Thoughts on the Aero Precision SOLUS ?

[KYAggie]

and good luck getting spare parts from Aero right now.

This is the absolute truth!! I lost a screw on the mag catch on my 17” chassis. I filled out a email form on 12/18/24; crickets. Should be easy enough to get a screw from them right? Nope. If you need the smallest part and can’t drive to their front door and ambush them, you’re not getting it and darn sure you’ll never get them on the phone nor on their lousy chat system. Their customer service doesn’t just suck, if flat out does not exist.

Fortunately, someone on here knew it was a 6x32-3/8 screw and a trip to the hardware store fixed it. I can’t wait to see how long it is before they respond to my request for parts .

 

[FuhQ]

This is the absolute truth!! I lost a screw on the mag catch on my 17” chassis. I filled out a email form on 12/18/24; crickets. Should be easy enough to get a screw from them right? Nope. If you need the smallest part and can’t drive to their front door and ambush them, you’re not getting it and darn sure you’ll never get them on the phone nor on their lousy chat system. Their customer service doesn’t just suck, if flat out does not exist.

Fortunately, someone on here knew it was a 6x32-3/8 screw and a trip to the hardware store fixed it. I can’t wait to see how long it is before they respond to my request for parts .

I hope they get shit straightened out. Because they were always SUPER helpful and had awesome customer service and had real people answering the phones. Not sure WTF happened around summertime, but that's when everything went to shit, seemingly overnight...

 

[KYAggie]

I hope they get shit straightened out. Because they were always SUPER helpful and had awesome customer service and had real people answering the phones. Not sure WTF happened around summertime, but that's when everything went to shit, seemingly overnight...

It’s as if they fired the whole customer support staff and thought they could get away with one guy on a chat handling it. They need three different chat lines with multiple people on each line, one for order questions, one for tech questions, and one for ordering parts that are not listed online to fix stuff. But you know, that costs money. If they keep this up, spending money on CS will be the least of their issues.

 

[FuhQ]

Got her sighted-in, and did some groups with some slightly underpowered loads (about 993 FPS), and also with some factory Hornady Sub-X 190gr ammo (about 990 FPS).

I have some Hornady 190 Sub-X bullets that I will be loading up, and pushing closer to the 1075-1085 mark. But that will be down the road a little bit as I have 500 rounds of factory Sub-X to shoot.

Mind you, I have degrading eyesight in my right eye, and this was only a 10x LPVO, and the orange bull in first group is only 1”, and the orange bull in the 2nd group is about 1/2”… So, considering that, I think the groups turned out pretty decent given all the factors. And the fact it’s only a 8.3” barrel with a 7 twist, it’s pretty damn accurate. I’ll try to get some better groups tomorrow or next weekend with my precision subsonic handloads with Nosler 210 RDF’s being pushed closer to proper 1075-1085 FPS.

The groups are solid for subs, but I think I can get better out of it, as I had no problem running a quick dope chart and taking it straight to 300 yards. And 4/5 shots I’m hitting a full-size D28 at 300 yards, so it’s still pretty dangerous at distance. At 100-150 yards, if it was a deer, and I shot it in the vitals, it would be dead.

It shoots good, it runs smooth, no feeding hiccups with the MDT mags, and it’s ridiculously quiet with the full-size Magnus on there.

 

[FuhQ]

Video is live with the brand new Aero Solus 8.3" .300 BLK pistol! I'm shooting my Magnus-S with handloads in this one, but more videos to come with different cans, and target distances.

 

[FuhQ]

Going to work on load development this week, and then test next weekend. I’m hoping groups tighten up when I push them harder, and get closer to 1100 FPS. My goal is 1075-1085 FPS.

 

[Paulyester]

It’s as if they fired the whole customer support staff and thought they could get away with one guy on a chat handling it. They need three different chat lines with multiple people on each line, one for order questions, one for tech questions, and one for ordering parts that are not listed online to fix stuff. But you know, that costs money. If they keep this up, spending money on CS will be the least of their issues.

