustable latch assembly. Both are needed to properly align the mag and maintain bolt clearance for my 22LR. All I can see that they did on the G5 was take more profit. Magwell from ACC, for-end less stiff but will allow for weights, plastic LOP spacers, and lightening up the buttstock.

I completely agree with you on the adjustable buttpad. Would be nice to bump it up a little.

I also agree with you on MDT’s handling of the JAE launch. I think the (G4) chassis is stellar. Shooting it back to back with my ACC Elite & Spuhr, you can certainly feel how dead it is during recoil. Spotting shots has becoming much easier. The harmonic “twang” of the other chassis forced my eye to flinch, no matter how hard I tried to stop it. And it was noticeable when I put them through the Pepsi challenge.

I’ll compare the Foundation in the next few weeks. But I think I’m still more naturally comfortable behind the JAE

I’d actually like to get my hands on the new Zermatt Matterhorn chassis.

Yes, I saw where your JAE was G4. I was just noting that I was not aware they had announced a G5.

As far as mag latch adjustability, I sort of view the OG JAE height and length adjustments to be top drawer for function. But complex and hence expensive to produce.

I’ll see if I like the Vision but I have heard of the “twang” in other chassis and assume that’s why MDT is successful selling those dampener kits. My OG JAE's are solid as a brick in that regard.

Now that I have MKM's vertical/closer to trigger grip, if I could adjust the butt pad up/down and have a shorter minimum LOP I wouldn't even look at another chassis.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Ohioguy47]

I wanted to get the view from the Hide on an optimization I'm working through. I've been shooting PRS for a few years and am still working on optimizing my setup. I'm down to the stock/chassis and figuring out what works best. I wanted to get the opinion of the Hide on choices. Note all rifles are build the same (impact 737, 6CM, 26" M24 barrel, TT Diamond)

My areas of focus for the chassis have been balance and feel. I've narrowed it down to three, and I own all three, though waiting on the Foundation to arrive.

1. Spuhr SICS - Great chassis, work of art from a machining perspective. The limiting factors for me are the butt pad sucks (too soft), The cheek pad is very wide (pushing your face off to the left) and their barricade stop pushes the pivot point on a bag pretty far forward - requiring a lot of front end weight to get natural balance. Vertical thumb grip was odd, but quickly got used to it. Minimizes tension in my hand relative to MDT chassis' that require the thumb to be more towards the right.

2. JAE-700 G4 - Also a great chassis, but I haven't shot it yet. Ergos feel good, and my hand fits. Mag well adjustment ensures clean feeding. It's very rear heavy, though, and has required 2 sets of MDT weights up front to balance. These aren't really made for this chassis, though, so kinda awkward looking, but they work. Given the limited fore-end, the rifle *just* balances on a game changer shmedium against the magazine. Maybe a little rear-heavy still. I also don't love that it's not really supported any longer, and MDT just replaced it with the G5 which appears to be cheaper/less featured (they dropped the adjustable magazine cage) and reduced the quality of the JAE machining. Makes me concerned about future issues

3. Foundation Centurion - Shot it at the last match for a few rounds. Seemed good, but the ergos around the grip are a little large. I ordered it in "light" version to help with the balance. But I have to wait 12 weeks to get it to really spend time with it so this is not a short-term option.

Ok, given all of that - I'm curious to hear the opinions of the Hide.

Just got a spuhr. So far it's the best I've used. You're right about the weakness of buttpad and cheek piece. I actually like the thumb position spot to be the most comfortable of any chassis I've had. I think the barricade stop is actually a strength. Makes it impossible to bind the mag and you can just add weights for balance.

 

[Cody S]

I just went through this but I could only try the centurion. I ended up ordering the Samson because I like heavy guns anyway.hopefully it balances with an mtu or straight taper.