Just a little story on my saga with Aero Precision and their "customer service". My Aero Solus build which I absolutely love, stopped ejecting shells. On further inspection it appears something happened behind the ejector pins, as they are floppy loose. This was the first of November. I started calling Aero, daily for the first week, put on hold, transferred around, but never talked to a human. At that same time, I filled a warranty request. Nothing. Then I started sitting on the chat line daily. Always made it to Number 1 in line, and then it would cut off eventually after about 6 hours. Kept emailing, filling out warranty requests, nothing. Finally in December 6th, Alex from Aero reached out and asked if I could fix it myself. I responded back that I didn't feel comfortable tearing into the bolt head with my tools and experience. Nothing in return. The week before Christmas I would sit on the chat support line from 9 AM PT until 4 PT every day. Didn't talk to a soul. Finally today, I wrote up all the details with receipts of my experience and told them I was giving them one day to respond to me before I published my ordeal on every gun forum, review site I could find. Miraculously, they got back to me and told me they put a new bolt head in the mail.

I absolutely love the action and it with an Outlier barrel is a tack driver, but I could not recommend that company to anyone.

 

[ARShooter91]

They need to get CS turned around in a hurry. I'm 3 actions in with zero issues but if did have and all I needed was simple small part that'd be frustrating. Makes me want to ask for a fire control group and ejector/extractor parts ahead of time.

That's such a small thing to keep customers happy.

 

[KYAggie]

I absolutely love the action and it with an Outlier barrel is a tack driver, but I could not recommend that company to anyone.

That’s nuts!! What kind of company cares nothing about supporting the products they sell or are arrogant to the point of apparently not thinking their products will ever break and need support?? If they don’t get their act together in a hurry, they are going to get a reputation that’s going to scar their name forever in a bad way and they will have solidly earned it!

If I could not have gone to the hardware store and fixed my issue, I would still have a single shot rifle and it was three weeks ago I messaged them. I need to get their address and show up on their door step someday. Their CS is unacceptable.

 

[WeR0206]

That’s nuts!! What kind of company cares nothing about supporting the products they sell or are arrogant to the point of apparently not thinking their products will ever break and need support?? If they don’t get their act together in a hurry, they are going to get a reputation that’s going to scar their name forever in a bad way and they will have solidly earned it!

If I could not have gone to the hardware store and fixed my issue, I would still have a single shot rifle and it was three weeks ago I messaged them. I need to get their address and show up on their door step someday. Their CS is unacceptable.

They’ll probably claim the delays were due to being swamped bc of BF/Xmas sales etc. but that’s bs bc they should be able to anticipate that extra demand and higher some temps or something to help, they had plenty of time, and they responded immediately when threatened to expose their shitty CS on the hide so they were pretty much just ignoring the requests for help.

I have a solus obsidian on hand (just waiting for a barrel to spin on) but after reading how they treated @Paulyester it will likely be my last and I will go with Origin to have cross compatibility with my solus prefit barrel.

 

[KYAggie]

I have a solus obsidian on hand (just waiting for a barrel to spin on) but after reading how they treated you it will likely be my last and I will go with Origin to have cross compatibility with my solus prefit barrel.

I highly recommend this idea. I have an Origin as well and the original Solus SA. The Solus is heavier than the Origin so any build I’m doing where weight matters will end up on the Origin and a Peak 44 Bastion stock. But the cross compatibility is a major plus and really like the 60 degree bolt throw. The customer service of Zermatt is top tier and so good it makes it seem as though the Aero management team doesn’t even know the concept exists. If only Aero had good CS, the Solus was 22oz or less or the Mac Bro’s lightweight action could take Origin prefits……

 

[ICU22250]

This is the absolute truth!! I lost a screw on the mag catch on my 17” chassis. I filled out a email form on 12/18/24; crickets. Should be easy enough to get a screw from them right? Nope. If you need the smallest part and can’t drive to their front door and ambush them, you’re not getting it and darn sure you’ll never get them on the phone nor on their lousy chat system. Their customer service doesn’t just suck, if flat out does not exist.

Fortunately, someone on here knew it was a 6x32-3/8 screw and a trip to the hardware store fixed it. I can’t wait to see how long it is before they respond to my request for parts .

Just a heads up, I fought with their sorry ass chat system and would wait forever and get close and get kicked off.. I was pissed! But I learned that if you go ahead and type something in the chat every couple of minutes, kinda like this

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They will Eventually get to you and you won't time out... Fucking shitty CS, The worst I've ever encountered...

 

[FuhQ]

I'm going to load up some Hornady 190 Sub-X bullets this week to test this weekend. I think 10gr with a 190 should get me close to that 1075-1085 mark... But I still might need to bump it up to 10.5gr. We'll see. I'll find my charge weight, then we'll see how she does with groups...That's how I do my subs. Might be the wrong way to some, but that's what's always worked for me. I like to find my max charge weight, so I know where my threshold is.

 

[FuhQ]

Just a heads up, I fought with their sorry ass chat system and would wait forever and get close and get kicked off.. I was pissed! But I learned that if you go ahead and type something in the chat every couple of minutes, kinda like this

T
H
I
S
*
I
S
*
B
U
L
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S
H
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They will Eventually get to you and you won't time out... Fucking shitty CS, The worst I've ever encountered...

Their lack of CS isn't funny, but your creative way of figuring how to get them to respond is. LOL

I hope they get their shit figured out, and fixed, and get back to how it was just 7-8 months ago.

 

[ICU22250]

Their lack of CS isn't funny, but your creative way of figuring how to get them to respond is. LOL

I hope they get their shit figured out, and fixed, and get back to how it was just 7-8 months ago.

Honestly it's so bad I don't see how they stay in business... you will never get through on the phone, that's a total waste of time.. I do like their products though..

 

[FuhQ]

Honestly it's so bad I don't see how they stay in business... you will never get through on the phone, that's a total waste of time.. I do like their products though..

It's never been like this until about 8 months ago. They always had excellent CS every time I've called and needed something, prior to all this recent shit. I hope they get it figured out. They do make good products, and they are one of the few companies that is truly trying to innovate in new ways.

 

[ICU22250]

I'm going to load up some Hornady 190 Sub-X bullets this week to test this weekend. I think 10gr with a 190 should get me close to that 1075-1085 mark... But I still might need to bump it up to 10.5gr. We'll see. I'll find my charge weight, then we'll see how she does with groups...That's how I do my subs. Might be the wrong way to some, but that's what's always worked for me. I like to find my max charge weight, so I know where my threshold is.

I bought some of the factory fodder Hornady 190 sub-x and shot it through my 300BLK I just put together.. Man that's some dirty ass ammo, my rifle was a filthy bitch afterwards... seemed to shoot pretty decent at 50 yards.. it was averaging 985 in a 11.5 inch Wilson combat barrel...

 

[FuhQ]

I bought some of the factory fodder Hornady 190 sub-x and shot it through my 300BLK I just put together.. Man that's some dirty ass ammo, my rifle was a filthy bitch afterwards... seemed to shoot pretty decent at 50 yards.. it was averaging 985 in a 11.5 inch Wilson combat barrel...

Is your's the semi-recent production that's factory loaded into Starline brass? That's what I've got 500 rounds of, because I got it for like $16.99 a box on sale. LOL Mine is going 990 in an 8.3" barrel and runs pretty clean...But I haven't shot any in my AR's, just the bolt-action. But my Berry's 220 bullets left copper flakes ALL in my TBAC cans, because they're so damn soft. I'll stick with Bergers and Sub-X's. They shoot WAY cleaner.

 

[ICU22250]

Is your's the semi-recent production that's factory loaded into Starline brass? That's what I've got 500 rounds of, because I got it for like $16.99 a box on sale. LOL Mine is going 990 in an 8.3" barrel and runs pretty clean...But I haven't shot any in my AR's, just the bolt-action. But my Berry's 220 bullets left copper flakes ALL in my TBAC cans, because they're so damn soft. I'll stick with Bergers and Sub-X's. They shoot WAY cleaner.

It's new production, not sure if it's starline or not, never even looked. I'll have a look when I get a chance..

 

[blackblue]

I have some cavity back 195 projectiles somewhere i could send you to mess with if you are interested.

 

[FuhQ]

I have some cavity back 195 projectiles somewhere i could send you to mess with if you are interested.

Copper jacketed? JHP? FMJ?

I really need to get some Maker's 220 REX subs, but those bullets are seemingly hard to get for some reason. Anyone got a good source for those, other then using the Maker janky-ass website?

 

[blackblue]

All copper expanding. I suspect maker produces these for cavity back. I picked them up for a blackout build I bailed on.

 

[ICU22250]

All copper expanding. I suspect maker produces these for cavity back. I picked them up for a blackout build I bailed on.

Man those look pretty good...

 

[FuhQ]

All copper expanding. I suspect maker produces these for cavity back. I picked them up for a blackout build I bailed on.

Cool, that could be a fun project to test...

 

[southernpew]

Go gauge finally come in and it’s complete. Need to order scope rings, but they’ll work for this weekend.

Onto load testing

 

[1911Shootist]

Honestly it's so bad I don't see how they stay in business... you will never get through on the phone, that's a total waste of time.. I do like their products though..

They are doing irreparable harm to their business. I haven't had any problems with the two Solus's I've had, but I can no longer recommend them at all. When lead times for "in stock" items extend past charge-back limits, you're taking a huge risk ordering from them even if you don't care how long it takes. If you do have a deadline (e.g. wanting to compete this season), good freaking luck.

 

[6brshooter]

This is where I'm at. I really like my solus and pva barrel, and I don't need 20 of every small part for an action, but ot sure would be nice to be able to talk to them or order a small part. The origin i have is just as nice and zermatt understands CS.

 

[ICU22250]

This is where I'm at. I really like my solus and pva barrel, and I don't need 20 of every small part for an action, but ot sure would be nice to be able to talk to them or order a small part. The origin i have is just as nice and zermatt understands CS.

Zermatt/Bighorn actions are very nice. My only complaint is I wish they would go to a integral rail and lug.. I hate worrying about pic rail screws and hate even more having to use loctite on them..

 

[spife7980]

Zermatt/Bighorn actions are very nice. My only complaint is I wish they would go to a integral rail and lug.. I hate worrying about pic rail screws and hate even more having to use loctite on them..

You dont have to use loctite. I never use the yucky stuff and mine work fine. No replacement for proper torque.

 

[bohem]

Zermatt/Bighorn actions are very nice. My only complaint is I wish they would go to a integral rail and lug.. I hate worrying about pic rail screws and hate even more having to use loctite on them..

I have a Bighorn action that isn't even a Bighorn, it's a Goddard Enterprises. SN #15

That action has had over 40 barrels on it, at least 25 off them have been worn out, somewhere around 155k rounds fired through it and probably close to 3x that in dry fire over the years. Not even 1 time has the rail come loose in any way.


It would be better to worry about something else.

 

[FuhQ]

The Solus that I stuck the contract overrun 20" spiral-fluted barrel on, and dropped into the McMillan Game Warden and stuck the lightweight new Vortex Viper HD 5-25x50 FFP on top, is still shooting sub-1/2 MOA with the handloads. The lighter weight and getting used to the stock is still requiring building the muscle memory for me...But 1.2 MILs of drop is a dead pinwheel @ 300 yards on the 3" target from my 100 yard zero. Since it's such a nice hunting package (around 10 lbs. with the Magnus-S on the end), I ordered 500 Berger 140 Elite Hunters for it, so I can hunt with it.

 

[ICU22250]

The Solus that I stuck the contract overrun 20" spiral-fluted barrel on, and dropped into the McMillan Game Warden and stuck the lightweight new Vortex Viper HD 5-25x50 FFP on top, is still shooting sub-1/2 MOA with the handloads. The lighter weight and getting used to the stock is still requiring building the muscle memory for me...But 1.2 MILs of drop is a dead pinwheel @ 300 yards on the 3" target from my 100 yard zero. Since it's such a nice hunting package (around 10 lbs. with the Magnus-S on the end), I ordered 500 Berger 140 Elite Hunters for it, so I can hunt with it.

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Man I like the looks of that Gamewarden.. What color pattern is that?

 

[FuhQ]

Man I like the looks of that Gamewarden.. What color pattern is that?

Honestly, I have no idea... Just saw the picture, and I was like, "Huh, I like that better than the others, and it will blend into the woods better than the others...", so I bought it.

 

[FuhQ]

New video with the full-size Magnus on the new 8.3" Solus .300 BLK pistol. This is supid-quiet. It's literally pellet gun quiet.

 

[WeR0206]

New video with the full-size Magnus on the new 8.3" Solus .300 BLK pistol. This is supid-quiet. It's literally pellet gun quiet.

Nice soundtrack

 

[FuhQ]

Nice soundtrack

Thanks! I have to use "free domain" music, that is not labeled or attached to any major label artist to avoid copywrite infringements and copywrite strikes and YT taking my videos down, and sadly, that was the best of the options.

 

[WeR0206]

Thanks! I have to use "free domain" music, that is not labeled or attached to any major label artist to avoid copywrite infringements and copywrite strikes and YT taking my videos down, and sadly, that was the best of the options.

Side note, you brought up some great points on shouldered vs barrel nut pre-fits and I still had plenty of time to tweak my order with NSS that I called James and switched my criterion 308 order to a shouldered pre-fit. No fuckin around with barrel nuts etc. for me!

 

[kthomas]

This is where I'm at. I really like my solus and pva barrel, and I don't need 20 of every small part for an action, but ot sure would be nice to be able to talk to them or order a small part. The origin i have is just as nice and zermatt understands CS.

Honestly I don't know why anyone would pick a Solus over an Origin or a CDG at this point.

Non-existent CS should be a non-starter.

 

[memilanuk]

I shot a buddy's CDG last month and I was really impressed with it. Didn't think anything of the CDG when it came out but after shooting it there's a lot to like. The last thing I need is another precision rifle but if I had to build one today, I would pay the premium for the CDG.

I haven't gotten to fondle one yet... but the CDG definitely has me curious. I've got a handful of barrels (nothing like your collection! ) for my Origin that are all Savage small-shank threaded. Figured I'd stay in that groove with the Solus... but they pissed that away.

 

[kthomas]

I shot a buddy's CDG last month and I was really impressed with it. Didn't think anything of the CDG when it came out but after shooting it there's a lot to like. The last thing I need is another precision rifle but if I had to build one today, I would pay the premium for the CDG.

The CDG is an incredibly feature rich action for the price.

IMO, more value proposition there.

 

[6brshooter]

Honestly I don't know why anyone would pick a Solus over an Origin or a CDG at this point.

Non-existent CS should be a non-starter.

Well it is a fairly smooth action, at least my example of 1. The bolt seems a little less bindy than an origin, if origin isn't pushed fwd perfectly straight. It can also be picked up for 225-525 bucks less than an origin or cdg.

 

[6brshooter]

The cdg action is nice, have a 7prc built on one

 

[ARShooter91]

In my experience so far coming up on 2 years with my 1st action and now owning 3 aeros CS is the only issue with them. The Origin is ok but old and feature lacking compared to the Solus. Nice bit of insurance if Aero keeps it up that I can just dump them and get an Origin to burn up my remaining barrels

CDG is a beautiful action but it wasn't without issues in the beginning seems like a finicky action reading through the CDG thread.

 

[ARShooter91]

I'm not picking a fight over one being better or worse. I prefer a 60* throw coming from Tikka's, solid rail and lug, and spring loaded ejector. Solus also has a trigger hanger which is nice when stripping it down after shooting a match in the rain but not a big deal either way.

I think it was the PVA guy saying he has an Origin with a crazy amount of rounds on it. I'm not questioning it's longevity.

 

[spife7980]

InThe Origin is ok but old and feature lacking compared to the Solus.

Like what?

 

[6brshooter]

Like what?

Yeah, I'm gonna have to see that math. They both have similar bayonet fp disassembly, both have swappable bolt faces, both have side bolt release. The origin has the better ejector. I honestly prefer a separate scope rail, on short actions I like the rail to extend forward past lug/front edge of action. Seems with my stocks and optic selections, I need scope pushed fwd and having a few more slots past action let's me use rings, vs a unimount. Separate recoil lug isn't a big deal, but i do prefer integral. I guess I just don't see how an origin is "old fashioned" compared to a solus. I got both actions, plus an arc nuke2.0 and cdg and a couple badger 2013s and AI ae mk2/mk3. They all have good and bad points.

 

[FuhQ]

Like what?

The non-integrated lug and rail, and the fact it's a 90º 2-lug design...

Not saying they aren't good actions, just saying that IMO, all the non-integrated designs and 2-lug designs are quite dated at this point. Also, 3-lug actions are stronger (more surface area on the lugs) and handle/distributes chamber pressures more evenly on the bolt head, instead of pushing only on a lateral line.

 

[kthomas]

The non-integrated lug and rail, and the fact it's a 90º 2-lug design...

Not saying they aren't good actions, just saying that IMO, all the non-integrated designs and 2-lug designs are quite dated at this point. Also, 3-lug actions are stronger (more surface area on the lugs) and handle/distributes chamber pressures more evenly on the bolt head, instead of pushing only on a lateral line.

These are silly assertions to make.

There's nothing more advanced about a 60° design over a 90° design. The difference here is purely subjective to user preference. The strength of a 3-lug action is a purely academic discussion, with no practical difference for anyone here.

Having a non-integrated lug and rail is a complete non-issue.

 

[ARShooter91]

They are features lol. I prefer the features of the Solus.

Male and female are also defined by features and I prefer the features of the female, particularly my wife.

 

[6brshooter]

I'm not picking a fight over one being better or worse. I prefer a 60* throw coming from Tikka's, solid rail and lug, and spring loaded ejector. Solus also has a trigger hanger which is nice when stripping it down after shooting a match in the rain but not a big deal either way.

I think it was the PVA guy saying he has an Origin with a crazy amount of rounds on it. I'm not questioning it's longevity.

Tikka is a 75ish° bolt throw.